With our smartphones that have very energy-intensive OLED screens or even 5G modems that drain our battery throughout the day, an external battery is always welcome to give a little extra boost of energy to our iPhone or even our Apple Watch at the end of the afternoon. The famous brand Anker recently unveiled new products in its range of external batteries, we find a new 10,000 mAh external battery with advantages!
Is Anker’s New MagGo 10,000mAh Worth the Price?
The Anker brand sent us this week to the editorial office its new products from the MagGo range, we find in the new collection external batteries or MagSafe supports with inclination. Among the new products, there is one that particularly caught our attention, a small 10,000mAh power bank with a built-in USB-C cable, fast charging and even a magnetic slot to charge an Apple Watch!
What if it was the perfect external battery for your travels and for recharging your precious items at your workplace?
We tested this external battery for several days and we must admit, our test was very positive.
Design, conception and connectivity
As you can see in the image above, the Anker MagGo power bank is compact and easy to carry (95 × 51 × 32.4 mm). We confirm that it easily slips into a backpack or even a handbag, so you can take it with you wherever you go.
In terms of connections, we find:
- A USB-C cable that is attached to the power bank (the wire is quite short, but it is not annoying).
- A USB-C in/out port to charge the external battery or charge a device with a USB-C cable that you have in your possession.
- A place to charge your Apple Watch. You guessed it, it’s the white circle on top.
Each of these three slots is labeled C1, C2, and C3, but what does it matter, you might ask? Well, there is one, and it all happens on the screen on the right side of the power bank.
The screen
The power bank has a small screen that automatically turns on when you charge a device or when you charge the power bank via its USB-C in/out port. On this screen, you can see several pieces of information:
- The remaining charge in the battery as a display from 0 to 100%
- Slots C1, C2 and C3. C1 is for charging with the USB-C cable attached, C2 is for charging via the USB-C in/out port on the right side and C3 is for the Apple Watch slot
- Real-time device charging speed
- The charging speed of the power bank
- Remaining recharge time
The information displayed on the screen is very precise because we find the charging speed of the devices, it is displayed (next to C1, C2 and C3) and evolves in real-time as soon as you plug in a USB-C device or an Apple Watch.
Additionally, the display also shows you the remaining charging time in hours and minutes as well as the charging speed.
An external battery must recharge devices quickly (that’s its primary interest), however when it provides visibility on the charging speed of the devices connected to it or even its own recharge, it’s fantastic!
Charging speeds
As for charging speeds, we confirm that it keeps the promises displayed on the product sheet. Anker announces a charge from 0 to 47% in 30 minutes for an Apple Watch Series 9 and up to 2 full charges for an iPhone 15 Pro.
- With an Apple Watch Series 10, we managed to reach 1 W maximum with a tendency to go towards 0.5 to 0.7 W on average.
- With an iPhone 16 Pro Max via the C1 and C2 slot, we managed to reach the maximum 33 W in a stable manner.
- When recharging the external battery via the C2 slot, we also managed to reach up to 33 W.
Our opinion
Overall, this MagGo power bank is very powerful and practical. We really liked its small and compact size, which makes it easier to slip into a bag. Regarding these two strong points compared to other power banks, there are:
- The location for the Apple Watch
- Real-time visibility of charging speeds
The last point is anecdotal, but having visibility on the charging speed of the devices or even the time remaining to reach 100% when recharging the external battery is very pleasant.
On the criticism side, we can blame the 10,000 mAh capacity which is quite light, we would have preferred the power bank to be a little bigger, but it could last longer per charge cycle.
To sum up, we obviously recommend that you buy this MagGo external battery (especially if you have an Apple Watch), however, if you prefer an external battery that lasts a whole week without needing to be recharged, this may not be what you need. It should be noted, however, that the external battery recharges in 1h30, which is still quite fast.