Anker PowerCore II 10000 Review

4.0 stars out of 5

Review Summary: NO USB-C port in 2021 is a big issue! Good 18-watt fast-charging power bank for all Samsung S/Note/A series, LG/Moto Android phones, and older iPhones (7, 7 Plus and older) if you have an old micro-USB charger lying around. However, it does not have USB-C PD fast-charging and hence can not fast charge latest iPhones 12 series, 11, 11 Pro, Pro Max, XR/XS/Max/X/8/8+ from zero to 60% in 30 minutes. Lack of USB-C port is a big issue as all new iPhones support USB-C fast charging and all new Android phones these days also come with USB-C chargers and USB-C ports.

We instead recommend Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 USB-C PD or  ZMI 10000 USB-C PD as both can do everything it does but also have 18-watt USB-C PD input/output support for latest iPhones and USB-C Android phones.

PowerCore II 10000 is a compact and ultralight fast-charging portable charger Anker PowerCore II 10000 offers a combination of features that strike a good balance between battery capacity, price, weight and fast charging features that makes it a portable charger suitable for a wide variety of requirements and smartphone types including all the iPhones and the latest Samsung and other Android smartphones. We are going to explain this powerbank’s features in detail and test its performance in detail in this review.

Anker PowerCore II 10000 Charging Features

Anker PowerCore II 10000 is one of Anker’s most advanced power banks in the 10000 mAH battery capacity (almost four full charges for iPhones 8/7/6s, and 2.5 charges for iPhone 12/11, XR/XS/X, 8 Plus, & 7 Plus, and latest Android smartphones such as S10, S10+, S9, S8, S7, LG V30 etc.. This portable charger is a comprehensive update of the previous PowerCore 10000 model,  which is currently also available in the market at a lower price.

PowerCore II 1000 features a completely updated design with a textured grippy outer surface. PowerCore II 10000 is highly scratch and fingerprint resistant due to the new design and this is a welcome design upgrade over old PowerCore 10000. PowerCore II 10000  also has the new clickable button with a six-point battery status display. This button is much more ergonomic to use and view the status of the powerbank than the older side-button and 4-point indicator on the side.

PowerCore II 10000 is a very lightweight portable charger, weigh just 6.9 oz(195 grams) with dimensions of 3.8 x 2.4 x 0.9 inches. However, the older PowerCore 10000 is lighter at 6.3 oz (180 gms). Still, PowerCore II 10000 is one of the lightest 10000 mAH powerbanks in the market. The .9 inches thickness of PowerCore II 10000 does not make it very pocketable. If you want a slim powerbank, then we recommend the excellent (and lower priced) PowerCore II Slim 10000 with its .6 inch thickness and exact same fast charging features as PowerCore II 10000 .

The highlight feature of PowerCore II 10000 is 18-watt fast charging output and 18-watt fast charging input. 18-watt fast charging output enables PowerCore II 10000 to charge all Samsung smartphones including S10/S9/Note 9/8 at their fastest charging speed of zero to 50% in 30 minutes.

18-watt fast charging input means that you can fully charge the power bank in just 3.5 hours with a QuickCharge wall charger (or your phone’s supplied fast charger such as Samsung wall charger)

PowerCore II 10000 vs PowerCore 10000 vs PowerCore II Slim 1000 vs PowerCore+ 100050 vs Anker PowerCore Speed 10000 QC

Anker currently offers five powerbank models in 10000 mah range. All the 5 portable chargers have one USB charging port. Here is a brief overview of each model and how they differ from each other.

PowerCore 10000 is the lightest and most compact model with just 6.3 oz weight (180 gm) and 12 watt max output. It is also Anker’s lowest priced 10000 mAh powerbank as well. This portable charger is best suited if you simply want the lightest and most compact power bank at a minimum price. This portable charger fast charges iPhones at twice the speed of Apple’s stock iPhone chargers and charges iphones at speeds of about zero to 50% in 40-50 minutes . It calso charges Android phones at a maximum charging speed of 2.4 amp or 12 watt (zero to 35-50% charge for most phones in about 45 minutes) and gets fully charged in 5.5 hours using a 2 amp wall charger.

