The TSA-approved (90Wh) 25,000mAh Anker laptop power bank
I've spent entirely too much time looking into power banks for my laptop and this is what I ended up with. It's not exactly what I was looking for but it's the best option I could find and I'll dive into why.
I've got an upcoming international trip and wanted a bit more juice for my 14" MacBook Pro on long travel days. Even with most planes and trains offering power outlets these days, it's usually the case that those outlets are so loose that any charger will just fall out. It's best to be prepared.
Status screen shows different things like battery health, time left to charge, current charge rate, and more.
Here's what I was looking for:
- I wanted something that could at least fully charge my laptop once without being an absolute behemoth. As such, I was not looking to go for the largest size possible, which would be a sub-100Wh TSA-approved power bank, such as Anker's older 27,650mAh models.
- 140W+ power input so the power bank itself can charge quickly from an outlet.
- USB-C PD 3.1 support for 100W or greater power output. That's the max my 14" MacBook Pro needs to charge quickly. If I had the 16" MBP, that would be 140W via MagSafe.
- No thermal throttling or other issues when maxing out the power output. Some less reputable brands will completely cease functioning if you draw the max power for too long, which really defeats the purpose of purchasing a high power output and capacity power bank if you can't use it as intended.
- At least two USB-C ports for charging my laptop alongside other devices.
- Pass-through charging support so I can use it while it's also charging itself.
- Great efficiency ratings so I get as close to the listed capacity as possible. Some power banks I looked at had horrible efficiency ratings, such as in the 50-60% range.
I looked at various Anker units, as well as from other brands like Sharge and Iniu. The issue I kept running into was not just size vs power output, but also the fact that the power output was not always reliable. For example, I was initally leaning towards the Sharge 140 but reviews mentioned it would shut down if drawing max output for too long. And while the design was interesting with it's clear case, I didn't want to have a power bank that I had to baby so it wouldn't look bad with lots of scratches over time.
I was debating between a few Anker units: The new Anker 25,000mAh I purchased, the older Anker 737 24,000mAh, and the Anker Prime 250W.
The Anker Prime 250W is a flagship model but it's also the largest, heaviest, and most expensive of the bunch. It's also a few years old and not something I was keen on.
The Anker 737 ticked all of the boxes—including 140W power output and input. I also liked that I didn't have built-in cables like the Anker 25,000mAh does, but it is an older model and I had seen some concerns around its battery degrading quickly, lasting 300 cycles or less.
All that being said, I landed on this new Anker 25,000mAh power bank. I think it's the perfect mix of size and capacity for me. It can fully charge my 14" MacBook Pro once from empty. I did have to compromise a bit: it only has USB-C PD 3.0 support, not 3.1. This means the max power output from a single USB-C port is 100W. The max power input to charge the power bank is also only 100W. It takes a bit longer to charge it, about 90+ minutes.
I only just got it and haven't used it too much yet, but I'm pretty happy with it so far.
