With the A1259 “Nano Powerbank 30W 10,000 mAh”, Anker has brought a power bank onto the market that they advertise specifically for the new iPhone 15 Pro.
This power bank not only has a capacity of 10,000 mAh, but also an impressive 30W of power and a very cleverly integrated USB C cable.
The latter is of course also ideal for the iPhone 15, but has a double function as a hand strap.
Of course, this power bank is also very exciting for Android users. But what does it look like in practice? The sister model, the Anker 533, was less convincing in the test.
What about the new Anker Nano Powerbank 10,000mAh power bank with built-in USB-C cable? Let’s find out!
The Anker Nano Power Bank 30W 10,000mAh A1259 in the test
With a capacity of 10,000 mAh, the Anker Nano is a rather smaller power bank. Fortunately, the dimensions of 104 x 52 x 25.5 mm also fit this.
The weight of 213 g is also okay. There are clearly smaller and more compact power banks with 10,000mAh, see my article “The best lightweight power banks”, but for a power bank with 30W and an integrated cable, that’s fine for now.
Especially since the power bank also makes a really good impression in terms of quality! I would perhaps like to see a few other color options from Anker, but the Nano looks and feels really high quality. Especially the slightly shiny front and the grooved frame.
The integrated cable
Certainly the most striking feature of the Anker Nano Power Bank 30W is the integrated USB-C cable. This is very cleverly integrated because it has a double function as a carrying strap.
The cable is pleasantly long and seems of enough quality that I wouldn’t worry too much about the cable tearing or breaking.
Connections and performance
In addition to the integrated USB C cable, the Anker A1259 also has another USB C and USB A port.
Integriertes USB C Kabel – 30W USB Power Delivery – 5V/3A, 9V/3A, 10V/2,25A, 12V/2,5A, 15V/2A, 20V/1,5A
USB C Port – 30W USB Power Delivery – 5V/3A, 9V/3A, 10V/2,25A, 12V/2,5A, 15V/2A, 20V/1,5A
USB A Port – Quick Charge 3.0 / 22,5W Laden – 5V/3A, 9V/2A, 10V/2,25A, 12V/1,5A
This looks very good! The USB C port and the USB C cable seem to be more or less connected internally.
Both can output and absorb 30W! Yes, you can charge the power bank via both ports. We also have a fairly powerful USB A port that supports 18W Quick Charge or 22.5W charging.
With semi-useful display
I like it when power banks have performance displays. So not only show the battery level, but also the input and output power.
The Anker Nano Power Bank 30W 10,000mAh has a color LCD display on the front. But this only shows you two pieces of information:
Charge level in % Remaining usage time/charging time
Anker missed an opportunity here. Since the power bank shows you the remaining usage time, it must be able to measure the current input/output power.
However, the power bank does not show you this. A pity!
Overheated!
Unfortunately, the Anker Nano Power Bank 30W 10,000mAh, like the Anker 533, had temperature problems in my test!
The power bank cannot constantly deliver 30W. When connected to an electronic load, the power bank switches off when there is a remaining charge of approx. 36% at a 20V/1.5A load.
After a short cooling down you can continue with 30W.
Unfortunately, this is unusual! Temperature problems are not entirely unusual with large 100W+ power banks. But at a comparatively manageable 30W it is very, very rare!
Excitingly, apart from the Anker Nano 10,000 mAh and the Anker 533 10,000 mAh power bank, I don’t know of any other Anker power banks with temperature problems.
Here you can also observe the behavior of a MacBook Pro M1, where the charging current suddenly drops even after a while.
PPS
Fortunately, the Anker Nano Power Bank supports the PPS extension of the USB Power Delivery charging standard.
PPS stands for Programmable Power Supply. The normal USB Power Delivery offers your smartphone several voltage levels, usually 5V, 9V, 15V and 20V. Here you can choose a level and load it. PPS now allows your smartphone to freely choose a voltage within a certain range, for example 3.3-16V. If your smartphone thinks it would be ideal to charge with 6.5V, then a PPS charger can deliver 6.5V.
