Anker MagGo battery packs. Charge iPhone without cables. A review
The Anker 521 magnetic battery was one of the first power banks to support the new MagSafe feature of the iPhone. It enables you to magnetically attach the power bank to the back of your MagSafe compatible iPhone and charge it wirelessly on the go without cables.
Fittingly, Anker originally called this power bank a "snap and go" power bank but changed the naming convention. It's now called a "MagGo" power bank.
Though the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a powerful battery, I rarely make it through an entire day on a single charge. Probably, because I do a lot of photo editing on my iPhone.
So when Apple announced MagSafe, I hoped that either Apple or someone else would release a power bank that I could attach magnetically and without cables to my iPhone. A few months later, Anker was one of the first to release such a magnetic and wireless power bank.
In this Anker 521 magnetic battery review, I'll share my real-world experience using it.
Table of Contents
- 4 Models
- Why I bought it
- Features
- What's in the box?
- Apple magsafe battery pack
- The verdict: I'd buy it again
4 Models of the Anker Magnetic Battery
Since Anker released the original PowerCore Magnetic 5K in 2021, they released three more models and changed their products' naming convention.
- The original model I used for this review was called Anker PowerCore Magnetic 5K. It's now called Anker 521 Magnetic Battery.
- In Mid 2022, Anker released the successor of the Anker 521 MagGo: The Anker 621 magnetic battery. It’s slightly thinner than the original Anker 521 and offers the same capacity as the Anker 521.
- Another MagGo model is the Anker 622 Magnetic Battery. It also has a capacity of 5.000 mAh but comes with a stand attached to the power bank.
- Anker also released a 10.000 mAh version called Anker 633 Magnetic Battery. This version is slightly larger (and thicker) than the 5.000 mAh models.
To help you decide which Anker MagGo Magnetic battery model is suitable for you, here's a capacity, size and weight comparison of the Anker magnetic batteries 521 vs 621 vs 622 vs 633. Measurements are in inches and pounds.
| Model | Capacity | Length | Width | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anker 521 | 5.000 mAh | 3.66 | 2.44 | 0.63 | 0.29 |
| Anker 621 | 5.000 mAh | 4.12 | 2.62 | 0.44 | 0.31 |
| Anker 622 | 5.000 mAh | 4.13 | 2.62 | 0.521 | 0.31 |
| Anker 633 | 10.000 mAh | 4.21 | 2.62 | 0.71 | 0.48 |
If you're looking for a lightweight and small magnetic power bank with a capacity of 5.000 mAh, then go for the Anker (621) magnetic battery (the successor of the Anker 521). If you're looking for more charges at the price of weight and size, then go for the Anker 633 magnetic power bank.
Please mind that this review is about the Anker 521 magnetic battery that was originally called Anker PowerCore Magnetic 5K. I've added info about the other models for completeness.
Why I bought the Anker 521 magnetic battery
As mentioned above, I rarely make it through the day with a single charge on my iPhone.
As I'm a Minimalist, I always strive to get rid of things, especially things, that I need to carry and that would prevent me from traveling light.
Eliminating the cables for everyday charging was the reason I originally switched from my Anker 10.000 mAh slim power bank to the Apple Smart Battery Case for an everyday use power bank.
And that was also the reason why I bought the Anker 521 magnetic battery: To be able to charge my iPhone on the go without using cables - like this:
Anker Powercore magnetic 5K attached to an iPhone 12 Pro Max
Features of the Anker 521 magnetic battery
Compatibility of the Anker magnetic batteries
As mentioned, I've used the Anker 521 magnetic battery with an iPhone 12 Pro Max, an iPhone 13 Pro Max and now use it with my new iPhone 14 Pro. Anker mentions in their specs, that their magnetic batteries works with all MagSafe compatible iPhones except for the iPhone Mini. From a photo I found on the Internet it looks like that the camera of the iPhone Mini is a little too big for the the Anker magnetic battery.
MagSafe compatible
The Anker 521 magnetic power bank is MagSafe compatible and thus allows you to charge your iPhone wirelessly while it's magnetically attached to the back of your iPhone. I used and use it with various iPhone Models in a MagSafe compatible iPhone case from moment.
I wondered how strong the magnets were and tried to shake the power bank off the iPhone's back a few times. I failed. The magnets are pretty strong.
But as with all attachable MagSafe accessories, if you try to put the iPhone with the power bank attached into a tight pocket, it may come off.
Capacity of 5000 mAh
The Anker 521, Anker 621 and Anker 622 magnetic power banks have a capacity of 5.000 mAh. Anker claims it would charge an iPhone 12 Pro Max from zero to roughly 75%.
So I did a real-world test for this review and wirelessly charged my iPhone 12 Pro Max for precisely one hour. I didn't put the iPhone to flight mode or disabled any services I'd use during a typical day.
The iPhone's 12 Pro Max battery went from 30% to 50% during the hour, and after an additional hour, the battery was at 70%.
