Anker PowerCore 10000 Review

Anker PowerCore 10000 Review Quick Summary

Anker PowerCore 10000 was an excellent ultra-light portable charger when it was released. However, in 2021, Anker has much better PowerCore chargers in 10000 mah capacity that offer much faster charging for latest smartphones and also much faster charging of the power bank.  We recommend PowerCore 10000 USB-C PD (for latest iPhones and Samsung S/Note phones) as it will fast-charge your latest phones two-three times as fast as PowerCore 10000 and also get charged at more than twice its speed.

Pros

• Very light. At 6.3 oz (190 grams) it is still Anker’s lightest 10000 mah portable charger
• Charges all iPhones at twice the speed (10 watt/2 amp) of Apple’s original iPhone charger (5 watt/1 amp)
• Charges Android phones from zero to 50% in about 50-60 minutes (2 to 2.4 amp charging)
• Charges iPads as fast as iPad wall chargers (10-12 watt)
• Adequate capacity to fully charge iPhone 8/7/6s three times, and charge iPhone 12, 11, 11 Pro, XR/XS/X, 7+ and Samsung S21, S20, S10/S9/S8/S7 two times
• Robust, reliable build quality
• Good, lightweight choice for iPhone 7, 7 Plus and earlier if you are OK with 6-7 hour charging time of the portable charger and do not wish to upgrade your phone soon
• Anker’s excellent customer support

Cons

• Takes very long to charge. Gets charged in minimum 6-7 hours.
• Much better, more feature-rich, and faster charging Anker PowerCore portable chargers are available at similar or lower price now.
• No USB-C input port for charging the power bank – especially handy for Android phones. Almost all modern Android phones now come with USB-C wall chargers and USB-C input allows you to directly use your phone’s charger to charge the power bank without switching cables every time. We recommend PowerCore 10000 USB-C PD as excellent Anker USB-C PD power bank.

Anker PowerCore 10000 Charging Features

PowerCore 10000 is Anker’s plain vanilla 10000 mah portable charger. This portable charger’s single best feature is its class-leading low-weight of 6.3 oz (190 grams) which makes it the lightest premium 10000 mah power bank even today.

The portable charger offers 2.4 amp maximum charging output featuring Anker’s PowerIQ auto-device charging current detection technology. This means it can charges all iPhones, including the latest XS/XR/8 etc. at more than twice the speed of original Apple iPhone wall chargers (1 amp or 5 watt) or about zero to 50% in 40-50 minutes. It will also charge all Samsung phones including S10, S9, S8/S7/S6 and almost all other Android phones at charging speeds of zero to 50% in 50 to 60 mins (2.4 amp maximum charging). Anker PowerCore 10000 also charges iPads at same speed as iPad original wall chargers.

The true 10000 mah capacity of Anker PowerCore 10000 allows it to fully charge all small-screen iPhones three times (iPhone 8, 7, 6s, 6, SE). It full charges all large-screen iPhones (iphone XS/XR/X/8+/7+/6s+) more than two times (2.5 times to be exact). PowerCore 10000   also fully charges Samsung S10, S9, S8, S7, S6, Note 8, two times and charges S10+, S9+ about 1.5 times.

PowerCore 10000 supports a maximum input charging current of 2 amps. This means this portable charger gets fully charged from empty in about 6-7 hours with a 2.1 to 2.4-amp charger (or any Samsung S/Note/J/A series charger or any iPad charger). In our opinion, this is the single biggest flaw of this portable charger if you plan to use it daily. An iPhone power adaptor ( 1 amp) will take about 14-15 hours to charge it! Such long charging times are not acceptable in 2019 when much much faster low-cost wall chargers are available easily. In fact, most Samsung/LG/ and other Android phones come with very capable power adaptors that will charge newer power banks such as PowerCore 10000 PD in just 3.5-4 hours.

If you have a new Android phone, then another missing thing in PowerCore 10000 is the USB-C port. Most new Android phones these days come with USB-C power adaptors. PowerCore 10000 gets charged via micro-USB and this means you have to swap the cable of your phone’s charger every time with a micro-USb cable to charge the PowerCore 10000. Anker currently offers two portable chargers with USB-C input (PowerCore Lite 10000 and fast-charging PowerCore 10000 PD). Both of these can be simply charged directly with your Samsung/Android power adaptor without shuffling with a new cable.

PowerCore 10000 also does not support charging of ultra-low current devices such as wireless earbuds, smartwatches etc. that come. Most new Anker PowerCore power banks support this feature.

Even if you have an iPhone, it is better to get another plain vanilla Anker charger such as PowerCore 10000 Lite (extra features: 7oz, slim and USB-C input, low-current device charging input) or PowerCore 10000 Redux (extra features: 6.8 oz, low-current device charging support and more handy build).