Some smartphones such as the models of the Samsung S20/S21/S22/S23 series require PPS to reach the full charging speed, see here Charging the S23 Ultra. An S23 Ultra can charge with a maximum of 14W on a normal USB PD charger and 45W on a PPS charger. If your smartphone does not support PPS, it will simply ignore this function and treat the charger like a normal USB PD charger.
The capacity
What about the capacity of the Anker Nano Power Bank 30W 10,000mAh? Does it really have 10,000 mAh or 36Wh as promised by Anker?
If not, how close do we get to the manufacturer’s specifications?
Wh
mAh @3,6V
% of HA
5V/1A
30.434
8454
85%
9V/1A
29.744
8262
83%
9V/2A
28.89
8025
80%
20V/1A
28.571
7936
79%
In the test, the capacity of the power bank fluctuated between 7936 mAh or 28.571 Wh and 8454 mAh or 30.434 Wh.
This corresponds to 79% to 85% of the manufacturer’s information. Solid! It is absolutely normal for power banks not to achieve 100% of the manufacturer’s specifications.
The manufacturers of power banks always advertise the capacity of the battery cells installed inside. However, the voltage has to be changed when discharging, which is why some energy is always “lost” in the form of heat.
Normal power banks usually achieve a true 80-90% capacity. Every now and then over 90% is reached, but this is rather rare.
Even below 80% is rather exceptional.
Loading speed and compatibility
Due to the mix of 30W USB Power Delivery output and support for the PPS standard, the Anker Nano Power Bank 30W is very universally compatible!
I have successfully used this with an Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max as well as a Google Pixel 7 Pro, Nintendo Switch and even a MacBook Pro 13 M1.
Thanks to the support of PPS, the power bank is also well suited for the Samsung Galaxy models.
However, even if the power bank works with the Apple MacBook Pro 13 M1, for example, it is generally not or only partially suitable for notebooks and larger devices.
This is a classic smartphone power bank.
Charging time
According to Anker, the Nano Power Bank 30W 10,000mAh should be able to charge with up to 30W on a corresponding USB Power Delivery charger.
Charging on smaller chargers is of course still possible, but slower.
How long does it take to fully charge on a powerful charger? I tested this, of course, on a UGREEN Nexode 140W CD289, which is of course a bit overkill for this job, but is currently my “standard” charger. However, similar results should be achievable with any 30W+ USB PD charger.
In the best case scenario, you can bring the power bank from 0% to 100% in about 1:38 hours. This is very fast for a power bank of this class!
Conclusion
I do believe that Anker is pushing the Nano Power Bank 10,000mAh with 30W a little hard, which we can see from the potential temperature problems, but I would still recommend the power bank!
The power bank can probably switch off due to overheating at a constant 30W load, but in practice you will probably never encounter this problem unless you try to charge a notebook on the power bank, for which I would not recommend it. And even if it does, it’s not a drama in itself, the power bank switches off briefly and that’s it.
This works wonderfully on smartphones like the iPhone 15 Pro Max or Pixel 7 Pro and ensures a very good charging speed thanks to the mix of 30W output power and PPS support!
The power bank is also absolutely universally compatible, whether for the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel.
There are further plus points for the integrated USB C cable. This is really cleverly integrated by Anker and is a big plus in practice!
The charging speed of the power bank itself is also very high! From 0% to 100% in 1:38 hours is quick.
Anker Nano Powerbank, 10,000mAh power bank with built-in USB-C cable,… INTEGRATED USB-C CABLE: Use the built-in USB-C cable to…30W BI-DIRECTIONAL CHARGING: Boost your power bank in just 45… .WORRY-FREE POWER WITH 10,000mAh: Experience effortless power for…AN ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY APPROACH: Through careful selection of the…INCLUDED IN DELIVERY: Anker Nano Power Bank (30W, integrated USB-C…
In short, if you are looking for a good and very everyday-friendly power bank, I can recommend the Anker Nano Power Bank 10,000mAh with 30W despite the high price!
Alternatively: €50 is clearly a high price and if 20W output power is enough for you and you can do without the USB C cable, there are models for less than half as much, such as the INIU BI-B61.