5 Anker Phone Accessories You Should Try Instead Of The Official Versions - bgr.com

Anker is one of the top phone accessory brands in the market. Even though some people prefer phone makers' first-party accessories, the reality is that third-party brands often do a better job at offering a more enticing product at a better price and with better specs. In Anker's case, the company has a wide range of wireless chargers, power banks, and even sub-brands that offer products that not even Apple offers. Among the best Anker phone accessories, the company offers the MagGo Power Bank, a 3-in-1 charging station with 25W fast-charge for the iPhone, and the Soundcore Boom 2, a portable Bluetooth speaker with a focus on bass.

The selection of these products doesn't mean that Apple, Samsung, and other brands' offerings are bad. But we want to suggest a wider look at the market by showing that accessory makers like Anker have interesting offerings that could come closer to what you want for your smartphone, especially because they have been reviewed by real customers globally. If you want even more options, these cheap iPhone accessories can greatly improve your device experience without you having to spend a lot of money. That said, here's our selection of Anker accessories worth picking over the official versions.

If you have an iPhone Air, you might suffer from poor battery life due to this device's ultra-thin design. To address this issue, Apple offers a battery pack designed specifically for this iPhone. However, not only can it not completely charge your phone from 20% to 100%, but it also costs $100. If you have another iPhone 17 or an older generation device, Apple doesn't offer any MagSafe-compatible battery pack that you can just attach to the back of your phone and use.

With that in mind, Anker offers two MagGo power bank options, with 5,000 mAh and 10,000 mAh capacities, respectively. Even if you get the higher capacity option, it still costs at least $20 less than Apple's offering with a retail price of $80, but with more power to charge your phone completely. According to Anker, it can provide approximately 1.4 charges to an iPhone 17 Pro Max, which is Apple's iPhone with the biggest battery yet.

Thanks to this power bank's slim design, users don't have to worry about it adding an extra bulk to their device. The company says the 10,000 mAh MagGo power bank can charge an iPhone 17 Pro to 25% in 19 minutes thanks to its 15W wireless charging support, while most other 7.5W power banks would take double the time. In addition, users can also use its USB-C port with 30W of power to fast charge their iPhones quicker, and in 2.5 hours, the power bank can be fully charged.

You may find this surprising, but Apple does not offer a 3-in-1 solution to charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods all together. When the tech giant introduced the iPhone X in 2017, it infamously previewed AirPower, an unreleased wireless charger that would let you place your iPhone in any position to charge, alongside other accessories. However, the company was never able to build this device properly. Eventually, Apple released the single MagSafe charging puck, which still is being updated, and a MagSafe Duo to charge both an iPhone and an Apple Watch, which eventually got discontinued – most likely because newer iPhone and Apple Watch models didn't fit properly on the accessory anymore.

With the lack of a first-party option, several brands launched foldable 3-in-1 wireless charging stations. Anker sells a $149.99 option that has been designed specifically for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 series. It can offer an output of 25W of wireless charging for these devices alongside fast charging for the Apple Watch Series 7 or newer, and regular wireless charging for AirPods. This solution offers a feature called AirCool to ensure the charger and any devices using it don't overheat. There's even a small light to notify you if the AirCool feature is on or if there's a power issue or another problem. Users can adjust the position of the charger so you can charge an iPhone in either landscape or portrait. Its foldable design also makes it easier to carry around when you need to travel.

Neither Samsung nor Apple offers something like Anker's 140W charger with four ports. Apple, for example, has a dual gallium nitride (GaN) charger that you can purchase, while Samsung only offers more traditional single-port chargers. That said, if you have your phone, a tablet, a computer, and earbuds, as many of us do, you'll either need a 3-in-1 solution or several chargers and cables to safely charge your devices.

