Anker Zolo Magnetic 10K Power Bank with USB-C Cable review: Wireless convenience plus wired fast-charging power

Best Prices Today: Anker Zolo 10K Magnetic Power Bank

$29.99

Wireless phone charging using Apple’s MagSafe magnetic technology has taken cumbersome power banks into a new realm of portable charging convenience.

No longer do you have to carry a snaking cable around with you to connect the power bank to your phone—and when connected the battery pack is clamped tightly to the phone rather than flapping around trying to detach its heavy self from the chain.

The only drawback to wireless charging is the speed. Most power banks are “MagSafe compatible” (charging at 7.5W) rather than “MagSafe certified” (15W) or Qi2 (15W). A couple of exceptions are the Anker MagGo 10K Slim Power Bank and Baseus Nomos Power Bank, which use the Qi2 wireless charging technology and is one of our favorite portable 10000mAh power banks.

Charging with a good old-fashioned cable is so much faster—theoretically up to 240W. An iPhone can’t—indeed won’t—accept that much power but can handle around 30W as a maximum. Samsung’s Super Fast Charger 2.0 tech takes some of its phones to an incredible 45W for even faster charging but Apple hasn’t reached that wireless speed yet.

You can achieve 30W charging with an iPhone but it requires a wired rather than wireless connection. That usually means you have to carry both a power bank and a cable around with you. However, Anker’s Zolo 10K Magnetic Power Bank features dual-charging modes: 7.5W wireless and 30W wired charging.

Alongside the MagSafe-compatible wireless charging pad, it features an integrated USB-C cable to give owners of the iPhone 15 and 16 easy access to double-speed charging power.

You can magnetically clamp your iPhone (from iPhone 12 onwards) onto the Zolo power bank and wirelessly charge at 7.5W just as you would with a standard MagSafe power bank.

Owners of the iPhone 15 or 16 can go one better and use the Zolo’s built-in USB-C cable to turn that charging power up to 30W. You double-click the power bank’s button to start wireless charging, but as soon as you insert the USB-C cable wireless charging is disabled and the 30W wired charge begins. Sadly you can’t get both 30W from the cable and the 7.5W from the wireless pad.

You can also re-charge the ower bank itself via the built-in USB-C cable, and again that means there’s no need to carry a separate cable around with you when you’re on your travels.

While owners of iPhones older than the 15 family might not be able to access the built-in wired charge speed, they too can use the cable to input power into the power bank itself via a wall charger. When those users upgrade to a USB-C phone, that USB-C cable will become available for both input and output.

Another option for owners of any iPhone older than the 15 or for groups with one older and one newer iPhone is the non-magnetic Anker Zolo Power Bank that has both built-in 30W USB-C and Lightning cables, pictured above. However, there’s no wireless option on this power bank.

Back to the USB-C-toting Magnetic Zolo Power Bank, the 5.5-inch braided cable securely tucks back into the power bank body when not in use, which protects it from damage and creates a handy carrying loop.

The Anker Zolo Magnetic 10K Power Bank isn’t the first MagSafe battery pack to boast a built-in USB-C cable. The Baseus Magnetic Power Bank beat it to that honor and has been our favorite magnetic battery pack since we got our hands on it. It too features a built-in 5.5-inch cable, although a fatter rubber one rather than Zolo’s braided. There’s some small factors, which we’ll discuss below, that make the Anker a better choice than the Baseus, but it’s a close run race—and Baseus has another contender that boasts 15W Qi2 wireless charging.

More port power

Like the Baseus power banks, the Zolo boasts a spare USB-C port, which you can use to charge the power bank or connect another cable to charge a second device. That could be another USB-C to USB-C cable or a Lightning cable for older iPhones or other Apple devices, or an Apple Watch charger.

You could charge the power bank via that spare port at the same time you are charging an iPhone using the built-in USB-C cable.That way, you are definitely well-equipped for a long time away from a wall charger.

In fact you can charge up to three devices at the same time with the Zolo. Either the USB-C cable or the spare USB-C port can deliver 30W of wired power. Note that while using more than one charging point at the same time the power bank is reduced to 15W total output.

That port or the integrated USB-C cable can input recharge the power bank at 20W—a little faster than the 18W input on the original Baseus but not as speedy as on the Baseus Nomos (30W input).

Best performer in our battery tests

The Anker Zolo has a huge battery capacity of 37Wh or 10000mAh. It easily beats 5000mAh battery packs, all the other 10K power banks we have tested, and out-performed even our previous favorite, the Baseus Magnetic Power Bank that matches it on wired and wireless charging speed.

The Baseus Power Bank recharged our test iPhone 15 Pro to 187% and the Anker MagGo 10K Slim to 188%. The Zolo reached 191% so takes its place at the top of the rostrum. The Baseus Nomos looks excellent with its 15W wireless, 45W wired and 30W input but it underperformed in the performance tests, scoring a decent but still lower 166%.

Those results are close and other factors could have won or lost a few percentage points. Note too that we tested the Zolo with a 16 Pro rather than a 15 Pro. We could call it a draw, but the Zolo still gets the bragging rights.

Our testing process involved running an iPhone down to 2% and then using the power bank to take the phone back to 100 percent. Then we run the phone down again until the power bank runs out of juice to keep the phone charged.

Size and design

Measuring 4.15 x 2.7 x 0.8 the Anker Zolo is fractionally smaller than the Baseus (4.3-x-2.7-x-0.8 inches) but not significantly. At 8.5oz it’s heavier than the 7.5W 7.3oz Baseus and 15W 8.1oz Baseus.

All three are a little larger than many 10K power banks, and certainly neither is as skinny as the Anker MagGo 10K Slim, which of course lacks the built-in 30W wired option.

The built-in USB-C cable on the Zolo has a right-angled connector for a neater under-phone fit.

A feature that differentiates the Anker from the original Baseus is the Zolo’s integrated kick stand at the back that works in both portrait and landscape orientations. The Nomos does include a kickstand.

The Zolo power bank is available in four colors: black, blue, pink or white. You can find the original Baseus in three colors: white, black, or peppermint blue.

Anker Zolo vs the rest

Anker’s Zolo Magnetic Power Bank is blessed with an integrated USB-C cable so beats most wireless power banks on charging speed—unless those battery pack owners are carrying around a spare charging cable. For a full comparison read our roundup of the best MagSafe and magnetic power banks for iPhone.

Its closest rival is very close indeed. The Zolo costs just a few bucks more than the Baseus Magnetic Power Bank, so on price, charging power and size the two magnetic power banks with built-in USB-C cables are finely matched. Maybe it will come down to a choice between pink or peppermint blue, or that built-in kickstand on the Anker.

The newer Baseus Nomos Power Bank beats both on input and output charging speeds but underperformed in our actual battery tests.

Price

The Anker Zolo Magnetic Power Bank is priced at $49.99 or €49,99. Sadly for Brits, it is not yet available in the U.K.

Should you buy the Anker Zolo Magnetic Power Bank?

With its built-in USB-C cable, the Anker Zolo Magnetic Power Bank is designed for the iPhone 15 and 16 families and offers convenient wireless charging plus much faster 30W wired charging with the highest recharge we’ve measured so far in our magnetic power bank testing.

Source : Macworld