Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD Review

The PowerCore+ 26800 is a solid battery pack but is mainly hurt by its size and weight, making it much more cumbersome to carry around than many of the other products and it doesn't really have that much when it comes to integrated convenience features.

Performance Comparison

This is your best bet for high-power devices.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Portability

The first series of tests that we conducted focused specifically on how portable each of these portable battery packs is. We looked at the size and weight of each product, as well as how easy it is to fit inside different pockets. Unfortunately, the PowerCore+ got off to a bit of a rocky start in this metric, which accounts for 40% of its overall score.

This is one of the largest and heaviest battery packs of the group, measuring about 7 inches lengthwise and a little over 3 inches wide, while being about 1 inch thick. It also weighs in at well over a pound.

Needless to say, this isn't a portable battery that you really want to carry around in a pocket. It is very noticeable in the front or back pocket of most pants. However, you can usually deal with it if you have to, but it is much more suited to being carried in a large jacket pocket or in a laptop bag or backpack.

This battery pack is easier to carry around in a bag.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Charging Efficiency

Our next metric dealt with the actual electrical capacity of each battery, which is responsible for 30% of the overall score. We used a dummy electrical load and multimeter to measure the total number of milliamp-hours we could pull from a fully charged battery at both a 1 amps and at its maximum discharge rate — usually 2.4 amps — and compared it to the stated capacity to determine scores. Additionally, we also looked at any manufacturers' claims about how many times a battery can charge a specific device and tested out those claims to see how well they held up.

The PowerCore+ has a rated capacity of 26,800 milliamp-hours and did fairly well in our resistive load tests. We were able to extract about 62% of the stated capacity — 16641 mAh — at a 2.4 amp discharge rate and a tiny bit more with a 1 amp rate.

The PowerCore+ 26800 PD will charge a Nintendo Switch while you are playing.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Anker claims that this battery pack can charge an iPhone 8 nine times, which we calculated to be equivalent to charging a Samsung S8 about 5.46 times. The PowerCore+ exceeded this in our tests, charging an S8 a little over six times before it was fully depleted.

Added Convenience

While the main purpose of these products is to recharge your consumer electronics and all of them will do that to some degree, we also took any other features and functions these products might have that make them easier to use. We awarded points if you can charge multiple devices at once or if there were any integrated features, such a flashlight or cables, as well as on the terms of the warranty. Overall, these tests account for 20% of the final score.

This portable power pack can charge multiple devices at once, using its pair of USB-A iQ ports and its USB-C PD port. All three can be used at once, with each port being nominally rated for a 3 amp max discharge — though this will drop if using the higher voltage capabilities of the PD port.

You can charge multiple devices at once with this charger.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman

This battery has 10 small LEDs that indicate its level of charge but lacks both a built-in wall plug or integrated cables. It also doesn't have an integrated flashlight.

The PowerCore+ 26800 PD uses a ring of LEDs to indicate how much battery life is left.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Recharge Time

Our fourth and final metric deals with how long it takes each of these portable battery packs to recharge, which is responsible for the remaining 10% of the total score. As this is one of the largest batteries, we initially thought the PowerCore+ PD would score quite poorly compared to some of the smaller packs, but it held its own quite well.

The PowerCore+ includes a dedicated PD charging wall brick, which allows this massive battery to recharge in a little over four hours — faster than some other products that are less than half the size. However, it does take considerably longer to charge without it.

The PowerCore+ 26800 PD has a super charger for a quick recharge time.

Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Value

Unfortunately, the PowerCore+ PD isn't really a bargain buy, being one of the most expensive portable power packs we have tested. It isn't worth spending the extra money for unless you have some of the larger devices that make use of the PD capabilities of this battery.

Conclusion