UPDATE PowerCore III 10000mah Wireless REVIEW

[paulstevenewing]

Hey All

Recently i was one of a lucky few to be picked to test the new PowerCore III 10k Wireless.

Thanks @AnkerOfficial

Here’s a short review, but first…

Anker has a great community forum with regular reliable contributors who will lend a helping hand if you have any “real world” questions on products. It’s full of user reviews, product and new release information, product testing opportunities and a section to trade virtual “bucks” earned by forum participation for entries into the Power Draw giving you a chance to win some great prizes. Check it out here;

https://community.anker.com

Anker produces PowerCores in various sizes, outputs and connections so there’s one to suit your requirements.
Don’t believe me?
Check out the link below and tell me in the comments what other brands offer that Anker doesn’t;

Power Banks & Portable Chargers

Onto the PowerCore!

Brief Spec,

10000mah. 5w, 7.5w and 10w wireless charging. 18w output USB C.

Unboxing,

Pretty standard affair.
Familiar blue and white box safely holding the PowerCore, USB C-C cable and a net pouch.

First Impressions,

Feels light but solid. Nice textured top with a rubber ring to stop the phone slipping when wireless charging.
USB C-C cable is a welcomed addition.
It rattles when shaked, I’ll need to investigate this.

In Use,

Ok, so let’s get a little techie!

Charging the PowerCore from empty took 4hrs 45min with an 18w Nano.

Starting draw was 17w, dropping to 9w around half way and to 3w from 75% to full.

Temperature while charging PowerCore 36°c front and 31°c back.

Wireless Charging Samsung Galaxy S20+

Phone was completely discharged with Airplane mode on.

Phone from flat phone showed 2hr 45m until full.
Phone to 25% - 36m
Phone to 50% - 1hr 12m
Phone to 75% - 1hr 55m
Phone to 100% - 2hr 34m

The PowerCore charged the phone from completely flat to full - 1 full charge plus 38%

The Samsung has a 4500mah battery. That gives a total wireless output of 6210mah.

Temperature of PowerCore with phone at 50% charge - 39°c front 43°c back.

Wired Charging USB C Samsung Galaxy S20+ using a PowerLine+ USB C-C

Phone was completely discharged with Airplane mode on.

Phone from flat showed 1hr 32m until full.
Phone to 25% - 22m draw 14.3w (8.44v at 1.69A)
Phone to 50% - 43m draw 14.3w (8.41v at 1.7A)
Phone to 75% - 1hr 3m draw 14.3w (8.44v at 1.69A)
Phone to 100% - 1hr 33m draw 3.1w (8.75v at 0.36A)

Draw from phone started to reduce when it got to 82% charge.
Voltage then remained constant at 8.75 as the amps reduced until the phone was at 100%

The PowerCore charged the phone from completely flat to full - 1 full charge plus 52%

So with a 4500mah battery. That gives a total wired output of 6840mah.

Temperature of PowerCore with phone at 50% charge - 35°c front 31°c back. This was measured at the end with the ports.

Wired Charging USB A Port Samsung Galaxy S20+ using PowerLine II Gen2 USB A-C

Phone was completely discharged with Airplane mode on.

Phone from flat showed 1hr 32m until full.
Phone to 25% - 22m draw 14.5w (8.58v at 1.69A)
Phone to 50% - 42m draw 14.5w (8.55v at 1.69A)
Phone to 75% - 1hr 2m draw 14.5w (8.54v at 1.69A)
Phone to 100% - 1hr 33m draw 5.1w (8.63v at 0.6A)

Draw from phone started to reduce when it got to 81% charge.
Voltage then remained constant at 8.62 as the amps reduced until the phone was at 100%

The PowerCore charged the phone from completely flat to full - 1 full charge plus 53%

So with a 4500mah battery. That gives a total wired USB A output of 6885mah

Temp at 50% charge with phone sitting on the PowerCore for the duration - front 34.8° back 33.6°

Wireless VS Wired Summary

Wireless - 0 to 100% 2hr 34m
Wired - 0 to 100% 1hr 33min
USB A and C performed as good as identically.
Wireless charging had 10% less output over wired.

Who would use this?

Anyone that needs portable power to keep those devices topped up while away from a wall socket.
Whether you hike, bike, fish or camp this is a worth while device to have in your travel pack.

Pros,

Supports 5w, 7.5w and 10w wireless charging.
18w USB C output.
50% charge in just over 40 minutes wired (this will vary depending on device)
Trickle charge for buds and small devices.
Light weight.
Pop out phone stand.
Sensible recharge time.

Cons,

The pouch is just a little to short, it doesn’t enclose the PowerCore completely.
Pop out phone stand rattles when closed.
It wont charge the Galaxy Watch. Although I’m sure this is down to Samsung, not Anker. Compatibility would have been a big benefit to me.

Button not easy to press as its small and recessed - I need to press with my nail not finger.

