Most people today can’t live without their phone, especially in New York. It’s your credit card, your MetroCard, and, depending on where you work, how you access your office building.
In a city that runs literally around the clock, you can’t run around with a battery at 5%. So, for the New York Post’s Made It Here Awards for the best power banks, I relentlessly interrogated eight different power banks with one singular, unforgiving question: Which of these will actually keep a New Yorker’s phone alive from the bleary-eyed first swipe of the morning to the desperate last train home?
I judged every single bank on five distinct metrics: charging speed, real-world capacity, portability, heat management and overall value. Out of the pack, one battery did the most, and it managed to do it the fastest.
The Anker MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro snaps to the back of your iPhone, charges it wirelessly at 25W, actively cools itself with a built-in fan and even props your screen up on a sleek kickstand.
Anker MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro
Pros:
- 25W wireless or 45W wired charging
- Built-in fan keeps charging speeds up
- Kickstand adjusts from 0 to 80 degrees
- Screen shows battery, battery health and temperature
- Recharges itself fast at 45W
Cons:
- 17.8 millimeters thick
- No built-in cable
- The fan is audible up close
- Top of its class price
Packing a robust 10,000mAh capacity, the MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro features Qi2.2 wireless charging up to 25W, alongside a highly capable USB-C port that handles both input and output at 45W.
It relies on an impressively small fan – complete with both Cool and Silent modes – to manage internal heat, while a comprehensive six-screen display tracks your battery level, overall cell health and operational temperature.
Capacity: 10,000mAh (39.2Wh) | Wireless: 25W Qi2.2 | Wired: 45W USB-C in and out | Recharge: 80% in 52 minutes | Cooling: Built-in fan | Kickstand: 0 to 80 degrees | Display: Yes | Size: 4.14 by 2.79 by 0.7 inches | Weight: 7.7 oz. | Colors: Phantom Gray, Burgundy Red, Polar Night Blue, Starlight Silver | Warranty: 2 years
Why is the Anker MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro the best power bank?
For a power bank to not just survive, but thrive in New York, it needs to complete three uncompromising jobs: charge fast enough to matter on a 20-minute subway ride, last from the initial morning swipe until walking in the door at night and it absolutely can not cook your phone in your pocket.
This is the one battery that accomplished all three.
How easy is it to set up?
This is easy to set up. There is no app to download or Bluetooth to pair. You don’t even have to create an account.
You simply snap it onto the back of a phone, and it instantaneously starts charging. A tactile button on the side cycles effortlessly through the various data screens, while a quick double-tap either switches charging modes or disables the wireless function entirely.
One crucial fit note: Anker officially lists it for iPhone 13 through 17 models, excluding the iPhone 16e, which lacks MagSafe capabilities. Phones without MagSafe naturally demand a MagSafe case to operate properly. Furthermore, only iPhone 16 models and later are built to receive the full, unbridled 25W flow. The iPhone 15 and earlier top out at 15W.
What’s the design like?
It’s not necessarily a pocket bank for everyone. Measuring 4.14 by 2.79 inches, standing 17.8 millimeters thick and weighing in at under 8 ounces, this serves a bit better as a jacket-pocket or a tote-bag companion rather than squeezing into tight denim.
The kickstand, however, is the specific feature I’d gladly pay extra for. It smoothly adjusts from 0 to 80 degrees, and Anker claims it has been rigorously tested to survive 5,000 cycles. If you turn the wireless charging off, the bank functions perfectly as a plain, weighted magnetic phone stand.
Meanwhile, the built-in screen does much more than flash a basic battery percentage. It features six distinct interfaces covering charging status, battery level, overall cell health and operating temperature.
Battery health is the surprisingly rare metric here, as most banks flatly refuse to tell you when their internal cells are dying.
It comes in phantom gray, burgundy red, polar night blue and starlight silver.
How fast does it charge?
Delivering 25W is the fastest magnetic wireless charging you can get right now, and that blistering speed comes from the emerging Qi2.2 standard this bank uses.
It took my iPhone Air from 0 to 50% in about 30 minutes with the fan on. Conversely, a typical 15W wireless charger generally takes about 45 minutes to reach that same 50% threshold. Anker’s own internal metrics boast a 50% charge in just 25 minutes when attached to an iPhone 18 Pro.
That specific margin of time is exactly the difference between holding a dead phone and securing half a battery on the chaotic ride from the office in Midtown to drinks downtown.
If you decide to plug in a USB-C cable, the device pumps out an impressive 45W, which provides more than enough wattage to properly feed an iPad or even a laptop.
It refills itself at that identical 45W rate, and Anker promises that velocity gets the battery back to 80% in under an hour; by comparison, our runner-up, the Ugreen MagFlow Pro, refills at only 30W.
