Anker PowerCore Solar 20000 review

#1

I bought the Anker PowerCore Solar 20000 during the last Amazon sale in Canada, so I figured I’d share the review with the community:

I own about 6 Anker products and so far they have all been great, hope that Anker keeps building solid products.

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#2

Thank you for sharing this!
Its always good to know someone who has such an item and is
able to answer questions about.
Please stay here and join our small but exclusive family! :rofl:

#3

Sure thing, thanks for the hospitality :smiley:

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#4

Friendliness is free.
And we are happy to meet such people like you!
A warm welcome!

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#5

Great to see a review on this product @marcel.leica
I often laugh that such a product isn’t designed for the English market as we only get 1 day of sunshine a year :rofl:

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#6

Honestly the small solar panel isn’t the main selling feature of this for me either.

Based on what I’ve been reading about solar panels peak output is somewhere around 14W/square foot, and this being about a tenth of a square foot, you can probably expect a 1.4W output per hour in full California sun. I have kept the unit in full sun for a few days and still haven’t registered a 25% increase yet.

For me the main selling features are the ruggedness, waterproofing, build quality and big capacity. Now if I do go somewhere sunny (e.g. beach) getting even a 10% boost to its already nice capacity is a bonus.

A lot of people expect magic either on the solar charging side or also for wireless chargers. As long as the expectations are realistic and grounded in physics then they will be met.

#7

It’s even worse than that.

The charging electronics (technically a buck-boost converter) consumes some power itself to turn the solar photovolataic energy into 4.2V for the cells.

Then the cells create heat as a by product of the chemical energy storage.

These combined are typically losing about half the energy, means you’re likely going to see half the effect of what you’d calculate just by the size of the panel.

So of the solar panel, it will only be capable of making net energy after the conversion in the brightest conditions.

Then the issue is the brightest conditions then tend to be also the hottest conditions, so you tend to accelerate the aging process - the heat cooks the lithium - so your product lifespan is lower.

When you add the fact the small solar panel will barely do anything useful, and if you try to use it you age the product, with the high price for such a 20000mAh, it is up there as one of the worst purchase decisions someone can make.

Far better is to get a huge solar panel and just a regular 20000 - actually the 26800 with dual input is a good match, or to give up on solar and just carry more Powercore instead.

I am not happy Anker made the product, it causes the bad purchase decision to be made and then the long term reviews which necessarily have to be negative, then hurts the brand needlessly.

My advice is to use the built-in at high altitude where the UV is stronger and the temperatures lower, or to not use the solar panel at all and keep the Powercore in shade so it lasts the longest time, to not use solar at all and carry more Powercore, or invest in a larger panel (21W is a good product) and keep Powercore in cooler shade.

Analogy of what the product is:

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#8

Nice review :ok_hand:

#9

Great review! Just the type of review I was looking for

#10

We have just a half in Germany Paul! :joy:

#11

Love the Reliant Robin :rofl:. You are correct that at full price there are other banks available with better power characteristics.
I bought it at a 35% off discount when on sale, so hopefully not as bad of a purchase decision as the Robin, and as I mentioned, I like its other characteristics including ruggedness and water resistance.

#12

I spend days outside in all weathers, camping, hiking, biking. I’ve had some kind of portable power for 15 years, initially just AA batteries in a USB case, now Powercore, usually 10000PD or longer off-grid 20000PD.

Ruggedness I get from what I carry it in, for hiking I wrap it clothing.

Waterproof I get from waterproof bags.

My last Powercore purchase was 20000PD paid £25.

I have the 21W Anker solar panel but I prefer the Choetech just because it has a zipped pouch.

I used to carry solar if I was out for more than 3 days as 10000mAh took 8 hours recharge, but since the 20000PD with recharge in a few hours I stopped using solar as 20000 is enough for a week and I pass power sockets enough hours to keep 20000 from empty.

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