One of these days I had to rush to the airport and forgot my phone charger in the hotel. It was the original quick charger that came with the phone. As I arrived at the new hotel for the night, I couldn’t find my charger. I immediately knew what happened and called the hotel I stayed the night before. Supposedly nobody found the charger but I am sure I left it at the hotel and in my room. Either way, starting a fight doesn’t help me at all, especially via phone over a long distance.
Lucky as I was, I still had an old cube-charger in my bag which I could use in the meantime. However, charging my phone took forever. It takes about 4.5 – 5 hours to fully charge my phone if it’s empty.
I got so used to quick charge and with Quick Charge 3.0 charging got even better. But be warned quick charge is not always quick charge. Quick Charge 3.0 is a Qualcomm product. You may know them as a manufacturer of most of the cell phone processors out there.
But if you go in any given store you probably see wall chargers and car chargers with the label fast charging, quick charging or similar wording. What most manufacturers call “quick charge” is just that the charging port offers more than the usual 500mA charging current. These chargers may come with a charging current of 1A, 2A or even higher. Qualcomm’s quick charge technology is different. It does not only adjust the current, but it also adjusts the voltage. To make sure you have a genuine Quick Charger check for this symbol.
It could be either the complete logo or sometimes it’s just the circle with the flash on the product. and or USB port. Keep your eyes open and check. Also, make sure if your phone supports Quick Charge 3.0. For that, it’s best to contact your phone manufacturer direct or read up in the manual. The easiest way is probably contacting your phone manufacturer via Twitter. Don’t worry if your phone is only Quick Charge 2.0. Qualcomm’s Quick Charge technology is backward compatible. I would still recommend you to go with the newest version. You might upgrade your phone soon and this one will then support 3.0.
I was basically only looking for a wall charger with Quick Charge 3.0 technology with one or two USB ports. During my exploration, I found the Anker PowerPort+1 and the PowerCore+ 26800. It comes in a bundle and it’s a wall charger and a battery pack with 26800 mAh.
And you all know that a battery pack is sometimes useful. I use my phone a lot and so far only had an old crappy battery pack which I wanted to replace anyway. Especially GPS drains your battery quicker and I use it a lot either for navigation, geocaching or tracking my hike. GPS is constantly on and apps are running in the background processing my coordinates.
This made this bundle perfect for me. However, both products are available separately.
What’s in the box?
- Welcome Guide for the Wall Charger (PowerPort+ 1)
- Welcome Guide for the Battery Pack (PowerCore+ 26800)
- Warranty paperwork
- PowerPort+1 Wall Charger
- PowerCore+ 26800 Battery Pack
- Charging Cable for the Battery Pack
- microUSB Cable to charge the PowerCore+ or use it to charge your phone with the PowerCore+ (depending on the connector of your phone
- Travel Pouch for the PowerCore+26800
PowerCore+ 26800
Here the some of the description from anker.com
Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
Using Qualcomm’s advanced Quick Charge 3.0 technology, the PowerCore+ allows compatible devices to charge 85% faster. Get up to 8 hours of use from just 15 minutes of charging.
Fast-Charging Technology
Exclusive to Anker, PowerIQ and VoltageBoost technologies combine to provide universal full-speed charging for non-Quick Charge devices, up to 2.4 amps per port.
Ultra-High Capacity
PowerCore+ 26800 is one of the world’s highest capacity portable chargers with Quick Charge 3.0 technology. It charges the iPhone 7 ten times, the Galaxy S7 over seven times or the 2015 MacBook more than three times.
Rapid Recharge
PowerCore+ 26800 is able to be recharged twice as quickly as other portable chargers when charged with high-output wall chargers.
The PowerCore+ 26800 comes in a premium matte aluminum finish for durability and style. The aluminum-alloy helps keep the internal components protected while still be as lightweight as possible. But don’t underestimate the weight. The battery pack is “heavy” with its 1.3 pounds.
The PowerCore+ has 3 USB ports to charge your devices with. Only the one to the right supports Quick Charge 3.0 the other two use PowerIQ and VoltageBoost technology to charge non-Quick Charge devices as fast as possible. The little round button on the top lets you visualize the charge of the power bank. Just press it and it will show the charge state for a few seconds. It’s not an on/off button. To begin the charging process simple plug in your cable to the PowerPort+ and your phone. According to Anker the PowerCore+ It charges the iPhone 6s ten times, the Galaxy S6 over seven times or the 2015 MacBook over three times.
The included travel pouch is ideal to save and store the PowerCore+ during your travels. Additionally, to that, I have the PowerCore+ and the PowerPort+ stored in my Eagle Creek eTools Organizer Pro (see my review).
Product Specs:
Capacity: 26800 mAh / 96.48 Wh
Output: 5 V / 2.4 A, 9 V / 2 A, 12 V / 1.5 A
Input: 5 V / 2 A, 9 V / 2 A
Weight: 590 g / 20.8 oz
Size: 180×80×24 mm / 7×3.1×0.9 in
PowerPort+ 1
The PowerPort+ is a wall charger supporting Quick Charge 3.0. The PowerPort+ is ideal to charge the PowerCore+ quickly to always have juice on the go.
It also uses the same technology to charge your phone if it supports any of the Quick Charge versions. The PowerPort+ can charge compatible devices up to 80% in only 35 minutes. This is a huge difference to my cheap wall charge, which took almost 5 hours to charge my phone completely.
Travelers can use the PowerPowrt thanks to its international voltage compatibility (AC 100-240 V) and the foldable power connector lets the charger shrink down and also protects the power connectors from damage. You might need an extra adapter to connect the charger to a power outlet if you travel abroad.
The little green light on the front, above the USB port, shows you that the wall charger got power and is ready to charge.
Product Specs:
Input: AC 100-240 V ~ 0.7 A 50-60 Hz
DC Output: 5 V – 3 A , 9 V – 2 A , 12 V – 1.5 A
Size: 56 x 53 x 28 mm / 2.2 x 2.1 x 1.1 in
Weight: 70 g / 2.5 oz
Conclusion
I have used the wall charger and power bank now for a while and I am absolutely happy. It charges my phone super quickly. I am fully charged in about an hour. The power bank is amazing and gives me enough juice for busy days. Since spare batteries have to travel always in checked bags on airliners, it helps out to charge my phone when the airplane doesn’t have power outlets at the seat. This is becoming rarer but there are still planes out there with no power outlets or just slow charging USB power outlets.
I love the quality and build finish of both. The glossy finish on the charge as well as the matte finish on the aluminum-alloy case of the battery pack. This gives the whole package a high-quality feeling and finish. The charger and battery are only available in black as of right now but you never can go wrong with black. So far I had no issues with either one and the work just as promised.
This is the perfect combo for the modern digital nomad. You can charge pretty much anything, including newer and supported laptops. What else can you ask for?
Anker offers a 30-day money back guarantee if you don’t like the product. Just send the undamaged product back. Besides the 30-day money back guarantee, Anker gives you an 18-month warranty for quality-related issues. I really hope I never have to use this warranty ever.
Peter has a passion for Traveling, Photography, and Geocaching. These are the best ingredients for amazing adventures all over the globe. “Traveling is fun, no matter if you stay in a luxury hotel or travel like a backpacker.” Peter shares his experiences on his Blog www.gatetoadventures.com
Some of Peter’s photos are published on corporate websites, in-flight magazines, travel guides, and much more.
