Anker 621 Magnetic Portable Charger (MagGo), 5,000mAh Wireless Power Bank with USB-C Cable, Magsafe-Compatible Battery Pack for iPhone 16/15/14/13/12 SeriesClimatePartner certified

This was my first Magsafe battery. I had some older Qi wireless chargers and was familiar with heating issues. But these were older and lower power. Without the Magsafe feature, they were finicky and fussy and didn't properly fit around camera lens protrusions. I barely used these devices.This Anker 621 has a lot of promise. The Magsafe feature locks tight and the dimensions do not interfere with the camera protrusions, even with a case on the phone. It's compact and slim, and most importantly, does not require wires. It can be easily carried in a backpack or pocket without an accessory bag for wires and cables.When I first unpacked the battery, I fully charged with with a USB-C PD charger. It charged at 1A/5V. I used it to inductively charge my iPhone 14 Pro intermittently over the next few days. After about 10% charge, I determined the heat buildup to be intolerable. Therefore, I only used the pack intermittently. That worked fine for me over several days. When the battery was empty, it took 20Wh to fully charge. The battery was advertised for 5000mAh, which is impossible to measure without disassembling the unit. However, we can calculate 20Wh / 5V / 0.9 = 4400mAh (where 0.9 is the efficiency of the voltage converter for USB). This is below advertised capacity, but there’s a lot of assumptions in the conversion.Then I used a USB-C cable to charge my iPad Mini. It transferred 14.8Wh at about 9 Watts before exhausting. The round-trip efficiency was high, because recharging took 14.8Wh to fully recharge. I suspect I didn’t get the full 20Wh capacity with the iPad because the higher charge demand choked the battery before it could get fully empty.Using the inductive charge mode, both devices get hot relatively quickly. The switching power electronics get particularly hot. I can easily feel where the transistor is located beneath the plastic shell. The inductive transmitter loop gets warm on the battery and the receiver loop gets warm on the phone. Lithium-ion batteries degrade proportionally to temperature (the Arrhenius relationship), accelerating +25% degradation rate for every 10C, this is bad for the phone.In summary,• The battery delivers 20Wh of energy. If using inductive (Qi and Magsafe), much of the energy is converted to heat, so perhaps only 10-15Wh is actually delivered to the battery.• If using high-current devices using a charge cable, such as an iPad, the high current chokes the battery a bit early, stopping at 15Wh.• My back-of-the-envelope calculation shows 4400mAh vs. rated 5000mAh. I suspect the battery is not delivering rated capacity. Anker should be rating these batteries in Joules (watt-hours) instead of Coulombs (ampere-hours).• Inductive charging is inefficient, losing a quarter to half of energy to heat. This is not Anker’s fault but a result of real-world physics. With my iPhone 14 Pro, I saw about 10C rise per 10% of battery charge. I never let it progress beyond this point.• Lithium-ion batteries accelerate aging degradation due to the Arrhenius relationship about +25% per 10C temperature rise. Therefore, prolonged use of inductive charging will ultimately age your battery prematurely.• This battery is very worthwhile because I don’t have to carry an accessory kit with wires to use. Just slap it on the back of the phone and go. Plus, if frees the connector to use with wired headsets when using.

