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Jul 19, 2023

Anker 733 Power Bank (GaNPrime PowerCore 65W) 2023 REVIEW

Equipped with a remarkable battery capacity, the Anker 733 Power Bank ensures you never run out of charge during your busy day. With its robust performance and impressive features, this portable

Equipped with a remarkable battery capacity, the Anker 733 Power Bank ensures you never run out of charge during your busy day. With its robust performance and impressive features, this portable charger is designed to meet the demands of even the most power-hungry users. Whether you're commuting, traveling, or simply unable to access a wall outlet, this device offers a reliable backup power source for all your gadgets. Though it may be slightly heavier or priced higher than other options on the market, its exceptional capabilities make it well worth considering.

My phone is my lifeline. Even though I work from home, there are times that I step out into the world and need to remain connected. Staying connected on the go is an essential necessity for me and I find that watching my battery level decrease brings unwanted anxiety into my life. Therefore, I always try to keep a portable battery with me. While there is no shortage of types and styles, I always turn to the hybrid power banks that double as wall chargers. They are so much easier to deal with and you can always ensure you have a charged battery since you can just plug it into a wall outlet whenever you are stationary. One of my favorite dual-purpose power banks is the Anker 733 Power Bank (GaNPrime PowerCore 65W).

The Anker 733 Power Bank is a wall charger and portable battery rolled into one product. With it, users can simultaneously charge up to three devices at the same time. As a wall charger, the power bank provides 65W fast-charging for devices and as a power bank, it has a high-capacity (10,000 mAh) battery that can keep devices powered longer (iPhone 14 Pro = 3.125 charges). The charger monitors temperature with ActiveShield 2.0 and devices can take advantage of short-circuit, overload, over-temperature, and over-voltage protection while their devices are charging.

The Anker 733 Power Bank is part of the Series 7 charging series which provides users with the GaNPrime (Gallium Nitride) charging features such as faster-charging speeds, and smaller, more portable chargers than previous models. Like other Anker charging device models, the name indicates how the product is designed to function. The first number — 7 — indicates the series of the product, the second number — 3 — indicates how many products can be charged at one time — and the third number — 3 — provides the tech performance or the output wattage capacity.

The Anker 733 Power Bank is available for $99.99 through anker.com or for $69.99 through Amazon (Deal price as of publishing this review). There are color options available — black, golden, or the Transformers special edition design.

The quality of Anker’s products (especially the newer ones) never ceases to amaze me. The experience starts with the top-notch packaging they provide and continues all the way to the actual use of the product. The power bank comes in a premium retail box that is mainly black in color. There is a full color image of the product on the front of the box and a detailed features diagram on the back side. The “Series 7” emblem is included on the front and side of the box so the user knows what to expect.

Upon opening the box, I found the power bank sitting on top of the other box contents and was immediately struck but the amazing color of the golden charger. Normally I go with more subtle options for color but I really like the option to have this background device stand out. I haven’t seen the Special Edition – Transformer design in person, but it looks as though it would certainly turn heads.

Below the carton that held the power bank, I found a packet of information that included the safety guide (multilingual) and the quick start guide, which is mainly illustrated. In addition to the paperwork, the power bank also comes with a cloth travel pouch and a USB-C to USB-C charging cable.

The quick start guide is quite useful as it informed me of a special feature of the power bank — accessory trickle charging. If you double press the power button, the it activates “active trickle charging” for items such as earbuds. Anker provides this charging option for lower-powered devices. I grabbed this description from their website.

Trickle-Charging Mode

Provides safe and optimized charging to low-power devices such as Bluetooth earphones and speakers. Other portable chargers may fail to detect and deliver the tiny power requirements of small devices and wearables. Trickle-Charging Mode ensures a fast and safe charge for every device, no matter the size.

On the power button, there are LED indicator lights. When Trickle Charging is active, the first LED will glow green instead of the standard white. When all four LEDs are illuminated, it indicates that the power bank is fully charged. As the battery loses its charge, the LEDs will extinguish. Three LEDs indicates 75%, two is 50%, and one is 25% charged. Out of the box, the power bank had approximately 50% charge. I plugged it into a wall outlet to let it charge to 100%. While I didn’t monitor its recharge closely, I know it was plugged in for three hours and that brought it to 100%.

The power bank does have a bit of weight to it. I’m not sure if I would carry it in my pocket as it might weigh me down, but I would easily transport this in a travel bag. I like to frequent pop culture conventions as a volunteer and find that having a charger like this — one that can just be plugged into a wall outlet — is preferred over a standard power bank.

When it came to charging, I ran the 733 Power Bank through my usual 30-minute stress test. What I do is plug my iPhone 14 Pro into one of the charging ports and track its charging progress over the course of 30 minutes. Then I calculate its charging rate (% gained divided by total charging time) to estimate the charger’s performance against other similar devices.

When I started charging my iPhone, it only had a 50% charge. I used a standard Apple-issued Lightning to USB-C charging cable to connect the phone to the USB-C 2 charging port. After the first 10 minutes, the phone gained 13% battery power. After the next 10 minutes, it gained another 11% and then 7% in its final 10 minutes. The total amount of battery power gained during this charging session was 31%, which put the charging rate at approximately 1.03% per minute. In my experience, that is an exceptional charging rate for a device like this. I am usually only able to track a 0.8% charging rate with tests like this. In reality, the charging rate was probably a bit higher than this since the iPhone hit 80% and entered the Apple Trickle Charging mode.

In addition to this test, I did try out the trickle charging option for my AirPods Pro 2. And while I didn’t track the progress the same way, it did seem to work really well. I didn’t notice any discernible heat on the phone or the charger after completing the charging session and the battery still showed a full charge. The iPhone 14 Pro has a battery capacity of approximately 3,200 mAh. With a 50% charge, I would assume charging my phone drained around 480 mAh from the power bank, which would leave it with 9,520 mAh. The LEDs wouldn’t drop until the power bank only had 7,500 mAh available.

While this might seem like a trivial thing to mention, I really like that the power bank can be propped up so that the ports are easy to access. The side of the power bank where the wall charging prongs are located will sit flat on a surface. This provides the user the option to plug cables into the charging ports and manage cables much easier than if the charger had to lay on its side.

Pros

Cons

The Anker 733 Power Bank (GaNPrime PowerCore 65W) is a game-changer in the world of portable chargers. Its innovative GaN technology allows for faster charging speeds and a more compact design than ever before. With its impressive 10,000 mAh capacity, it can easily keep your devices powered up for days on end. The inclusion of multiple ports also ensures that you can charge multiple devices simultaneously. Whether you’re a frequent traveler or just someone who needs a reliable power source on the go, the Anker 733 Power Bank is an excellent investment.

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