5 Anker phone accessories you should try instead of the official versions

Anker is one of the biggest phone accessory brands on the market. Although some people prefer first-party accessories from phone manufacturers, the reality is that third-party brands are often more successful in offering a more attractive product at a better price and with better specifications. In Anker’s case, the company has a wide range of wireless chargers, power banks, and even sub-brands offering products that even Apple doesn’t offer. Among Anker’s best phone accessories, the company offers the MagGo Power Bank, a 3-in-1 charging station with 25W fast charging for the iPhone, and the Soundcore Boom 2, a bass-focused portable Bluetooth speaker.

Selecting these products does not mean that the offerings from Apple, Samsung and other brands are bad. But we want to offer a broader look at the market by showing that accessory manufacturers like Anker have interesting offers that could be closer to what you want for your smartphone, especially because they have been reviewed by real customers around the world. If you want even more options, these cheap iPhone accessories can dramatically improve your device experience without you having to spend a lot of money. That said, here is our selection of Anker accessories to choose from among the official versions.

If you own an iPhone Air, you might suffer from poor battery life due to this device’s ultra-thin design. To solve this problem, Apple offers a battery designed specifically for this iPhone. However, not only can it not fully 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 a MagSafe compatible battery that you can simply attach to the back of your phone and use.

With this in mind, Anker offers two MagGo power bank options, with capacities of 5,000 mAh and 10,000 mAh 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 fully charge your phone. According to Anker, it can deliver around 1.4 charges to an iPhone 17 Pro Max, which is Apple’s iPhone with the largest battery to date.

Thanks to the slim design of this power bank, users don’t have to worry about it adding extra bulk to their device. The company claims that the MagGo 10,000 mAh 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. Additionally, users can also use its 30W USB-C port to charge their iPhone faster, and within 2.5 hours, the power bank can be fully charged.

This may surprise you, but Apple doesn’t offer a 3-in-1 solution for simultaneously charging an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. When the tech giant introduced the iPhone However, the company was never able to build this device properly. Eventually, Apple released the single MagSafe charging puck, which is still being updated, and a MagSafe Duo for charging both an iPhone and an Apple Watch, which was ultimately discontinued — likely because newer iPhone and Apple Watch models no longer fit the accessory properly.

In the absence of a proprietary option, several brands have launched 3-in-1 foldable wireless charging stations. Anker sells a $149.99 option designed specifically for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 series. It can offer 25W of wireless charging power for those devices, as well as 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 that the charger and any devices that use it do not overheat. There’s even a little light to alert you if the AirCool feature is on or if there’s a power issue or other issue. Users can adjust the position of the charger so that you can charge an iPhone in landscape or portrait mode. Its foldable design also makes it easy to carry when you need to travel.

Neither Samsung nor Apple offers anything like Anker’s 140W charger with four ports. Apple, for example, offers 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 headphones, like many of us, you’ll need either a 3-in-1 solution or multiple chargers and cables to safely charge your devices.

With the Anker 140W Charger, customers get a small but powerful power supply that can charge at speeds of up to 140W in ports C1 and C2, up to 40W in port C3, and up to 33W in a USB-A port. With this, you can charge a 14-inch MacBook Pro, 13-inch iPad Pro, and your iPhone 17 Pro Max at maximum speed without worrying about juggling multiple power bricks or the charger overheating. With a small smart display built into the power supply, you can monitor the charging status of your devices in real time, including how much power the ports are using, how much total power is being used, 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 daily gadgets; Anker also suggests you can charge your Nintendo Switch, drone, or Steam Deck.

One of Anker’s sub-brands is Soundcore. Even though Apple and Samsung both offer some sort of speaker – Apple offers two HomePod options and the Beats Pill while Samsung offers its line of home speakers – both brands’ offerings are quite limited compared to Soundcore’s. Among the Soundcore lineup is the Soundcore Boom 2, a portable Bluetooth speaker focused on punchy bass. According to Anker, this product delivers 80W of audio 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 Soundcore Boom 2’s other key features include its 24-hour playback time and a built-in power bank, so you can keep the party going while charging your phone.

This can be the perfect accessory if you are looking for a portable party speaker. In the case of the Beats Pill, we only recommend this accessory if you’re deeply involved in the Apple ecosystem. However, if you buy at least two, these speakers get really powerful. However, Anker offers the Soundcore Boom 2 for $99.99, which is significantly cheaper than Apple’s HomePod mini, whose prices have recently increased due to the memory crisis. Although you might be inclined to buy a HomePod for its deep integration with Apple Music, Anker’s speaker offers the best value by offering powerful sound, a customizable EQ, a colorful light show, generous battery life, and a 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 300 W of power. Although Apple doesn’t make power banks, Samsung offers a few less powerful options than this one. For $229.99, this accessory offers fast charging up to 140W, and it can even charge to 50% in just 13 minutes, or to 80% in 40 minutes if you use both ports to charge it.

Despite its great specs, the company says the power bank is approved for flights, but doesn’t specify precisely what that means, so it’s worth confirming with the airline you’re traveling with before you fly. It has two USB-C ports with a power of up to 140 W each, in addition to a 20 W USB-A option. With this, 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 allows you to monitor and control the power bank. Customers can get real-time charging statistics, adjust power settings, and even understand the power bank’s battery health, the temperature it’s operating at, and how much power connected devices are consuming.

Smartphone users often try to find new accessories to get the most out of their handsets, and sometimes the best way to do this is to use third-party accessories. Anker is a company we usually highlight at BGR because of their products that are highly rated by customers for their price, quality, and features. When choosing 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. Although purchasing proprietary hardware from Apple or Samsung seems to be the default, customers typically pay a higher price for outdated specs or some missing features.

Fortunately, Anker is one of the accessory manufacturers that offers a wide range of accessories in different price ranges, and usually much more affordable than the official version, like the MagGo accessories or the impressive 300W power bank. These specific products have been reviewed by hundreds of customers on the Anker website and on Amazon. BGR staff are also familiar with them, as we test them, review them, or generally get familiar with them at trade shows like CES, MWC, and IFA. Besides our choices, customers have the freedom to look at other options, whether offered by Anker or other third-party accessory manufacturers, as some brands can compete with Apple at any time.