ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Anker 548 power bank is accessible on Amazon for $110 with the $40 low cost coupon.
- This energy financial institution holds numerous energy, can cost laptops and smartphones, has an LED gentle that may final for nearly two days, and might retain 85% of its cost after a 12 months with out recharging.
- It is huge and heavy, as anticipated from an influence financial institution of this capability.
As they change into greater, energy banks are beginning to blur the road between a lot greater energy stations. Is it a big energy financial institution or a small energy station? Does it even matter?
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I’ve a penchant for energy banks, particularly the sizable ones that may function backup energy in emergencies. With an enormous 60,000mAh battery capability, the Anker 548 is the biggest I’ve ever examined.
Anker 548 tech specs
- Capability: 60,000 mAh / 192Wh
- Battery: 15 x 4000 mAh LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) cells
- Output Ports: 2 x USB-C, 2 x USB-A
- USB-C Energy Output: 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 12V⎓1.5A / 15V⎓3A / 20V⎓3A
- USB-C Energy Enter: 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 12V⎓1.5A / 15V⎓3A / 20V⎓3A
- USB-C Energy Output: 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 12V⎓1.5A
- Max Output: 87W
- XT60 Photo voltaic Enter: 10 – 24V⎓3A
- Recharge Time: Roughly 4 hours (at 60W)
- Constructed-in Lighting: Two ranges of brightness and SOS mode
- Dimensions: 4.59 x 4.59 x 8.17 inches
- Weight: 5.1 kilos
- Battery Life: Maintains 85% of its cost after 1 12 months
Firstly, the Anker 548 is certainly a considerable energy financial institution. Weighing over 5 kilos and geared up with a smooth nylon webbing deal with on high, it is not one thing you’d simply carry in your pocket or bag. Nonetheless, its measurement, and in flip its battery capability, comes with important benefits — it might probably cost an iPhone 15 greater than 10 occasions and a MacBook Air nearly 3 times.
On high of the facility financial institution, there is a pop-out LED gentle with three settings — excessive, low, and SOS mode. This gentle casts a smooth, broad glow, excellent for illuminating a room or campsite, and might final for almost two days on a single cost.
The colour and styling are very retro, wanting extra like a little bit of outdated army package than a contemporary tech gadget.
When you assume this energy financial institution is right to be used as an emergency energy provide, you are right. Moreover, it employs LiFePO4 batteries mixed with extremely environment friendly standby circuitry, permitting the Anker 548 to retain 85% of its cost even after a 12 months of not being recharged.
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Relating to recharging, the unit will be charged through USB-C or an XT60 photo voltaic port (you may want a separate solar panel to do that). On the entrance, together with buttons for activating the LED gentle and the SOS characteristic, there’s a good LCD show that reveals important info resembling battery degree, enter and output energy, remaining cost time, charging modes, and extra.
Anker 548 “good show”
Anker
I’ve rigorously examined this energy financial institution, checking the battery capability, cost and discharge occasions, and the facility outputs of the ports. The facility financial institution handed all these assessments with flying colours, assembly the excessive expectations I anticipate from any Anker product.
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A cool emergency characteristic of the Anker 548 is that you may go away it plugged in to a USB-C port and have the sunshine come on routinely within the occasion of an influence lower through the night or night time. That is excellent to be used as an emergency night time gentle.
To make it much more helpful at night time, there are glow-in-the-dark strips alongside all sides of the unit. A small however good contact!
Glow-in-the-dark strips alongside all sides of the unit make it simpler to find at night time!
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The Anker 548 is an attention-grabbing machine, straddling the road between energy financial institution and energy station. It would not have AC output like most energy stations, however it may be recharged utilizing photo voltaic. It additionally has a good built-in gentle, and might retain a good quantity of cost for over a 12 months, that means it is the kind for of factor that does not want quite a lot of upkeep.
It is also obtainable at a superb value — presently at $110 with Anker’s clip-on coupon — making it excellent for somebody who’d like an influence station however would not need to drop the a number of hundred {dollars} to get onto that ladder.
It is also an awesome “cost and neglect” emergency machine that you may flip to to maintain laptops and smartphones operating within the occasion of an emergency that takes down the facility grid.