PowerCore II 10000 is a 18-watt fast charging powerbank and weighs 6.9 oz (195 gm). This powerbank supports the fastest charging mode (18-watt max or Quickcharge 2.0 equivalent) for the latest Samsung smartphones including S10, S10+, S9, S9+, S8, S8+, Note 8, S7, etc. Fast charge allows you to charge your phone from zero to 50% in 30 minutes. It will also charge iPhones at 12 watt max charging speed (twice the speed of Apple’s stock iPhone chargers or about 50% in 40-50 minutes). The powerbank also has fast input charging meaning you can fully charge the powerbank using the samsung phone charger or any Quickcharge wall charger in just 4 hours.

Anker PowerCore II Slim 10000 is a 18-watt slim fast charge powerbank and weighs 7.4 oz (210 gm) . This portable charger also supports the fastest charging mode (18-watt max or Quickcharge 2.0 compatible) for all the the latest Samsung smartphones including S10, S9, S9+, Note 5, S8, S8+, Note 8, S7, etc. This means that this powerbank allows you to quickly top-up your smartphone to 50% just in 30 minutes. The key design highlight of PowerCore II Slim 10000 is its .6 inches slim form factor that allows you to easily pocket it or hold it in the hand with the phone.

This portable charger charges iPhones at maximum 12 watt charging speed (approximately 50% in 45 minutes). PowerCore II Slim 10000 also supports 18-watt fast input charging that lets you fully recharge it with a Quickcharge wall charger in 4 hours.

PowerCore+ 10050 is a 18-watt QuickCharge 3.0 Input/Output powerbank weighing 8.4 oz (240 gm). This is a rather older model powerbank (hence heavier) and is best suited for QC 3.0 phones only such as LG V30, V20. G5, G6, etc. Samsung phones including newest S9/S9+ support up to QC 2.0 only and if you have a Samsung phone, than PowerCore II 10000  or PowerCore II Slim 10000  are better (and lower cost) choice. If you have a Quickcharge 3.0 phone, then this portable phone charger will charge the phone to about 70% in about 30 minutes. PowerCore+ 10050 can be charged using a QC 3.0 wall charger in 3.5 hours.

Anker PowerCore Speed 10000 QC is a 24-watt QuickCharge 3.0 Output only (No QC Input) powerbank weighing 7 oz (198 gm). This is suited for QC 3.0 phones and has slightly better charging performance for QC 3.0 phones than PowerCore+ 10050 (about 80% in 30 minutes) due to the higher 24 watt output. Again, this powerbank is not recommended if you have a Samsung smartphone as Samsungs have QC 2.0 only, and PowerCore II 10000  or PowerCore II Slim 10000  are lighter and lower priced powerbanks that will charge your Samsung phones to its maximum charging speed.

Please note that Anker PowerCore Speed 10000 QC does not have Quickcharge input  and takes 5.5 hours to charge using a 2 amp wall charger.

To summarize,

If you have a newer iPhone (iPhone 12, 11, 11 Pro/Max, XR, XS, XS Max, and iPhone X, 8, 8 Plus)

The newest iPhones can be charged at an incredible speed of zero to 60% in 30 minutes with USB-C PD portable chargers (or USB-C PD power adaptors). All you need is a USB-C to Lightning cable and a USB-C PD portable chargers (or a USB-C PD power adaptor).

The best USB-C PD portable charger option currently is the Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 PD. This power bank charges all latest iPhones  zero to 60% in 30 minutes and can be fully charged from empty in just 3.5 hours with any USB-C PD power adaptor (or any Macbook charger).

PowerCore 10000 PD will also charge all older iPhones at twice the speed (10-watt) of Apple iPhone charger (5-watt). It has two ports, which lets you fast-charge your new phone from the USB-C port and simultaneously fast-charge any older iphone from the second port.

If you have a Samsung smartphone (S21, S20, S10, S10+, S10e, S9, S9+, Note 20, 10/9/8, S8, S8+, S7, S6):

If you want quick top up of zero to 50% in 30 minutes and want a powerbank that can be recharged in 4 hrs with your phone charger, select  Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 PD.

If you want the least cost, slim, light and compact 10000 mah powerbank and are fine with 40-50% battery charging in 45 minutes, select PowerCore Slim 10000. It will get recharged in 7-8 hrs with the Samsung chargers.

If you have an earlier iPhone (iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6s, 6, 6s+, 6+, SE, 5s)

PowerCore Slim 10000 is the most value for money choice as iPhone 7 and earlier will not get charged any faster with a more expensive power bank. Your Apple iPhone charger will charge it in about 12 hours. It will charge iPhones 12, 11, X, XR, 8, 7, 6s, 5s at fast charging speed with zero to 50% charge in 40-50 minutes.

