Anker reliability

#1

How reliable are the portable chargers. I do not have one and I would like to know how long they last which would help me out a lot so I could hopefully get one.

#2

So not 100% reliable but these are general points:

  • the cables tend to fail most often. Anker has VoltageBoost which will increase the voltage (a little) to push through a worn cable but that act increases the load on the Powercore. So check your cables!

  • Lithium Ion technology is much better than predecessors like NiMi and NiCA, but still suffer from deterioration of their capacity over 500 deep cycles. More partial cycle equate to a deep cycle, so 1000 half-drained times of a Powercore of 2000 quarter-drained, are similar.

  • Heat ages them faster, so if you store them in cooler (but not freezing) places, they last longer.

So pick some example uses:

  • A Powercore+ Mini 3300mah if you drained it daily to do one full phone recharge, you’d expect it to be significantly deteriorated after 18 months or so.
  • A Powercore 10000, recharging a phone daily, would become partially discharged, so you’d expect it last 5 years. However, if you kept that Powercore 10000 stored on a sunny shelf it would age faster, and not last 5 years, probably 3-4 years.

You have a 18 month warranty, so you see how you’d really have to really use your Powercore a lot to make it die from use before 18 months, but how much longer than 18 months it lasts is a function of how you use it and store it when not in use.

Make sense?

I have about 3 -4 year old Powercores still working, the larger capacity types I tend to now use for home backup power, the newer ones are denser and I travel with. I bought other non-Anker items 3-4 years and they all died apart from Anker. Impressed!

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#3

To test product durability, you have to pay by yourself.:grin:

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#4

My brother still has the astro gen 1, the only broken parts is the input port (which i dount it’s his fault), but still.

#5

I have a 4-year old Astro power bank that is still going strong, although I have noticed the capacity has decreased slightly. That’s normal for rechargeable batteries.

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#6

Ehh 5/7, durable to small drops. Batteries last 18 months max

#7

Depends on usage and maintenance of the cells i.e. discharge then recharge once a month. I personally use my battery Bank about as much as anybody can and they’re holding up great. As for durability I have dropped my powercore II 20000mah on hard surfaces a number of times with only minor scuffs, very solid build. Probably the most durable out there with the exception of rugged rubberized battery Banks designed for outdoor use but considering the added weight and size of those banks the power Core Series is more than enough for me. I would not trust the internal Electronics of any other manufacturer anyway just doesn’t feel right connecting your $800 phone to a cheaply-made power bank. Anker might have more reasonable prices but never sacrifices on the internal Electronics.

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#8

My oldest is two years old and it still works as if it were new. I would highly recommend you buying one.

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