Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K Review
The Anker MagGo 10K offers MagSafe compatibility, impressive efficiency and modern mod-cons in a nice little package
Verdict
The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K is a neat chameleon of a power bank. It works well as your average portable 10,000mAh battery, but can also function as a wireless iPhone-charging desk dock.
Pros
- Excellent efficiency
- Faster Qi2 wireless charging for iPhones
- Handy battery indicator
Cons
- Quite pricey for its output power
- Can be picky with some devices
Key Features
- Integrated displayA little LCD screen on the side shows the charge percentage when you press a button
- Qi2 wireless chargingSupport for Qi2 means this battery can charge iPhones at 15W wirelessly
- Integrated kickstandAn integrated aluminium kickstand makes this a serviceable desk dock, without adding bulk
Introduction
You can pick up a cheap power bank on Amazon for pretty cheap, but the Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K shows that sometimes it’s worth spending a little more on portable power.
Not only will the MagGo 10K charge your iPhone, but it’ll also keep your iPhone at a desk-friendly angle. It also has a little screen for a much clearer idea about the battery level than a few LEDs can provide.
Its efficiency is excellent, meaning relatively little power goes to waste (with cabled charging), supports full-speed wireless charging for iPhones thanks to Qi2 support. And the MagGo doesn’t look bad either.
You do have to pay for this, though, and for a £90 battery, the MagGo10K’s charging speed may seem low if you also have a super-fast charging Android phone or want to charge your MacBook. However, for use exclusively with today’s iPhones, it’s near-ideal.
Design
- 107.3 × 68.8 × 19.8 mm
- Rather light 250g
- Side screen
The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K is a bit like a totally standard 10,000mAh battery, upgraded to the nines.
First up, it has a pleasant soft-touch finish, one that gives the MagGo a certain tactile charm. There’s a slight two-tone effect here too, as the front panel is light grey, the rest of the shell white.
Look around the back, and you’ll find an aluminium kickstand. This is core to the Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K’s identity as it is a wireless Qi2 charger that can also function as a desk dock for your iPhone.
It uses magnets to snap your phone in position, much like a first-party Apple MagSafe charger. You can orient your phone in portrait or landscape, and there’s just a slight additional magnetic force to keep it perfectly upright if that’s what you want. iPhones now have a Standby mode that can act as clock or organiser.
This is not a heavy-duty stand, though. It has a tiny spring and hinge barrel, so you’ll want to be careful not to put too much pressure on it while upright.
For all-day desk use, you’ll likely feel more confident using the 6.6K version. That alternative also lets you place your iPhone at different angles, while this one’s kickstand is either in or out.
However, the Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K capacity per square inch is much better, and its lesser thickness makes it feel more at home in a pocket. This battery is 20mm thick, and weighs 250g. It’s like a stubbier phone, close to the shape of an old iPod classic.
The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K also has a screen on its side, the clearest sign we are not dealing with a remotely budget battery bank here. When you press the small button on the side of the casing, the screen lights up to tell you its charge percentage. It offers a much more precise indication of how much charge is left than a handful of LED lights.
I also found the battery calibration to be far better fresh out of the box than the pricier Anker Prime 20K’s. But then again, taking a few charges to settle into the groove is no major sin.
For all its gadgety flourishes, the Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K is ultimately a fairly simple battery bank. It only has one USB-C port, for example. This is used to both charge the MagGo up and for any non-wireless charging duties, and means it can be charged while charging your iPhone.
Performance
- 27W output
- 10072mAh output capacity
- 87% efficiency
The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K is such a great power bank in some key ways that it’s a shame so many may only treat it as a portable wireless charger.
First up, most of the battery banks I’ve tested have capacity that roughlyworks out if you calculate by how much energy you can put into the thing, not how much you get out of it (typically significantly less). The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K actually outputs 10,000mAh, with the mount of power it takes in being a chunk higher.
I clocked its input capacity at 42.49Wh, equivalent to 11483mAh in the conventional phone standard. It can output 37.27Wh, equivalent to 10072mAh.
Its efficiency is also excellent, at 87%. With a cheap external battery you might get 60%-odd. But even in some expensive Anker models I tend to see around 75-80%. This one belongs to a league above.
This tells us the Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K likely uses top-notch components. Of course, you are not going to see that sort of efficiency if you use the wireless charging pad rather than a cable. Wireless charging is still much less efficient than cabled charging.
The great capacity and high efficiency gives you the best possible chance of not coming away disappointed, mind. This is among the first waves of Qi2 wireless chargers too.
For years, wireless charging pads and batteries advertised as “15W” would only actually charge iPhones at 7.5W thanks to the proprietary shenanigans involved in Apple’s MagSafe wireless charging standard. That changes with Qi2, making this about as good as a first-party charger. You can expect an iPhone 15 to charge in a bit under 2.5 hours (yep, it’s still not that quick).
The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K is not quite so hot when removed from the context of iPhones, largely because its output peaks at 9V, 3A. This is 27W. It can charge and be charged at that speed, which is a legit phone fast-charging pace in Apple-town, if not so much elsewhere.
It will charge a MacBook, but is not ideal for the task.
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Should you buy it?
Buy it if you want a feature-packed iPhone charger
It’s a good iPhone dock and can charge phones from the series at full speed, wirelessly or using a cable. Real-world capacity versus the specs is unusually good too.
Don’t buy if you need to charge laptops
While a quality battery on every front, you ideally want higher capacity and higher charge output if you need to charge laptops, or Androids with super-fast charging.
Final Thoughts
The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K is a success on three fronts. It’s a decent iPhone desk dock. It’s a good wireless charger for iPhones too, thanks to its support for 15W Qi2 charging.
It is also a great battery bank, providing higher-than-advertised capacity so it actually delivers 10,000mAh after accounting for some losses due to heat. Its efficiency is excellent too.
Despite this added versatility, it’s not ideal for high-demand devices like laptops or very fast-charging Android phones. But for the iPhone brigade, it’s a strong performer.
How we test
We thoroughly test every power bank at Trusted Reviews, using a USB Voltimeter to not only test elements like maximum wattage but to measure its total output to gain insight into efficiency and more.
We also always test with an iPhone 15 to remain consistent among our reviews.
Tested input, output, maximum wattage and more using a USB voltimeter
Used with an iPhone 15 to test MagSafe capabilities
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FAQs
Yes, thanks to its support for Qi2.
It’s not a fully MagSafe charger, but it provides the same features including magnet clamping and 15W charging
No there’s no water resistance rating.
Full specs
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