The one feature where PowerCore 10000 still wins is weight. At 6.3 oz (190 grams), it still remains Anker’s lightest 10000 mah power bank and if you simply need a plain vanilla dependable ultra-light portable charger and are fine with its 6-7 hour charging-time, it is a great buy.

Anker PowerCore 10000 Design and Build

PowerCore 10000 is a very robustly build portable charger with an understated squarish design and matte finish. The dual-layer polycarbonate shell makes it resistant to bumps and the build-quality and finish is top-notch.

The charger has one USB port for charging devices and one micro-USB port for charging the power bank. It has four-blue battery indicator lights, which do the job but are again are not as good as 8-point indicators on newer Powercores.

Anker PowerCore 10000 vs PowerCore 10000 PD

If you have any of the latest iPhones (iPhone 12, 11, XR/XS/XS Max/X/8/8 Plus or any Google Pixel, or any new Android USB-C phone, then Anker’s new PowerCore 10000 PD is a  highly recommended premium portable charger. USB-C PD is a future-ready charging standard and PowerCore 10000 PD delivers 18-watt USB-C PD charging that allows you to charge the latest iPhones iPhone 12, 11, XR/XS/XS Max/X/8/8 Plus, all Google Pixels, and all new Samsung/LG  phones from zero to 50% in just 0 minutes.

PowerCore 10000 PD is also a great choice if you have an older iPhone and plan to upgrade in future as all upcoming iPhones and iPads come with 18-watt USB-C PD charging that charge latest iPhones three times as fast as the standard Apple 5-watt iPhone charger. It will charge earlier iPhones (7, 7 Plus and older) at twice the speed of Apple chargers)

The time taken to fully charge the PowerCore 10000 PD is also lowest among all Anker 10000 mah chargers. PowerCore 10000 PD will get charged in just 3.5 hours with any 18-watt USB-C PD charger (or Macbook charger or Pixel charger). If you have a new iPhone (12, 11, XR etc), the PD charger will also double as fast-charger for your phone, charging it from zero to 50% in 30 minutes.

PowerCore 10000 PD is hands down the most future-ready of all Anker power banks and at 6.8 oz (200 grams) it weighs close to PowerCore 10000 as well.

Anker PowerCore 10000 vs PowerCore II 10000

PowerCore II Slim 10000 and PowerCore II 10000 are Anker’s much newer power banks when compared to PowerCore 10000. PowerCore II Slim 10000, or PowerCore II 10000 will charge all Samsung phones and most Android phones in half the time (zero to 50% in 30 minutes) taken by PowerCore 10000 (zero to 50% in 50-60 minutes).

However, please note that all these three power  banks (PowerCore II Slim 10000 / PowerCore II 10000 or PowerCore 10000) will charge all iPhones at same rate – zero to 50% in 40-50 mins.

Also both PowerCore II Slim  10000 and PowerCore II 10000 will get fully charged from empty in 3.5 to 4 hours compared to 6-7 hours taken by PowerCore 10000.

You can use either your Samsung or most other Android phone chargers to charge the two PowerCore II power banks in about 4 hours. If you have iPhones, you can  get an inexpensive Quickcharge 3.0 charger for charging PowerCore II Slim  10000 and PowerCore II 10000 in 3.5 hours. Another benefit of getting a Quickcharge 3.0  charger is that it will charge your iPhones twice as fast as original Apple iPhone charger.

Anker PowerCore 10000 vs PowerCore 10000 Lite

PowerCore 10000 Lite is one step higher than PowerCore 10000 but one step lower than PowerCore 10000 USB-C PD.

Please note that both  PowerCore 10000 Lite and PowerCore 10000 Redux offers exactly same charging performance/speed for Samsung or Android phones or iPhones as PowerCore 10000. All these three power banks also get charged at same speed (6-7 hours).

PowerCore 10000 Redux has two extra features over PowerCore 10000 – it comes in a new long, narrow design and offers low-current chraging mode for wireless earbuds/smartphones etc.

PowerCore 10000 Lite has three extra features over PowerCore 10000 – it comes in a new flat, slim phone type design, has an extra USB-C port for charging the power bank, and offers low-current charging mode for wireless earbuds/smartphones etc.

As you can see, there is not any difference in charging/recharge times between these three power banks. Hence, we recommend that if you want a plain simple powerbank and do not need fast-charging, it is best to compare the latest price of these three power banks and buy accordingly.

However, our recommendation is to spend a bit more and go for PowerCore II Slim  10000 and PowerCore II 10000 as both these will get charged in hal the time taken by PowerCore 10000/Redux or Lite. Especially if you have Samsung or other Android phones, as PowerCore II Slim  10000 and PowerCore II 10000 will charge Samsungs in half the time as well.