Put these to the test over the course of a few months. Purchased Apple’s version of this for full retail price ($99.99). Figured for the price, i bet it’d do great things for my battery life… Turns out it never gets close to fully charging my phone, it gets me up to only about 30% of increased charge (on a good day). Noticed only about 20% on an average day’s use. Additionally, the Apple one does not come packaged with a charger for the device you’re buying. It is packaged by itself and you’re expected to already have a charger or buy a new one. The product itself dies so fast i feel like i am charging it more than i do any of my apple tech, even my airpods — which really illustrates the irony here. Apple somehow came to the decision of selling us a rechargeable battery with no charging chord included. One thing i’ll say about the Apple Magsafe is that it survived a wash cycle when i accidentally threw it in with my bed sheets, so in all honesty, that was pretty impressive. Now moving onto Anker… first of all, anker comes with a charger! And detailed user manual. More than half the price less, Anker comes with advantages outweighing the Apple name by dividends. Anker’s customizable marketing is insane — browsing through their portable chargers, you’ll see that they have different ones at different prices, specifics vary enough for just about everyone. after choosing the model best for you, select your personal favorite from a plethora of color options! So you get a charger + your favorite color in your purchase…that’s a great start. Now let’s get into the experience. This thing charges my phone nearly 50% at least increased percentage FAST and stays on for hours at a time. I’ve gotten up to 80% charge so many times. Has a dotted illuminated sequence feature along the bottom edge that will convey the status of its charge, as well as remain lit when you power the device on, and diminish when turned off/dead. This is convenient to tell if you’ve left your device on but meant to turn it off, or have it off and need to power it on. The power is triggered by a small side button that requires direct pressure from your hand. It is dense enough to prevent any accidental powering on or off as you hold or carry the device, there are no annoying mistakes made there as one would preemptively assume, which is great to have that intentional detail actually very well serve its purpose. This model is slim enough to hug my phone without unnecessary bulk. Much like any other magsafe devices on the market, yours will increase in temperature and feel warm for the duration of your charge. This is not something you can escape due to any compact battery using the limited space it has to conduct a power charge to another device, so accept the science happening there. Size is longer than the Apple, slightly wider in width by a micro amount, and noticeably taller in height. These size differences were not inconvenient due to how slim the device itself is, and how it sits on the device is comparable to the Apple. Weight is not heavy, but you can feel the difference when charging your phone, won’t lie about it looking lighter than it is. In conclusion, spending $100 on an Apple product seems to be just that — it’s $100 only BECAUSE it’s an apple product, if you want the logo then pay the price, and get a wimpy charge. i would suggest purchasing 2 magsafes to have with you if you’re going the Apple route. it’s just not enough for the reasons targeted customers would need this and benefit from it. To any busy, on the go/working/social human being on the market for a product they can depend on to power through the day in order to make ends meet; remain available to others; or ensure their safety. These things really do impact your day and for that you deserve something that will make all the difference. As i come to an end of argument here, I will conclude with the reason i wrote this very long review in comparison of said two products. The answer is because i was searching endlessly before I found nothing detailed enough to make or break my decision or many questions, so that’s why i just bought them both over time. Hopefully this helps someone genuinely curious about this debacle like i was, and anyone researching before spending their hard earned money. Thanks again to anyone for reading. Just wanted to give the review I would have wanted to read. This isn’t sponsored by the way, i am currently using my Anker charger whilst writing this long awaited review on my flight right now. LOL. We’re currently sitting at 88% and still charging!! Cheers.

I was iffy about spending $40 for a mere battery pack. I was on the edge and it was hard to fathom spending that much on some little power bank. But I didn’t cheap out, and I went full send.This was literally my best purchase ever for my iPhone 16. I’m completely appalled at how strong MagSafe really is (I’m a new Apple user, and didn’t think much of MagSafe prior), but now I see why people walk around with those weird MagSafe phone cases. The color is a very nice matte black, and has a smooth feel.When I was an android user, I thought everyone was an NPC for walking around with their little MagSafe cases. I didn’t know what it was and never understood it until now. This was the best $40 I’ve ever spent.On top of that, it’s compatible with AirPods and Apple Watches. It charges fast. Like I said, I didn’t get to play around with it yet, but it’s very promising. I’ll update when I do.And when I say the magnet is strong, I mean STRONG. I can literally hold the Anker while it’s attached to my phone, and allow my phone to dangle. You literally can’t make it fall off on accident.And my favorite part; portability and convenience. You have to turn on the Anker with the power button on the bottom, and that means that it won’t charge your phone until you turn it on. This also means that you can have it attached to your phone without worrying about it charging your phone and wasting battery. It’s literally INSANE. It feels no different in my hand when the Anker is attached. Honestly, this is the best $40 you can spend on your iPhone.