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Anker PowerCore+ 19000 PD review: Fresh design and new features make this battery pack very appealing

A portable battery pack with USB-C that doubles as a USB hub? Go on, we're listening.
By Jason Cipriani
PCWorld May 10, 2019 3:30 am PDT
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Image: Anker
At a Glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

  • Highly efficient
  • Multiple ports, including USB-C
  • Doubles as a USB hub

Cons

  • Pricey

Our Verdict

When you consider all that you get—a 30W wall adapter, a battery pack, and a USB hub—it’s a good value for anyone who relies on a battery pack.

Battery packs have become commonplace. These small power banks are easy to carry and make it possible to top off a phone or tablet—and more recently with the addition of Power Delivery (PD) capabilities, a laptop even—while on the go.

Anker’s PowerCore+ 19000 has a slightly tweaked design, departing from the standard black brick. The PowerCore+ 19000 features a two-tone aesthetic, consisting of a space-gray top and a matte-black bottom. Its corners are rounded. It looks nicer than older Anker packs, and I hope the company sticks with the new design going forward.

Note: This review is part of our roundup of portable power banks. Go there for details on competing products and our testing methods.
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Use the PowerCore+ 19000 PD as a USB hub while you charge your laptop.

There are three ports on the front: one USB-C and two full-sized USB, along with a power button. On top is a circular charge indicator, made up of 11 dots.

The far-left USB port provides up to 15W of power, with the port just to its right serving up to 10W of power. The USB-C port is used to charge the pack, as well as deliver up to 27W of power to a tablet, laptop, or Nintendo Switch.

The internal batteries total up to 19,000mAh, or 71.04Wh. In our testing, the PowerCore+ 19000 provided 60.6Wh of power at a consistent 5V/2.5A. That’s good enough to place the pack in the top third of packs we’ve tested when it comes to efficiency. When charging a Nintendo Switch or an iPad Pro, the pack stayed at a steady rate of 14.5v/2.93A.

Inside the box is a 30W USB-C wall adapter and a USB-C-to-USB-C cable. The adapter and cable charged the pack in an impressive 3 hours, 21 minutes.

All things considered, it’s a respectable battery pack on its own. But the PoweCore+ 19000 does even more. It doubles as a USB hub, which will simultaneously charge a laptop and let you access files stored on a thumb drive or connect accessories to your laptop.

I tested this feature on a MacBook Pro and it worked without issue. To activate hub mode, press the power button for two seconds. The power lights will rotate a few times, and then blink every three seconds. Connect the pack to your laptop, then connect a USB accessory to the pack.

I followed the instructions and a few seconds after connecting everything, all of the files on the thumb drive were available in the Finder app. It was a pretty cool trick, and one I could actually see myself using when traveling.

At Amazon’s $85 asking price, the PowerCore+ 19000 is pricey, but when you consider what that gets you—a 30W wall adapter, a battery pack, and a USB hub—it’s a good value for anyone who relies on a battery pack.

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