Anker Prime Power Bank (26K, 300W) no more than previous versions of Anker's flagship portable power bank, but increases power output to levels previously only found in portable power stations, allowing you to quickly charge two or more of your most demanding mobile devices simultaneously.
6/10
- Brand
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Anchor
- Weight
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1.32 lbs
- Capacity
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26250 mAh
- Exit
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300 W
The Anker Prime Power Bank, with a 26,250mAh battery, can now deliver up to 300W of power distributed across three devices. This is 50 W more than the previous model. This impressive battery can charge two devices simultaneously at 140W of power, but at a suggested retail price of $230, you'll pay a premium for it.
- Can charge two devices simultaneously with 140W power.
- Incredibly useful display
- Impressive build quality
- The 300W output power drains the battery very quickly.
- High price for energy storage volume
Price and availability
The latest Anker Prime Power Bank retails for $230, although since it's an Anker product, you can expect it to be available at a discount. You can purchase it directly from Anker and Amazon.
- Brand
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Anchor
- Weight
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1.32 lbs
- Capacity
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26250 mAh
- Exit
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300 W
- Entrance
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250 W
- Measurements
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6.3 x 1.5 x 2.5 inches
- USB outputs
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Two USB-C, one USB-A
Special Anker design
If you are familiar with Anker products, the appearance of the Anker Prime Power Bank will not surprise you. Like other products in Anker's Prime line, the colors here are a combination of Silver on the outside and Gloss Black on the front. Familiarity with it in no way detracts from its original impact. I have a house full of smaller, cheaper batteries and when you take them out of the box they feel like a premium product.
However, there is only one additional USB-C port compared to Anker's cheapest power banks, which often feature one USB-A paired with one USB-C port. Here the USB-A is joined by a USB-C pair.
Increased performance by 50 W
This latest Anker Prime power supply can now deliver 300W of power, up from the 250W upper limit of previous models (the 26,250mAh maximum capacity, on the other hand, is slightly lower than the previous 26,650mAh). There are some caveats to understand here as this battery cannot deliver 300W of power directly to a single device. The maximum power you can send to a single device remains 140W.
In practice, this limitation doesn't really matter since the fastest charging phone in the US peaks at 80W (and the fastest phone in the world currently peaks at 125W). The Nintendo Switch 2 has a maximum power of 60W, while the Steam Deck has a maximum power of 45W. The MacBook Pro is the most common device to provide the fastest speeds, as modern models use a 140W AC adapter.
To use the full 300W power, you need to connect multiple devices at the same time. Both USB-C ports can simultaneously charge the device at 140W. This will allow you and your friend, partner or colleague to charge two MacBooks at the same time. The maximum power of a USB-A port is 22.5 W, however, if the other two ports are running at full power, the power of that port will be reduced to 20 W. You may notice this reduction in an app or on the display, but in practice few will notice it.
If you're primarily charging a 25W phone or first-gen Nintendo Switch, the Prime's extra charging speeds aren't useful to you, and you can make do with a much cheaper power bank of similar capacity. I have $15 portable batteries from Anker and Best Buy Insignia brands that put out 25W of power, and this Anker Prime battery does not charge my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 any faster than they do. A 100W power bank will be enough to simultaneously charge my most frequently used devices at full speed.
Performance that's hard to maximize
I don't have two current MacBook Pros on hand to test this battery, so instead I gave Anker Prime the absurd job of charging two of my significantly larger Anker Solix C300 portable power stations at the same time. I also connected my smartphone to the USB-A port just in case.
At default settings, the battery easily charged both power stations at just 100 watts. The fact that he did not rise higher did not affect the battery. Both of my power stations were above 70% and no longer reach the maximum charging speed of 140W. Yes, even if you have devices that can charge at 140W, the period of time they consume that amount of power is usually very short.
While I didn't notice the battery getting hot when charging the phone at less than 30W, anything over 200W is a different story. The battery became very warm to the touch, but this is apparently not a cause for concern. According to Anker's temperature gauge, by the time the battery died, it wasn't even close to overheating.
This brings us to a larger issue to keep in mind. If you charge at around 300W, you'll drain your battery in minutes. 26,250mAh equates to just under 100Wh, so a continuous supply of 300W can drain a fully charged battery in less than 20 minutes. Also keep in mind that most of the power will be lost in the transition, and Anker's fine print says that with actual use you can expect around 15,000 mAh.
Extremely useful display and app
If you've used an Anker Prime battery or charger before, you know what to expect. The small display shows the current battery charge in the form of a clearly visible number and a progress bar. When you connect the device, the amount of energy consumed is displayed at the bottom. If you connect a second one, the display will briefly change to show how much power each device is using before returning to the default screen.
You can change what appears on the display by pressing the button on the side of the battery pack. With this, you can switch between the default screen and the display of individual charging speeds. The third screen displays a bar showing the temperature of your battery and whether it is starting to overheat. The fourth screen shows whether you have a Bluetooth connection.
The Bluetooth connection allows the use of a companion mobile app. The Anker app is used to connect to other Anker products, including the massive Anker SOLIX portable power stations. With the Anker Prime Power Bank, you can track the same information available on the built-in display, but on a larger screen. You can also create custom power profiles, allowing you to prioritize one charging port over another, for example.
Is it worth buying the Anker Prime Power Bank (26K, 300W)?
What do you buy with Anker Prime 300W Power Supply It's speed, not power. You can buy 20K power banks of similar capacity for less than a fifth of the price. So when deciding whether it's worth buying, what matters is what devices you need to charge and how much charge they require.
You can easily save money by choosing a power supply whose power output is proportional to the devices you currently use. Frankly speaking, Anker's own 25K, 165W power supply. can ultimately charge the same devices, and at $120 it starts at $100 less. 230 dollars is also enough to buy Anchor SOLIX C300 DCIt might not be the kind of battery you carry around every day, but its 90,000mAh capacity is in a whole different league.
If you want the fastest portable power bank you can get and budget is not a concern, then the Anker Prime Power Bank is a good buy. The battery is relatively thin and portable, the build quality feels solid, the display and app are equally useful, and the performance delivers. This is a phenomenal battery to buy on sale, but even as someone who loves Anker batteries as much as I do, I have a hard time recommending it at full price.
6/10
- Brand
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Anchor
- Weight
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1.32 lbs
- Capacity
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26250 mAh
- Exit
-
300 W
The Anker Prime Power Bank, with a 26,250mAh battery, can now deliver up to 300W of power distributed across three devices. This is 50 W more than the previous model. This impressive battery can charge two devices simultaneously at 140W of power, but at a suggested retail price of $230, you'll pay a premium for it.
