Here's one for the travellers and road warriors: Anker's new 737 Power Bank, aka the PowerCore 24K, is the ultimate charger for even the most demanding devices and could well be the best power bank for pro users. It can deliver fast charging at 140W to get even the biggest MacBook Pro to 50% in just 40 minutes, and it has the capacity to recharge an iPhone 13 4.9 times.
Given the high specification and capacity I expected it to be more expensive than it is: in the US it's $149 and in the UK, £139.99.
It's not bad looking, either. Anker has managed to make a very powerful device into a pretty portable unit, and at 630g (1.39lbs) it's not going to eat up too much of your luggage allowance either. It's on sale now directly from Anker and from retailers such as Amazon too.
How does the Anker PowerCore 24K charge so quickly?
The secret is USB-C Power Delivery, which in this device is version 3.1. That means it can deliver higher power than the previous versions' limit of 100W from a single USB port. There are two USB-C ports, each of which is capable of delivering 140W, and there's also a USB-A port putting out up to 18W for less power-hungry devices. At 140W you could get a 16-inch MacBook Pro from zero to 50% in around 40 minutes if you have the correct cable.
It's worth focusing on that for a moment: you can undo all of Anker's good work if you don't have the correct cables. Like other power banks the PowerCore 24K doesn't come with cables or a power adapter, and if you want to use its full power potential you'll need both to support PD 3.1 too: the cable so you can get the full output power, and the power adapter so you can charge the power bank at its fastest possible speed.
One of the most interesting things about this new charger is that it has a smart display. That's really useful: it makes it easy to see how much power you've got left and how much power is being used. The screen itself uses a fairly frugal 0.36W of power, but you can turn it off completely so it's not using even that.
This isn't the only new power bank Anker has released, but it's the only one with USB-PD 3.1 and that means it's the one I'd buy right now: it's got the spec not just for the kit I've got today, but the kit I'm likely to be using over the next couple of years.