As you will be upgrading your phone soon, we recommend Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 PD as the future-proof option. It charges your current iPhone 7, 6s etc at fastest possible speed, and will also charge your future iPhone 11/12/13 etc at fast USB-C PD speeds.

If you have a Quickcharge 3.0 compatible smartphone (LG V30, V20, G6, G5, HTC U11, U10): See Complete list of QC 3.0 phones here

Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 PD  (7oz light and quickharge compatible charging) is great as both are priced the same.

Of course, the much lower priced PowerCore Slim 10000 is excellent as well, if quick top up is not that important.  PowerCore Slim 10000 will charge most Android phones to about 40-50% in 45 minutes which is an excellent charging speed.

Charging Performance

We tested PowerCore II with four phone models (iPhone 8, Samsung S8, and LG V20). Iphone 8 has a much smaller battery of 1821 mAh while the other phones have 3000 mAh battery.

The noticeable thing with PowerCore II 10000 is the lack of any heating up that is the case with older fast charging power banks. PowerCore II 10000 charged iPhone 8 from 20% to 80% in just 45 minutes which is faster than expected with 100% charge in 1 hour 7 minutes. Samsung S8 was charged from 20% to 100% in slightly less than 40 minutes while LG V20 was charged from 20% to 100% in 44 minutes.

PowerCore II 10000 fully charged iPhone 8 from 20% to 100% four times. It also fully charged the Samsung S8 and LG V20 which have much bigger batteries from 0% to 100% two times.

Charging voltages are smooth throughout with hardly any noticeable heating, indicating high-quality batteries and charging circuits.

Design

There are many significant design changes in the new PowerCore II 10000  that make it much more user friendly and convenient than the previous generation PowerCore 10000. The new PowerCore II 10000 has a scratch resistant textured outer surface that is also easy to grip. The portable charger also has a very convenient eight-place LED battery status indicator, conveniently located on a clickable round button. This feature, previously found in PowerCore+ 10050 is much more convenient than a side-button and the eight-point indicator gives much better idea of battery capacity than the traditional 4 LEDs on most powerbanks.

The powerbank has almost same dimensions (2.44 x 3.78 x 0.87 inches) as previous PowerCore 10000. PowerCore II 10000 weighs 7 ounces (210 gm) which is just slightly higher than the older version. Though it is quite compact, we are not a fan of its .87 inch thickness. We feel that Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 PD with its pocketable .6 inch thickness and phone-sized dimensions is a much better  design as you can hold Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 PD. easily in the hand along with the phone while charging.

PowerCore II 10000 has a quite sturdy build just like its predecessor PowerCore 10000 or Astro versions. The soft outer surface with a hardshell underneath makes it more drop-resistant han the previous portable chargers as the soft shell absorbs quite a bit of impact force.

The USB connectors on PowerCore II 10000  are sturdy and high-quality. Our only gripe is that the portable charger only has one USB charging port. Another charging port would have made it almost a perfect powerbank!

Verdict

Overall, we feel that PowerCore II 10000 was an excellent compact power bank with fastest 18-watt charge (50% in 30 mins) for the latest Samsung smartphones, and other LG/Moto Android smartphones  It is also great for Apple iPhones 7, 7 Plus and older, delivering fastest charging possible (12 watt) for iPhones 7, 7+, 6, 6S etc. However, It will NOT fast charge your latest iPhones 12, 11, 11 Pro, Pro Max, XR/XS/Max/X/8/8+ from zero to 50% in 30 minutes and charge them at a slower 12-watt fast charging speed (50% in about 1 hour).

We do however feel that in 2021, PowerCore Slim 10000 PD is a better alternative to PowerCore II 10000 as it offers USB-C PD charging, and a more slim and pocketable form factor in similar price range.

To summarize, If you want a pocketable slim fast charging power bank (7 oz) that is easy to hold in hand with the phone, gets charged in 4 hours, can give 2 full charges for Samsung S20, S10, S9, S8, S7, etc. and 3 full charges for iPhone 8, 7, 6, 6S etc. , and fast-charges Samsung phones to 50% in 30 minutes, fast charge your latest iPhones 12, 11, 11 Pro, Pro Max, XR/XS/Max/X/8/8+ from zero to 50% in 30 minutes, and gets charged via USB-C that come with Samsung/LG/Moto/Pixels then go for Anker PowerCore Slim 10000 PD or ZMI 10000 PD.