After two hours of charging the iPhone's battery by 40%, the power bank's LEDs indicated that it still had around 25% of its charge.
So I guess you can charge an iPhone 12 Pro Max by around 60% in a real-world scenario if you charge it wirelessly.
If you use another iPhone model, you may get more than the estimated 50%-60% because the batteries of these models have a different capacities than the battery of the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Out of curiosity, I also tried to charge an iPad Pro 11" 2018. The Anker 521 magnetic power bank could charge it from 30% to 67% before it was empty.
Please note that the three different models I mentioned before supply different wireless charging power:
| Model | Charging Power |
|---|---|
| Anker 521 5.000 mAh | 5W |
| Anker 621 5.000 mAh | 7.5W |
| Anker 622 5.000 mAh | 7.5W |
| Anker 633 10.000 mAh | 7.5W |
You may be able to squeeze a bit more out of the power bank if you attach a USBC to lightning cable to the power bank and charge your iPhone with a cable.
But that's not what I was looking for, so I didn't test it.
Two Way USB-C Charging
If you need to charge a non-MagSafe compatible device, you can attach it to the USB-C port of the Anker magnetic batteries that you use to charge the power bank itself. This way, the power bank will charge other devices as well.
According to my tests, using the magnetic charger and the cable on the Anke 521 magnetic battery, you can't charge two devices at once. As soon as you attach a cable, the device on the cable takes precedence
Speaking of charging the power bank: To charge the Anker 521 and Anker 622 power banks, Anker recommends using a 12W power adapter, while for the Anker 633, you should use an 18W power adapter.
Anker 521 LED Indicators and their functions
All the Anker magnetic batteries have four LED status lights that indicate how much charge the power bank has left. One status light approximately equals a charge of 25%.
As I've outlined in the chapter about the power bank's capacity, one of the status lights was still lit after charging my iPhone 12 Pro Max wirelessly by 40%.
Status LEDs of the Anker Powercore magnetic 5K
Further, the power bank has a blue power light. It'll start blinking if you charge the power bank itself. Once you turn on the power bank and charge your iPhone, it's continuously lit.
On/Off Switch
One feature I liked is the on/off switch. To start charging the iPhone wirelessly, you need to press the button once to turn it on until the blue LED light turns on. That will prevent accidentally charging your iPhone.
Charge your AirPods wirelessly
Though this Anker wireless battery pack won't magnetically stick to your AirPod case (or the other way round), you can charge your Apple AirPods wirelessly. Just place the power bank on a flat surface and put the AirPod case in the middle of the charging area.
The light of the AirPod case will briefly turn on to indicate that the case is now charging.
What's in the box?
The package content of the Anker 521 magnetic battery corresponds to that of many other power banks. It contains:
- The power bank itself
- A short USB-C to USB-C cable
The Anker magnetic batteries do not come with a power adapter. Personally, I don't mind. I have an Anker 4 port desk charger with two USB-C ports that I can use to charge the power bank at home. To charge it on the go, I use a small Anker Nano Charger.
The Apple magsafe power bank vs. the Anker PowerCore Magnetic 5k
I added this chapter because Apple also released a MagSafe compliant power bank for the iPhone. When the Apple power bank details became public, people quickly pointed out that Apple's battery pack only had 30% of the capacity compared to the Anker magnetic power banks.
Yes, the Apple battery pack has a capacity of 1560 mAh. But that's just half of the story.
To compare the Anker magnetic power banks with the Apple power bank, you have to consider the current that's used to "store" the "power". If you multiply the mAh with the current and divide it by 1000, you get the watt-hours (Wh). And this is the only metric you should use to compare power banks.
The Anker wireless power bank uses a current of 3.7V, while Apple uses a current of 7.62V. So, this yields 18.5 Wh of the Anker MagSafe battery pack compared to 11.13 Wh of the Apple power bank. These two numbers are even in the fine print on the two power banks.
Technical details of the Anker PowerCore Magnetic 5K
Technical details of the Apple MagSafe battery pack
So the Apple MagSafe battery pack's capacity is 60% compared to the Anker battery pack.
I don't have the Apple battery pack, but if I ever get it, I'll happily compare it to the Anker PowerCore Magnetic 5K.
The Verdict
The Anker 521 magnetic battery is what I wanted. A portable and lightweight power bank for everyday use that allows me to charge my iPhone wirelessly on the go. I'd buy it again.
You can get the Anker 521 magnetic battery from Amazon. Alternatively, you can get the newer Anker 622 in different colors with a 7.5W charging speed from Amazon. If you're looking for a 10.000 mAh magnetic battery pack, then the Anker 633 magnetic battery from Amazon may be right for you.
I won't upgrade the Anker 521 model to one of the newer models because for traveling, I rely on the 26.800 mAh power bank from Anker, and you'll find a Anker PowereCore 26.800 review in the blog.
