Anker MagGo Qi2 Power Bank (10K) review: Portable, fast & easy wireless charging

Since its announcement last year, the new Qi2 Wireless charging standard has been highly anticipated. Products are hitting shelves and it’s time to check out what’s on offer.

The Anker MagGo Qi2 Power Bank (10K) offers a portable, fast Qi2 Certified charging solution, while also offering a fallback to the previous Qi wireless charging standard if your phone isn’t compatible. 

Priced at $149.95 from Anker, the MagGo Qi2 Power Bank is a premium charging option, but it’s one of the first portable Qi2 compatible power banks available. It also comes with a built-in Informative Smart Display and a kick-stand so you can still see your info while charging. 

I’ve been using the Anker MagGo Qi2 Power Bank (10K) for a couple of weeks now and here’s how it went. 

Qi2

Let’s start with a quick refresher on Qi2 and why it’s important. 

Announced last year by the Wireless Power Consortium last year at CES, Qi2 has taken a while to be adopted. The Qi2 standard is powered mostly by Apple’s MagSafe technology, with input from other WPC members included to finalise the specification. 

It should be no surprise that the iPhone 12 and up is already Qi2 certified, though we expect to see Qi2 charging on Android devices soon.

The list of features in the Qi2 spec includes magnetic alignment to ensure your device is easily connected in the right way and charging effectively. It also has a maximum charging speed of 15W, double the speed of the fallback Qi(1) standard at 7.5W.

So, it’s fast, easily aligns your device with charging and at the moment it’s pretty much iPhone’s that use it – but Android users are certainly looking at all the awesome new accessories and faster charging speeds with anticipation.

Anker MagGo Qi2 Power Bank

What’s in the box?

It’s pretty simple, you get the Anker MagGo Power Bank (10K), a 60cm USB-C to USB-C cable for charging, a welcome guide and a 24-month warranty.

The box itself can be a little difficult to open, but that’s an easily solved problem and once it’s out you can recycle the cardboard box it comes in.

Design

The Anker MagGo Qi2 Power Bank is a compact little unit weighing just 250 grams, making it easily pocketable, or able to slip into a bag for storage. 

It’s fairly nondescript with the review unit a nice ‘Shell White’ colour – but you can also find them in a more traditional Black, or in a more pastel ‘Ice Lake Blue’, or a floral sounding ‘Buds Green’ colour option.

I don’t mind white, though I tend to find my white electronics end up a little dirty, even if I try to keep them clean. I personally would probably opt for black as I tend to throw my power banks in my back pack with all of the gadgets and ephemera that makes up my everyday carry. I would prefer the white if there was a bag or shell to protect it while in storage, but it seems fairly well built after a couple of weeks in my bag.

The power bank is covered with a soft touch plastic, with the front a slightly different colour to help easily identify the charging pad – which also has the Qi2 logo on it and a circle on it. 

There’s a USB-C port on the left hand side for both charging the power bank, and you can also charge devices through a wired connection at 20W, or up to 27W for an iPhone 15. 

On the right side is the smart display, which shows how much battery you have left, with a visual graph and percent – which activates when you press the button below. The display also shows the time left when you’re charging the battery.

On the back is the spring loaded metal kickstand which flicks out easily, letting you prop up your phone so you can still see what’s happening – and it flicks back down when you’re finished without a problem. 

The spring is just strong enough to handle opening and closing easily, without any chance it’s strong enough to catch an unaware finger.

Ok, I freaking love the kick stand. It’s small, but being able to prop the phone up while you charge is excellent. It also works well when you sit the phone in portrait or landscape if you want to watch a video.

Charging

The Anker MagGo Qi2 Power Bank (10K) has a 10,000mAh battery and takes around 2.5 hours to charge from 0% to full in my tests. It doesn’t matter if you use a 100W charger, or a 20W charger, that’s how long it takes.

In terms of capacity, it was able to charge my iPhone 12 from flat to full in around 2 hours, with 50% left to spare – giving me potentially two charges. It does matter which iPhone you have though with larger batteries draining more power.

Anker gives some stats for the iPhone 15 specifically with the MagGo Qi2 Power Bank able to wirelessly charge it to 50% in just 44 minutes – or to 60% using the wired charging option in just 30 minutes. 

While the Anker MagGo Qi2 Power Bank is really marketed towards the iPhone – compatible with iPhone 12, 13, 14 and 15 – you can charge other devices wirelessly. The alignment component doesn’t work on older non-Qi2 compatible devices, so you’ll have to charge them with the power bank laying flat, and at Qi(1) (7.5W) speeds, or just plug in a USB-C cable to charge at 20W which is pretty decent.

So far there’s been no issues with heat while charging the power bank itself, nor while charging phones. Anker says the powerbank monitors temperature more than 3 million times per day, and I haven’t had any issues with heat at all.

Should you buy it?

If you have an iPhone 12 or above above, and have a need for a smart power bank giving you almost 2 full charges, this is a great option. 

The magnets are great, supporting and aligning the phone automatically and the 15W wireless charging is excellent. 

At $149.95 it’s a bit pricey, however it’s a solid option from a reputable brand and offers all the benefits of Qi2 features with fallback to slower wireless charging for other devices. It also has the convenient built-in stand which is fantastic for keeping an eye on notifications, or just watching a video.

You can check out the Anker MagGo Qi2 Power Bank (10K) over at the Anker website.