Anker PowerCore+ 20100 USB-C Charger Battery for iPhone/iPad/Cameras/MacBook/etc

2016-08-13 • SEND FEEDBACK •
Related: Apple iOS, Apple iPhone and iPad, iOS, laptop, MacBook, power, USB, USB-C

Anker PowerCore 20100 USB portable charger

Get Anker PowerCore @AMAZON at Amazon.com. Please buy through these links at Amazon.

The Anker PowerCore+ 20100 USB-C battery @AMAZON is a 20100 mAh battery (74 watt hours) specified to be able to fully charge an iPhone about 7 times, and to be capable of charging the 2016 Apple MacBook at 5V/2.4A. That’s a lot of power—the internal Apple Macbook battery is only 41.4 watt hours, while an Apple MacBook Pro Retina has about a 99 watt hour battery—so 74 Wh is a lot of charge.

It takes a lot of charging to empty the Anker PowerCore 20100. As such, it makes a highly suitable choice for 3-4 day off-grid usage. For example, the Sony NP-FW50 battery for the Sony A7R II is 7.3 watt hours, or about 1/10 the watt hours of the Anker PowerCore 20100. Charging incurs some losses, but it is reasonable to expect something on the order of 8 recharges of that Sony battery (not tested/verified however).

Suggested buying approach

Anker offers various other capacity models (smaller and larger) as well as the similar Anker PowerCore 20100 @AMAZON (non USB-C). The non-USB-C model is significantly less costly @AMAZON than the PowerCore+ 20100 USB-C except that the non-USB-C model charges slightly more slowly via a standard micro USB port (and has no USB-C port, so it cannot power an Apple MacBook or other USB-C device).

These considerations come to mind for the power user, versus the Anker 26800 battery (non USB-C):

• More and more devices besides the Apple MacBook are likely to support USB-C, such as new Apple laptops in fall of 2016. The smart move is to spend the extra money for the Anker 20100+ USB-C battery.
• It makes more sense to get dual 20100+ batteries than the larger 26800 battery. Any kind of travel then gives the option of taking 74 watt hours or 148 watt hours of battery. Many outings will need only one battery, hence a lighter load than the larger 26800 battery.
• Dual 20100+ batteries means one battery can recharge while the other is in use via wall or solar. It also means a total of 4 charging ports—consider two people on a backpacking trip both with iPhone and camera.

Charging iPhone, cameras, etc

Recharging was just as fast as with a desktop charger with the following: iPhone 6s Plus, Lupine Rotlicht Tail-Light, Fenix RC11 flashlight, and the Sony A7R II (direct charging in camera).

Recharging

See the charging test on the Anker Power Port Solar Lite 15W Solar Panel page.

If fast recharge is a priority, then it is best purchased with the PowerPort+ 1 USB-C with Quick Charge 3.0, which is about $22 @AMAZON (various bundles might lower that cost). Otherwise, the included USB-C to USB cable charges it via standard USB for a slightly longer charge time. The larger/heavier and higher capacity PowerCore+ 26800 can be purchased as a bundle with the high-power charger for about $79 @AMAZON, but that model has no USB-C option.