As we travel about, covering conventions and events, we always try to make sure that we are covered on the power front. As such, we were sure to check out one of the latest and greatest portable power solutions from Anker’s power bank department. Anker has power banks of many shapes and sizes, from the highly compact to the ultra-large solutions built to power a camp site. This time around, we wanted to check out the largest TSA-compliant power bank that Anker has to offer. The recently announced Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) just so happens to be such a product.
Let’s dive into the $179.99 Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) to see what it has to offer.
The Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) gives you what its name suggests, delivery of up to 250W of power. It has one USB-A port and two USB-C ports, armed with Power Delivery 3.1. Using those same two USB-C ports simultaneously, the power bank can recharge at a rate of up to 170W, allowing it to return to full power in just 37 minutes. The maximum outbound charge rates of the three ports are determined by the devices connected to each port and how many ports are in use. Fortunately, Anker posted these handy diagrams that help explain these rates in each usage scenario.
Whenever possible, you should primarily use the USB-C ports to power your devices with the Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W). The USB-C ports provide the highest wattage possible from the power bank, both inbound and outbound. However, if your target device can only utilize up to 65W of inbound power, you won’t lose any charging efficiency if you are only recharging one other device.
Even if you recharge three devices at once, you still get very respectable charge rates from the Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W). Regardless of your port usage, you can always guarantee that at least one device gets the maximum 140W charge by using the C1 port. This is quite handy as it gives you flexibility in how you prioritize the charging of your various devices.
As mentioned before, this power bank is TSA compliant. If you fly in the US, you are allowed to bring external rechargeable batteries onboard the plane with you. However, those batteries must not exceed a rating of 100 watt hours (Wh) per battery. Fortunately, the Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) just barely meets that requirement, sitting at 99.54Wh. So, if you are on a plane with subpar to nonexistent power options, this power bank is poised to be the perfect solution for your longer flights.
The charging potential of the Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) is quite impressive. I am a heavy user of the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i. As such, I was first curious about how much more laptop usage this power bank would grant me. So, I mocked up a semi-heavy usage scenario. I set my Yoga Book 9i’s display to the highest brightness setting, playing videos and gaming streams while having a locally-installed game on auto play. With this activity, it took a little more than three hours to bring my laptop down to 20%. I then plugged in the Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W).
The power bank’s display indicated that it would continue to charge my laptop at 64W for an hour and 27 minutes before the power bank depleted. Not only did the power bank give my laptop about an hour and a half of additional usage, but it also recharged the laptop battery to as far as 67% in that time. With that additional 47% of charge, that gives me roughly an hour and 45 mins more of laptop usage with at this battery drain rate. In this scenario, that is a total of at least 3 hours of additional usage that we gain thanks to the Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W).
The Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) is a powerhouse. It sports the fastest charge rates that I have seen from a power bank this size. Better yet, it maintains respectably fast charge rates even with multiple devices connected. During our Pax West 2023 trip, I was carefree with my usage of my various devices. This power bank not only had the capacity to handle the power needs of all my devices, but also the capability to provide the fastest charge rates that each device can allow. As long as your cabling can support high power bandwidths, this power bank was ready to deliver to the best of its ability.
Fortunately, Anker also provided a couple of Anker 543 USB-C to USB-C (Bio-Based) cables for the review. With these cables supporting a power output of 140W, I was sure to get the highest rates of charging that the Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) could offer.
The Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) then goes a step further with its intuitive interface.
The interface is as simple as it should be. The screen shows you the wattage and charge rates of your various connected devices as well as how long the power bank’s battery will last under those drainage conditions. The screen will also display the inverse of that information when you are recharging the power bank. While a battery charge percentage will always be a useful piece of information, knowing how long a battery has left in its recharging or drainage conditions is just as useful. You do not have to babysit the battery as much when the power bank tells you exactly how long it will take to replenish or deplete itself.
Beyond that, you can also connect to the power bank using the Anker mobile app. Here, you can also check the battery’s status, change various device settings, or activate some quality of life settings that help maintain the battery’s life span.
An optional add-on comes in the form of the $69.99 Anker 100W Charging Base. The Anker 100W Charging Base is a 100W charging station for USB-connected devices and the Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W). Through magnetic connections on the top of the dock, you can dock and charge your Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W). The charge rate from the dock is quite respectable, where the Anker 100W Charging Base can fully charge this power bank in a little over an hour.
The Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) is my new go-to power solution for my longer trips. Needless to say, it is coming with me when we head to Vegas in January to cover CES 2024. It is simply the most powerful TSA-compliant power bank that I have used. It is armed with exceptionally fast inbound and outbound charge rates coupled with an informative display. Whether you are a frequent traveler or simply looking for a hefty yet portable power solution, you should definitely check out the Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W).
You can check out the $179.99 Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) for yourself by clicking here. You can also check out the $69.99 Anker 100W Charging Base by clicking here.
† There are no affiliate links contained within this post. We were provided with an Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W) and an Anker 100W Charging Base for review purposes and were not compensated for this review.
