Anker MagGo Power Bank 6.6K review: Fast MagSafe iPhone charging on the go

Portable power banks are evolving, and it’s all to do with the way we’re charging our devices. Sure, there are times when you need a top-up right here, right now, when you want to get maximum juice into your smartphone fast. However, if you’re just looking to recharge your phone while you’re away on a weekend or sitting on the train, then wireless charging is a whole lot more convenient. That’s why we’re seeing an increasing number of power banks shipping with QI or QI2 wireless charging built-in.

Anker’s MagGo range goes one better. Designed for iPhones with Apple’s MagSafe wireless charging plate, it’s a charger that can clamp your phone in place and, through a hinged section, double as a stand. I’ve been using it over the last week to charge my iPhone and a range of other devices, too. Is it a must-have power bank for iPhone users, or do those extra features push the price too high?

Anker MagGo Power Bank 6.6K review: What do you get for the money?

The Anker MagGo 6.6K is quite pricey at £48 but it’s a substantial thing. It contains a 6,600mAh battery and has a magnetic QI2 wireless charging pad on the top plus a single USB-C port on the left-hand side, towards the front. My sample was supplied in an attractive white and grey colourway but it also comes in black, pink, green and blue.

The port is used to both charge the internal batteries and your devices, and the unit comes supplied with a skinny USB-C to USB-C cable. Measuring 109 x 69mm it would be relatively compact were it not 25mm thick, not to mention over 250g in weight.

That’s unusually thick and heavy for a 6,600mAh power bank, but at least here there’s a reason. The top third of the power bank with the MagSafe pad on it can be pulled upwards on a hinge, allowing  your iPhone to sit and charge vertically while safely held in place on the pad. In fact, you can even position your iPhone horizontally if you’d like to use it as a clock or a tiny screen.

READ NEXT: Best power banks

Anker MagGo Power Bank 6.6K review: What do we like?

The hinged design works a treat, holding the iPhone firmly at both angles. What’s more, it supports 15W wireless charging through the QI2 standard, which isn’t quite the same as 15W MagSafe charging, but is now officially supported on the iPhone 13, 14 and 15 product lines. It will charge earlier iPhones perfectly well, but only at a slower 7.5W speed. There’s no onboard display to check the charge level, but five tiny LED indicators below the hinge give you some idea.

With 6,600mAh of capacity, it doesn’t quite have enough juice to refuel an iPhone 14 or iPhone 15 twice over, but you should be good to get it through a couple of days of use if it’s already charged.  The MagGo Power Bank 6.6K itself takes two hours to charge from an Anker 65W USB-PD.

Anker MagGo Power Bank 6.6K review: What didn’t we like?

The MagGo Power Bank isn’t designed to work with Android phones, and to charge a Google Pixel 7 I had to shift the phone around until I found the QI2 charging point. More seriously, the wired USB-C output isn’t particularly fast, putting out just 12.5W when my Android test phone can handle 65W speeds.

It’s fast enough for charging up your smartphone or some wireless headphones over a few hours, but not a high-speed recharge on the way to work. On the plus side, you can charge one device through USB-C and charge another wirelessly at the same time, although doing so reduces wired charging speed to 10W.

Anker MagGo Power Bank 6.6K review: Should you buy one?

If you have a recent iPhone, this is a solid buy, giving you convenient and portable 15W wireless charging at a comparatively reasonable price. It’s more expensive than wireless power banks without the MagSafe compatibility and fold out design, though, and its wired charging speeds aren’t all that great. If you’re not so fussed with the stand capabilities, you might prefer the Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K instead.