With Anker's 140W charger, customers get a small, yet powerful power brick that can charge at speeds up to 140W in the C1 and C2 ports, up to 40W in the C3 port, and up to 33W in a USB-A port. With that, you could charge a 14-inch MacBook Pro, a 13-inch iPad Pro, and your iPhone 17 Pro Max at maximum speed without worrying about juggling multiple power bricks or the charger overheating. Thanks to a small smart display built into the power brick, you can monitor in real time the charging status of your devices, by understanding how much power the ports are using, the amount of total output, and even the temperature of the charger. For $89.99, this accessory is available in dark gray and silver. It can charge more than just your everyday gadgets; Anker also suggests you could charge your Nintendo Switch, drone, or Steam Deck.

One of Anker's subbrands is Soundcore. Even though both Apple and Samsung offer some kind of speaker – Apple has two HomePod options and the Beats Pill while Samsung has its home speaker line — both brands' offerings are pretty limited compared to that of Soundcore. Among the Soundcore lineup is the Soundcore Boom 2, a portable Bluetooth speaker focused on punchy bass. According to Anker, this product offers 80W sound with 2.1 channel audio, and customers can sync multiple Soundcore Boom 2 speakers together for stereo. This speaker also offers IPX7 water resistance. Some of the other top features of the Soundcore Boom 2 include its 24-hour playtime and a built-in power bank, so you can keep the party going while still charging your phone.

This can be the ideal accessory if you're looking for a portable party speaker. In the case of the Beats Pill, we only recommended this accessory if you are deeply into Apple's ecosystem. Though, if you purchase at least two of them, these speakers get really powerful. However, Anker offers the Soundcore Boom 2 for $99.99, which is significantly cheaper than Apple's HomePod mini — which recently got a price hike due to the memory crisis. While you might be inclined to buy a HomePod for its deep integration with Apple Music, Anker's speaker offers the best cost-benefit by offering powerful sound, a customizable EQ, a colorful light show, generous battery life, and great design.

One of Anker's most interesting products is the Prime Power Bank. Available in several configurations, the most powerful is the 26,250 mAh option with 300W output. While Apple doesn't make power banks, Samsung has a few less powerful options compared to this one. For $229.99, this accessory offers up to 140W fast charging, and it can even recharge itself to 50% in just 13 minutes, or to 80% in 40 minutes in case you use both ports to recharge it.

Despite its big specs, the company says the power bank is flight approved, though does not specify precisely what this means, so it's worth confirming with the airline you're travelling with before you fly. It features two USB-C ports with up to 140W power each, in addition to a 20W USB-A option. With that, you can charge a MacBook Pro M4 Pro to 50% in 27 minutes, an iPhone 17 Pro Max in 22 minutes, or a Galaxy S25 Ultra in 26 minutes. In addition to these numbers, Anker offers a companion mobile app that lets you monitor and control the power bank. Customers can get real-time charging stats, adjust power settings, and even understand how the battery health of the power bank is, what temperature it's working on, and the amount of power the connected devices are pulling.

Smartphone users are often trying to find new accessories to make the most out of their handsets, and sometimes the best way to do that is with third-party accessories. Anker is a company we usually highlight at BGR due to its products being highly-praised by customers for price, quality, and features. When choosing the products for this article, we made sure to include a variety of different Anker accessories that can greatly benefit smartphone owners, especially those with Apple and Samsung devices. While buying first-party gear from Apple or Samsung feels like the safe default, it usually leaves customers paying a premium price for outdated specs or some missing features.

Fortunately, Anker is one of the accessory makers that offer a wide range of accessories in different price ranges, and usually a lot more affordable than the official version, such as the MagGo accessories or the impressive 300W power bank. These specific products have been reviewed by hundreds of customers on Anker's website and on Amazon. BGR staff also have familiarity with them, as we usually test them, review them, or get hands-on at trade shows like CES, MWC, and IFA. Besides our picks, customers have the freedom to check other options — whether by Anker or other third-party accessory makers, as some brands can compete with Apple any day.