Anker MagGo Power Bank & Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station Review

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Let’s Travel

Anker have arrived with the latest Anker MagGo range of products, and their first to include the innovative new Qi2 wireless standard. This is a big deal, in a number of ways which I’ll explore a little later. What I can say, is this range of products are some of the most technically advanced charging solutions on the planet and I’m excited to put them through their paces.

Anker MagGo Power Bank

Let’s start with the Anker MagGo Power Bank. It’s a rather elegantly designed mini battery pack that can attach magnetically and incorporates a 10,000mAh capacity which is enough to at least fully recharge your device from empty for even the largest of smartphones. For others this could recharge up to 1.8 times.

However that’s not all, as wireless chargers have historically always had the same issues. They get really hot, they’re inefficient and they are slow to charge. The older Qi wireless standard was an amazing feat of technology at its time. To stay on the side of caution however it transferred power typically at a rate of 3-7W. This often meant that a typical user was just trickle charging the battery of their device. In fact if you were actively using it at the time there’s a good chance it was still probably going down in percentage, as you were consuming more than you were adding back in.

The other challenge of efficiency comes down to thermodynamics and the impact that heat has on the efficiency of energy transfer. In simple terms, inefficient cooling plus inefficient heat management coupled with inefficient transfers meant much of this energy was lost before it ever made it to your device. This is regardless of how many mAh your battery pack displayed.

Anker has really stepped up to meet science with some fascinating technology here. The MagGo Power Bank utilises the latest Qi2 Wireless Standard, which means that it can double up on the wireless charge speed pushing this up to 15W. As a result it’s able to charge many smartphones back up from 0 to 50% in as little as 44 minutes. What a total game changer especially when you are travelling, and as luck would have it I’m doing just that at the moment.

Travelling

Right now I’m in the United Arab Emirates for a work trip, and despite having a smartphone with excellent battery life there is an extra factor to take into account from the typical day to day, Dual-Sims. Specifically I have my usual SIM card in the smartphone with my UK number so I can still stay in contact and accessible with my family at home. However I also have a 2nd SIM, which is an e-SIM used exclusively for data in the UAE. This is an excellent tip to save on data roaming costs. However the penalty being my Smartphone at all times is using twice the power for the cellular radio to drive two connections at all times. This is incredibly taxing on the battery which without this wonderful device would not be lasting the working day.

So let’s talk aesthetics and designs. The battery pack itself is a solid polycarbonate shell, with a strong magnetic grip that snaps into place. It’s a handsome looking thing with smooth plastic around the outside and a cleverly implemented kickstand. The latter was an absolute dream for watching movies on the plane, with a soft textured grip underneath the stand itself.

The tech really stands out at this point, as the battery pack has a full colour smart display on the side which shows the remaining power percentage in the pack itself, as well as corresponding arrows to let the user know when it is charging or discharging. It also has a power delivering USB C port which, if you have a cable in hand will charge your smart device at up to 27W. This is super useful when in a pinch and needing a quicker charge than the wireless offers.

There is also an ARM based processor onboard responsible for delivering Anker’s ActiveShield 2.0 technology. ActiveShield 2.0 monitors temperatures more than 3 million times per day. This is revolutionary stuff that serves as an AI powered, heat dissipating behemoth. It performs a truly wonderful task of holding onto as much of that energy as possible, and prevents the device from overheating, which in the Dubai sun is a very real concern.

Part 2 – Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station

So the next part of this long distance travel puzzle is a portable charging solution. One that hopefully stops my suitcase looking like spaghetti junction. Enter the Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station. This incredibly neat package weighs less than 200grams and has all of the same design quality found in the MagGo Power Bank.

It incorporates all of the same technologies as the power bank, and also adopts the Qi2 standard for faster charging. In addition to this however it has a really clever cooling system design. The system drives the heat down to the base of the station and releases the heat through a layered mounting plate. Super clever stuff, and in my experience, rock solid for stability and a total breeze to use.

With the Wireless Charging Station you are able to charge all 3 devices at once, and through just the one included USB-C Cable and power adaptor. It’s a travellers dream, with both of these MagGo products occupying the space of just one of my older power banks in the hand luggage. In fact the wireless charging station has the smallest folding footprint of any multi-charging station in Anker’s history!

In Conclusion

These are absolutely outstanding products. They have had so much thought and consideration put in to make them the most advanced yet well designed charging solutions I have ever seen. I have used the MagGo Power Bank every single day for the past 3 weeks and it hasn’t missed a beat. In fact whilst experiencing the challenge of living in a new country for a few months, its absolutely saved me from having a completely dead smartphone several times. The MagGo Wireless Charging Station is the most elegantly designed yet practical travel charging solution I’ve used yet. I’m so smitten with the design I fully expect this to remain in place at my bedside as soon as I return home.

All in all, these are truly excellent, must buy products! They are the best out there and to get the combination of technology and design so right, well done Anker.

5 out of 5

5

You can buy the MagGo Range of Anker products here