Anker Zolo 10K Magnetic Power Bank with USB-C Cable Review: Fast Charging

Best Prices Today: Anker Zolo 10K Magnetic Power Bank

$29.99

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

You no longer need to carry a snaking cable with you to connect the power bank to your phone. Once connected, the battery is firmly attached to the phone rather than flapping when trying to detach it from the chain.

The only downside to wireless charging is speed. Most power banks are “MagSafe Compatible” (charging at 7.5W) rather than “MagSafe Certified” (15W) or Qi2 (15W). Some exceptions are the Anker MagGo 10K Slim Power Bank and the Baseus Nomos Power Bank, which use Qi2 wireless charging technology and are one of our favorite 10,000 mAh portable power banks.

Charging with a good old-fashioned cable is much faster – in theory up to 240W. An iPhone can’t – and in fact won’t – handle that much power, but can handle around 30W at most. Samsung’s Super Fast Charger 2.0 technology boosts some of its phones to an incredible 45W for even faster charging, but Apple hasn’t yet achieved that wireless speed.

You can get 30W charging with an iPhone, but that requires a wired connection rather than wireless. This usually means you need to carry both an external battery and a cable. However, Anker’s Zolo 10K Magnetic Power Bank offers two charging modes: 7.5W wireless and 30W wired.

Besides the MagSafe compatible wireless charger, it has a built-in USB-C cable to give iPhone 15 and 16 owners easy access to double-speed charging power.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

You can magnetically attach your iPhone (iPhone 12 and up) to the Zolo Power Bank and charge wirelessly at 7.5W, just like you would with a standard MagSafe power bank.

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

You can also charge the battery itself via the built-in USB-C cable, which again means you don’t need to carry a separate cable with you when you’re traveling.

Although owners of iPhones older than the 15 family won’t be able to access the built-in wired charging speed, they can also use the cable to power the power bank itself via a wall charger. When these users upgrade to a USB-C phone, this USB-C cable will become available for input and output.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Another option for owners of iPhones older than the 15 or for groups with an older iPhone and a newer iPhone is the Anker Zolo non-magnetic power bank which integrates both USB-C and Lightning cables 30 W, shown above. However, this power bank does not offer a wireless option.

Coming back to the Zolo USB-C Port Magnetic Power Bank, the 5.5-inch braided cable folds securely into the body of the power bank when not in use, keeping it protected damage and creates a convenient carrying loop.

The Anker Zolo Magnetic 10K Power Bank isn’t the first MagSafe battery to feature a built-in USB-C cable. The Baseus Magnetic Power Bank beats it to this honor and has been our favorite magnetic power bank since we got our hands on it. It also features a built-in 5.5-inch cable, although it’s made of larger rubber than Zolo’s braided one. There are a few small factors, which we’ll discuss below, that make the Anker a better choice than the Baseus, but it’s a close race – and Baseus has another competitor with Qi2 wireless charging from 15W.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

More port power

Like the Baseus power banks, the Zolo has a spare USB-C port, which you can use to charge the power bank or connect another cable to charge a second device. This 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 can charge the power bank through this spare port at the same time as you charge an iPhone using the built-in USB-C cable. This 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. The USB-C cable or spare USB-C port can deliver 30W of wired power. Note that when using multiple charging points at the same time, the external battery is reduced to 15W of total power.

This port or the built-in USB-C cable can charge the power bank at 20W, a bit faster than the 18W input on the original Baseus but not as fast as on the Baseus Nomos (30W input).

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Best performance in our battery tests

The Anker Zolo has a huge battery capacity of 37 Wh or 10,000 mAh. It easily beats 5,000 mAh batteries, every other 10,000 power bank we’ve tested, and even outperformed our previous favorite, the Baseus Magnetic Power Bank which matches it in terms of wired charging speed and wireless.

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

These results are close and other factors could have gained or lost a few percentage points. Also note that we tested the Zolo with a 16 Pro rather than a 15 Pro. You could call it a draw, but the Zolo still has bragging rights.

Our testing process involved running an iPhone at 2%, then using the power bank to bring the phone back to 100%. Then we turn off the phone again until the power bank runs out of juice to keep the phone charged.

Anker

Size and design

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

All three are a bit larger than many 10K power banks, and none are certainly as slim as the Anker MagGo 10K Slim, which of course doesn’t have the built-in 30W wired option.

The Zolo’s built-in USB-C cable has a right-angle connector for a neater fit under the phone.

One feature that differentiates the Anker from the original Baseus is the Zolo’s built-in kickstand on the back that works in portrait and landscape orientation. The Nomos includes 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 versus the others

Anker’s Zolo Magnetic Power Bank has a built-in USB-C cable and therefore outperforms most wireless power banks in terms of charging speed, unless battery owners carry a replacement 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 only a few dollars more than the Baseus Magnetic Power Bank, so in terms of price, charging power and size, the two magnetic power banks with integrated USB-C cables are a perfect match. Maybe it will come down to a choice between pink or peppermint blue, or that built-in kickstand on the Anker.

The new Baseus Nomos power bank beats in both input and output charging speed, but underperformed in our current battery tests.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Price

The Anker Zolo Magnetic Power Bank is priced at $49.99 or $49.99. Unfortunately for Brits, it’s not yet available in the UK.

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 iPhone 15 and 16 families and offers convenient wireless charging as well as much faster 30W wired charging with Fast Charging. higher than we have measured so far in our magnetic power. banking tests.