As a father with 4 children and a family that likes to travel, having available power is a must. Prior to a few years ago, this meant carrying wall chargers and cables, and hopefully finding tables by outlets when on an urban vacation, or just dealing if away from civilization. Thankfully the ready availability of back-up batteries with USB outputs have made this a thing of the past. Now the challenge is finding one that's reliable and has capacity to keep up with today's high demand devices. Luckily there's Anker.
I first picked up the 20100 about 2 years ago, so it's not the newest product on the market, but it is one of the most affordable and reliable. It's also been revised several times as new technology is available, so it will keep up with todays devices. There's even a USB-C version now, though that's a review for another time.
First impressions, this is solid. Out of the box it has a nice heft and is well put together. No loose rattle or clicks. Button is smooth and responsive. Seams clean/tight and has a durable feel to the entire unit. Looks and feels well made. It's also held up well. In the two years since I purchased it, it's been annexed by teenage son. It's survived several drops, and daily being thrown in his backpack. It's not marketed as "rugged" but it has held up excellently to daily use/abuse. It is a little larger than most battery packs, but this is to be expected at a capacity of 20,100 mAh. Lithium cells can only get so small, but the unit is still very compact consider it barely larger than the six 18650 cells that power it. It won't fit in your pocket, but easily slips in a purse or backpack.
Performance has been excellent. Capacity is listed at 20,100 mAh but you need to keep in mind there is a conversion you need to do prior to matching to your phone capacity. For example, Anker states it will charge the iPhone 6s a total of 7.3x. iPhone 6s battery is 1715mah. 1715x7.3 = 12,520. Well below 20,100 mAh. But you are converting from a 3.7volt cell in the backup battery to 5V USB output. Then your phone is converting the 5V coming in typically back down to 4.2V. With these conversions you will have losses due to inefficiency, which is why your battery and phone heat up with use.
So, where does the 20100 fall? I hooked my unit up to a dummy load running 5v at 2A, using a smart multimeter, I consistently measured capacity at 13,640 mAh. Converting to watt hours (makes for easier comparison) = 68.2 Watt hours. Anker lists the battery pack at 74.37 Watt hours. 68.2/74.37 = 92% available capacity. Accounting for losses due to electric resistance and conversion, this is excellent efficiency. It also accounts for why the battery doesn't really heat up with use.
So real world use? iPhone 6 can recharge about 7.5 times. iPhone 7 about 7 times. When I tested with my iphone 7 I can typically get 6.8 charges before the battery pack is completely drained. So the advertised capacity is essentially dead on.
Charging, as other reviewers have noted, takes awhile. With a 2A charger this takes about 9-10 hours if the unit is completely dead. Since most people are not going to drain the pack daily, plug in at bedtime and it's ready in the morning. If you're using your phone charger it will take longer, but honestly if you're investing in this battery pack, do yourself a favor and pick up a quality wall charger (Anker sells several versions of those also :) ) When I used this on our last trip to Disney, it charged on average 3-4 phones/day and still had 2 leds lit. Plugged it in at night and it was full and ready to go by morning. Another very important feature is the dual USB outputs. Being able to charge 2 phones and stop siblings from fighting over the charger is priceless.
In all, this is a phenomenal battery pack and a steal at the current price. Catch it during a sale or with a discount coupon and it's a no brainer.
If you need a high capacity battery and don't need to worry about it fitting in a pocket, you can't go wrong with the Anker 20100.
I purchased this with my own money, did not receive any discount or incentives and was not asked by the company to write this review.
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