How long does the battery last?
A 10,000mAh bank never actually delivers 10,000mAh directly to your phone, because a significant portion of that raw energy is inevitably lost as heat during the transfer. The only number that really matters is how much power lands securely inside your device.
During my testing, this bank recharged my iPhone Air an impressive two full times.
Translated into harsh New York terms, that represents a full day of swiping OMNY, staring at Google Maps, snapping photos and doomscrolling in between, all while retaining a generous second charge left over for late-night emergencies.
Using only the power bank to keep my phone juiced, I was able to get two full days’ worth of power out before I needed to sync up with the socket again.
Does it overheat?
Heat is the precise reason why most supposedly fast wireless banks aren’t that fast for long. Wireless charging inherently generates heat. Once the phone or the bank warms up, the charging speed dips drastically to protect the hardware.
The heat throttles the battery; the battery cannot throttle the heat.
Anker’s clever answer to this thermal dilemma is a fan the size of your fingertip equipped with two distinct modes: Cool, which actively runs the blade, and Silent, which entirely disables it.
Anker proudly states the bank stays below 96.8 degrees Ferienheight while sitting in a 77-degree room, and it asserts that its ActiveShield 5.0 system runs more than 10 million automated temperature checks a day.
The fan, however, is audible up close. Engaging Silent Mode completely fixes that acoustic issue, though it inevitably costs you roughly three additional minutes on the journey to 50%
How does it compare to similar products?
During testing, the MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro went head-to-head with the Ugreen MagFlow Pro. This is the other 25W magnetic bank in our field, plus three exceptionally slim 5,000mAh banks from Belkin, BMX and Mophie.
The Ugreen actually lasted just a tiny bit longer, at just over two full charges. It also features a convenient built-in cable and a flashy liquid-cooling system you can visibly watch through a transparent window.
However, it lacks a kickstand entirely, it refills at a slower 30W rather than 45W, and it also demands $20 more at checkout.
Obviously, the slim banks are thinner and definitively cheaper, as the Belkin BoostCharge Slim 5K runs $54.99 with a kickstand, and the BMX SolidSafe Air 5K is an astonishingly thin 6.8 millimeters. Yet each of those smaller units provides only about one full charge, severely throttled at 15W.
The Anker ultimately lands right in the sweet spot: offering nearly Ugreen’s massive capacity, boasting the fastest refill of all the magnetic banks, and standing as the lone 25W model I tested that actively included a usable stand.
How much does it cost?
The MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro commands $109.99 directly at Anker and Amazon.
That places it near the very top of the market for a 10,000mAh magnetic bank, running $55 more than our designated value pick, the Belkin. Yet, it simultaneously sits $20 less than the Ugreen, all while functioning as the lone bank in my test that successfully combined 25W charging, an active fan and a sturdy kickstand.
Is it worth it?
Would we be waxing poetic about it if it weren’t? If your phone is simultaneously your MetroCard, your map and your vital ticket home, a high-end bank that gets it to 50% in roughly 30 minutes while holding almost two full charges easily earns its asking price.
The only legitimate knocks against it are its somewhat bulky physical footprint and, if you like this sort of thing, the notably missing built-in cable. If you are desperate for something that seamlessly disappears into a tight jeans pocket, you should buy a slim 5K. For everyone else, however, this is the definitive battery to buy.
Your phone confidently gets you through the turnstile, safely across town and securely home again, so you should reward it with the $109.99 Anker.
How did we test it?
I obsessively tested eight of the best power banks for eight weeks across three distinct categories: 10,000mAh magnetic banks, slim 5,000mAh magnetic banks, and specialized bricks built explicitly for sharing, heavy travel, and prolonged blackouts.
The overarching goal remained the same for every battery: Which one keeps a New Yorker’s phone alive from the first swipe of the day to the last train home?
Testing criteria
- Charging speed: Just how far does it carry a dying phone between a few quick subway stops? We rigorously checked both wireless and wired output speeds, alongside exactly how fast the bank refills its own depleted cells.
- Real-world capacity: How much charge actually lands inside the phone, disregarding the inflated number slapped on the box? Does it survive from the chaotic morning commute all the way to the last train?
- Portability: Does it fit into a standard jeans pocket with the phone attached, or is it strictly relegated to being a bag bank? Just how thick, and just how heavy, is it in daily practice?
- Heat: Does the attached phone turn dangerously hot, like a sweltering summer subway platform? Does the charging drastically slow down as the hardware warms up?
- Value: Does the performance it delivers across the other four criteria rightfully justify the premium price when stacked against the rest of the competitive field?
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