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I like this type of product. It can act as a wall charger or a portable power bank, and it has enough juice to eliminate any battery anxiety when hitting the road for a long day.

Anker Prime 9600 mAh power bank  

It doesn't feel as heavy as I thought it would. But it does feel solid. I'm not a fan of the huge glossy front that collects smudges all too easily. The rounded design should mean less potential damage to other gear in your bag if things get rough. The finely-ridged sides feel nice. I prefer the more minimalist design of Anker's previous generation products, but this isn't bad.

I can't picture how I'd use the lanyard with something this large and heavy, but it's easy to remove.

This is part Anker's "Prime" lineup, which means it includes three specific technologies: First is PowerIQ, which ensures maximum charging speed even with the proprietary charging protocols on some phone models. The second is GaN, a special kind of chip that handles high power and heat better than traditional silicon, allowing high-wattage chargers to be much smaller. The third is relatively new: dynamic power distribution. This ensures optimal charging speed for each device when you have multiple devices plugged in.

A full-color display may not seem necessary on a product like this, and I generally hate one-button interfaces that require you to memorize what a long press does vs. a double-press.

user interface  

So I was pleasantly surprised that the display has some useful functions, and that it clearly tells you right on the display how to operate it. Just press the button to flip between settings screens. Then on each screen, it will say "Press twice to switch" and "Long Press to Exit Settings". It's always clear how to work it, which I really appreciate.

vs. Anker 521  

I have and use (and love) the older Anker 521 power bank shown above. It only has a 5,000 mAh capacity (about half) and charges devices more slowly (20W in battery mode, 45W in charger mode). But it's been great for me.

Despite having nearly double the capacity of mine, this new model doesn't seem twice as large. And yet, it is of course larger; perhaps too big for me, personally. But it would be perfect for anyone that really needs that extra juice to make sure they get through the whole day with multiple devices.

It's available now for about $90 on Amazon.

Phone Scoop earns a small commission from affiliate links to Amazon.

Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.

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