Anker PowerCore+ 10050 Portable Charger REVIEW
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Maybe I’ve been using my iPhone more or maybe it’s that I have been forgetting to charge overnight, but I’ve found myself needing a portable charger more and more these days. Having a great portable battery to power up my communications device is a must. There are some great battery options from Anker and if you are in the market, I would recommend checking them out. We recently reviewed the Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD and as incredible as this battery is, it’s just a little too big to carry around during the day. It’s one that I would use when traveling or know I’m going to be out and about more than a normal day. The Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD is one that besides its hefty weight can pretty much take on all comers, but the weight is what stops me from taking it on shorter day trips. That’s where the PowerCore+ 10050 comes into play. Anker is one of the leading brands when it comes to portable batteries for your technology devices. I don’t think I know a single true techy out there who hasn’t heard of Anker.
SPECS
The PowerCore+ 10050 is designed to handle portable smart devices. It is compatible with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology (18W max) and features a single USB-A port for output charging and a Micro USB port for input charging. The power bank is a high-speed, high-capacity portable battery that can handle most charging tasks. The exterior case is built out of aircraft-grade aluminum alloy for durability and because of that, its look matches most modern phones, tablets, and computer. Anker took some smart precautions when engineering the ‘guts’ inside the battery and included surge protection, short circuit protection, and temperature control to keep both you and your devices safe while using their product.
In addition to the Qualcomm Quick Charge technology, the PowerCore+ also uses PowerIQ to intelligently identify connected devices to that the optimal amount of power is delivered to them. Palm-sized, the power bank is compact enough to fit into most pockets and because of its light weight (236 grams), it won’t weigh you down. There is an LED power indicator around the activation button of the PowerCore. When you press the button, the lights will illuminate and show how much power is left on the battery. Just like the PowerCore+ 26500 PD, there are 10 LEDs around the button and each one represents 10% of the capacity of the power bank.
UNBOXING
When opening the box, you find the battery, a mesh carrying bag, a Micro USB cable, and the instruction pamphlet. It’s a very basic unboxing experience. The box is similar to other Anker products. It’s adorned with Anker’s signature blue color and white. The product name is clearly stamped on the front along with some basic product information. The front flap opens up to show a photo of the power bank in use along with a window to see the product itself. The battery is available in four different colors — black, white, silver, gold — so it’s nice that Anker included this in the packaging design so that you can make sure you are getting the color you want. There is no power adapter included for the wall, but you can use just about any wall charger to connect the battery to power through the supplied Micro USB cable.
USER EXPERIENCE
For all the reasons I mentioned above, I’ve really enjoyed using the PowerCore+ 10050. For the amount of power it’s packing, the PowerCore+ 10050 is remarkably portable and lightweight. It’s like the little brother to the massive PowerCore+ 26800 PD. That’s how I look at it anyway. The LED indicator on the PC+ 10050 is much brighter than the bigger 26800 PD. While I haven’t seen the other colors available, I can say that the silver version is stunning and really looks slick alongside my iPhone X.
When it comes to testing batteries, I try to look at how well it charges devices and whether or not the battery heats up. The reason I think about the heat is that there are many times — especially when I’m on the go — that I’ll plug my phone or tablet up to a battery and leave the charging device inside a laptop bag. This can contain any heat that is being created and be potential fire hazards. One of the reasons this particular battery piqued my interest was because of its temperature control. I’ve seen a lot of aluminum-cased batteries and they heat up a lot. I’m really happy to report that while charging the iPad, the battery never got over 81 degrees. The image below shows how I tested the heat of the battery with an infrared thermometer. I used the thermometer all over the battery. Typically I find the warmest place on a power bank is the charging ports. This photo shows how I was testing the center of the power bank. I got the 81-degree reading near the ports.
In order to really stretch the figurative legs of the PowerCore+, I decided to record the timing and battery percentage of two of my mobile devices — iPhone X and iPad Pro 10.5 — as I charged them from the power bank. When I started these tests, the PowerCore+ had a100% charge. You will notice that I make notes about where the power bank stands on its battery level throughout the testing process. If I note that the power bank has 9 bars, that means it still has 90% of its charge.
iPhone X Charging Times: Total battery capacity 2716 mAh (estimated)
Time Battery Percentage 3:38 p.m. 10% 4:14 p.m. 36% 4:32 p.m. 52% — 9 bars 4:42 p.m. 64% — 8 bars 5:08 p.m. 78% 5:22 p.m. 89% 5:42 p.m. 96% 6:10 p.m. 100%
iPad Pro 10.5-inch Charging Times: Total battery capacity 8134 mAh (estimated)
Time Battery Percentage 10:05 p.m. 50% — 6 bars 10:21 p.m. 58% — 5 bars 10:32 p.m. 64% — 4 bars 10:47 p.m. 71% — 3 bars 11:01 p.m. 77% — 2 bars 11:12 p.m. 81% — 2 bars 11:21 p.m. 85% — 1 bar 11:31 p.m. 89% — flashing bar
The PowerCore+ died at 11:34 p.m.
After running this series of tests on the Anker PowerCore+ 10050, I can say I’m happy with the results. Looking at the math, it would appear that the battery only has a 6,500 mAh capacity. My iPhone X drained an estimated 2,444 mAh from the battery while the iPad Pro pulled another 4,067 mAh. That’s only a total of 6,511 mAh. However, this does not take into account how active the devices were while I was charging them. This is an important distinction that needs to be considered when you are choosing a power bank. You want something that will not only charge your device but something that will have enough capacity to handle use of your device, too. For example, even though my iPad was fairly dormant while I was charging it, there were still background tasks running — like email and location services — that use power. I believe the PowerCore+ 10050 is successful at charging most mobile devices. If you want to get the most out of your charge, you should power it down or, at the very least, turn on Airplane mode so that the minimal amount of tasks are running in the background.
The last test I did on the PowerCore+ 10050 was on Power Delivery. I have a USB tester that tests the voltage, amperage, and wattage of a device plugged into a USB device. The specs from the power bank’s manual state that the output should be 5–6V/3A, 6–9V/2A, or 9–12V/1.5A. I got a consistent reading of 4.87V/0.96A. This means that the PowerIQ technology sensed that was the most power the iPad could receive at that time. After doing a bit of research, it looks like the iPad Pro 10.5 can accept up to 15V/2A. Since the power output of the PowerCore+ maxed out at 9–12V/1.5A, I can only assume that the intelligent charging technology determined this would be the best option for charging the iPad quickly and efficiently.
CONCLUSIONS I have strong confidence in Anker’s power bank and would recommend them to any user. The important thing to remember when selecting one for your use is to determine what your charging goal is. If you want something for travel purposes, I would recommend the higher capacity options like the PowerCore+ 26500 PD, but if you need something for everyday use, the smaller PowerCore+ 10050 is a much better solution for your charging needs. This battery is a solid option for daily mobile charging.
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Originally published at macsources.com on February 13, 2018.
