Anker PowerCore Speed 20,000 PD Review

Everyone has external batteries that juice from their phones and tablets, but what about your laptop? Until recently, finding a compatible power bank was difficult, with each brand having one or more patented power outlets. So, if you have bought a battery that does not come with the right plug, you can not be happy.
However, because multiple laptops use USB Type-C for charging, it's easier to get a portable charger that just works. One of the best banks for the laptops we tested, the PowerCore Speed $ 79.99 20,000 PD Anchor, is lightweight, affordable, and provides hours of extra power for every laptop loaded on the device. C.

Design

At 0.79 lbs and 6.6 x 2.4 x 0.9 inches, the PowerCore Speed 20,000 PD is thin enough and light enough to fit in a laptop bag without taking up any space or stress from your other devices, He even slid into the front pocket of my jeans, though it was tight. Omnicharge's $ 209 USB 2.0 OMNIC 20 USB-C battery weighs 1.1 pounds more, while the $ 150 Razer Power Bank tilts the balance at .74 pounds.


The curved, rectangular black plastic frame does not stand out from the crowd but looks professional and harmless. A set of four blue lights at the top shows how much juice you have (four lights are 100%). Pressing the power button on the right side, the battery is on and the status LEDs are lit.

AC Adapter

The PowerCore comes with a very compact power adapter that charges the battery but works with any phone, tablet or laptop that supports USB transfer and does not consume more than 30 watts of juice. The power surges are bent to make this outlet even smaller.

Even if you leave the battery at home, you can use the adapter instead of the power adapter included with your laptop. However, most laptop bricks deliver at least 45 watts of power, so the PowerCore adapter may not charge your system that fast or provide enough power to charge. If we connect the adapter to a Google Pixelbook, the laptop loads easily.

On the contrary, neither the Omni 20 nor the Razer Power Bank are equipped with a power supply. Both require that you use the device that came with your laptop or purchase your device.

Ports

PowerCore Speed ​20,000 PD has only two connectors: A Type C connector that supports the USB and USB Type A power connector can be used to simultaneously charge a second device, such as a USB device. A phone, or a tablet while you're using your laptop.

However, if you're charging a single device with the PowerCore at one time, we recommend that you power it up over the Type-C port for fast charging. We were able to put a Samsung Galaxy S8 and a Motorola Z2 Play in the fast charging mode when we connect them to the USB Type C battery, but not when we use the Type A connector.

However, competitors offer more ports. The Razer Power Bank has two Type A USB ports and a single C port. The Omni 20 has two Type A USB ports and two Type C USB ports and is also a portable USB hub.

Performance

As the name implies, Anker PowerCore Speed ​​has 20,000 PD 20,000 milliamps of power. This is similar to the capacity of the Razer Power Bank of 13,800 mAh and comparable to the Omnicharge Omni 20,100 mAh.

The 20,000 mAh PowerCore is enough to charge a typical phone like a Samsung Galaxy S8 or iPhone 8 up to six times. Anchor says the PowerCore can also fully charge a 2016 MacBook (the 12-inch model, not the Pro). However, many laptops have higher capacity batteries than the MacBook, so they are not fully charged by the PowerCore.

When we connected the PowerCore to a Lenovo Yoga 920, which has a 48-watt-hour battery, the laptop charged 67% of its capacity in 2 hours and 27 minutes. We also used the laptop during the charging process. The Omni 20 was faster and charged the test laptop to 88% of its capacity in one hour and 29 minutes.

You can also use the PowerCore to run a laptop that has no juice in its internal battery. When we use our Mag Battery Test 2.0 phone, which includes uninterrupted browsing over Wi-Fi, with a downloaded Yoga 920 connected to the battery, Yoga recorded 7 hours and 54 minutes. It took about 77 percent of the 10 hours and 14 minutes that Yoga 920 lasted when we tested it at 100 percent load. When the Omni 20 battery is connected, the test laptop supports almost 7 hours and 42 minutes.

It took 3-4 hours to charge the PowerCore to full capacity with the included power adapter. If you leave the battery plugged in overnight, he is more than ready in the morning.

Compatibility

It's important to note that the PowerCore can only deliver 22.5 watts to a laptop, while the Omni 20 USB-C can deliver 60 watts and the Razer Power Bank 45 watts.

The most powerful Type C USB notebooks, such as the MacBook Pro or the Dell XPS 15, definitely need one of these more powerful batteries. However, you pay much more for both options since the Omni 20 costs $ 209 and the Razer Power Bank $ 149.

Bottom line

The PowerCore Speed ​​20,000 PD offers the best combination of portability, price, and capacity we've seen in a portable power bank. Users with laptops that need more power should consider a more expensive alternative, such as the Razer Power Bank or Omnicharge Omni 20. However, if you have several hours of resistance for your lightweight notebook with a USB Type C capacity, PowerCore is an excellent choice.