Other Observations,

Wired charging output to my phone dropped to 5.3w when wirelessly charging my buds at the same time.
This would have made the wireless charge time of my phone from flat to 3hr 32m.

While charging my phone wired, if I dropped the phone onto the wireless pad it continues to charge via the wired connection.

While plugged into the mains wireless charging is always active/on.

When not plugged into the mains, the button needs to be pressed to activate wireless charging.

Wireless charging stays active for 1min after pressing the button or removing a device while it was wireless charging.

It has one of those USB A sockets (?) built in - not sure what you would ever do with this?

This PowerCore makes a whirring noise when wireless charging. More noticeable when charging buds as the PowerCore is more exposed. It’s noticeable at night when on the bedside cabinet. It’s not loud, but once you hear it’s quite annoying.
I don’t get this on my Anker wireless stand or pad so not sure if this unit is performing as it should or has technical problems.

Conclusions,

I really enjoy carrying this around.

I’ve decided not to use it as a mains powered wireless charger, although that may change as time passes.
This is my carry everywhere PowerCore and it’s getting a lot of use. So much so, I’ll be excited to see a 15k or 20k mah version.

I’ve used it to wirelessly charge my phone while connected to the PowerConf. It’s a much tidier and professional looking completely cable free solution.

It’s main use has been to drop my phone on while in a cafe or pub and when taking a break at work to add a quick 25 - 50% charge. And think this would be most people’s main use for this.

If you have any questions or would like me to test something for you please drop me a message below and I’ll do y best for you.

[Shivam_Shah]

Excellent review and photos! I noticed that there was about 3k+ mah not accounted for when charging your phone. Does that mean it has a reserve “bank” to avoid damages to the cell? Because losing 3000 mah in efficiency loss seems quite a bit even for wireless charging

[paulstevenewing]

Hey @Shivam_Shah
No mate, that’s purely loss of energy in the transfer process.
PowerCores are about 70% efficient, with the difference mainly being lost in heat production.

[Shivam_Shah]

Oh wow. Didn’t know efficiency would be as bad. I’ll be honest that I don’t know much about efficiency but losing 30% in heat seems quite a bit

[paulstevenewing]

I think that’s a downside of storing and then transferring stored energy - it’s not an efficient use of energy.
I think energy is best used as it’s created.
But there are others here who are much more knowledgable on the subject than I!

[Shivam_Shah]

Hmm yea that could be it

[ndalby]

Good thorough review @paulstevenewing

[paulstevenewing]

Thanks @ndalby appreciate it mate

[professor]

So no surprise there Paul, a good review.

The surprise is the wireless vs wired is not a greater difference. Should be about 15% difference but I’m seeing 10% difference, the temperature difference 35°c front 31°c back. / 39°c front 43°c back does also suggest a bit more than 10% difference. I’m wondering if this Powercore’s 9V is less efficient than it’s 5V? May be the fact the 15W is less efficient than the 7.5W, or the temperature difference is purely phone being next to Powercore so they kept each other warmer.

Could you do the wired phone empty -phone full- phone empty - til Powercore empty test using the USB-A port?

Could you wired charged with the phone on the Powercore so see if that’s the source of heat (next to each other) ?

[paulstevenewing]

Thanks @professor
I was also surprised how close the wireless/wired output was.
I will say those S20’s certainly generate a lot of heat, much much more than the 11 Pro I had. But hard to say if that has any impact on the PowerCore.

I’ll give the USB A output a whirl and take the temperature readings at the same time.

[professor]

Thanks, To see if wired phone on / off has any effect on temperature there’s no need to do it for a full cycle, just say 10 - 15 mins til conduction and convection balance.

So when @onstar did his tests of the Powercore 20000 PD , we found the iPad lost more energy when given higher voltage.

I’m hypothesising the Samsung phone is losing energy taking the higher voltage from PD stepping down it’s own 3.8V cells hence narrowing the gap.

After you did this then you’d have wired USB-A , wired USB-C , wireless efficient comparison.

[paulstevenewing]

Should be able to get that completed Saturday night @professor

[Duane_Lester]

Nice review and good follow answers to questions

[rhoffman0528]

Great review, I appreciate you actually took a real temp reading.

[Daiross]

Awesome review and photos Paul! Great job!

[TheSnarkyOne]

Crackin review @paulstevenewing

Well supported with the photos, and some cool gadgets you have to test power draw.

I also appreciate you taking on questions and doing more testing.

Well done

[Chiquinho]

Excellent review and good photos.
Perfect Paul!

[paulstevenewing]

Thanks so much for your comments.
@Duane_Lester @rhoffman0528 @Daiross @TheSnarkyOne @Chiquinho

Hope you all have an amazing day.

[ikari04warrior]

Such a great review needs to be stickied

[paulstevenewing]

Thanks for your support @ikari04warrior