Ryan
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If you’re like me, you always forget that your phone needs charged until you’re ready to head out the door. The Anker Astro E1 is a powerful, yet very portable, external battery that you can easily take with you.
PROs
- Design: This is one of the sleekest external batteries I’ve seen! It features a black, glossy surface that feels solid in my hand. Four blue LEDs indicate the charge level and compliment the design well. The button also sits flush with the unit which helps prevent it from being accidentally pressed.
- Capacity: The 5,200mAh battery is enough to recharge my iPhone 5S about 2 full times (it can be slightly less if I’m using my phone a lot while it’s charging). Recharging the unit itself takes about 5 hours with a 1 amp charger (such as an iPhone charger). Unfortunately, a 2 amp (tablet) charger won’t charge it any faster as the Astro only has a 1 amp input.
- Power IQ: The USB port can adapt to basically any charging requirement your devices may have. In my video, you can see that it adapts to 0.5 amps for a phone that is around 90% charged, and then it adapts to almost 2.0 amps when charging an iPad that is about 50% charged.
- Anker’s Customer Service: I’ve only needed to use Anker’s customer service one time, but they were very responsive and professional. The 18 month warranty provides reassurance that they stand behind their products.
CONs
- No flashlight: Although I didn’t use it very often, I kind of miss the built-in flashlight that was included in earlier generations of Anker’s external batteries.
Overall, I’m impressed by the sharp design of the Anker Astro E1. The large capacity makes it ideal for taking along for hiking or for simply running errands. The small size makes it easy to slip into your pocket as your running out the door.
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[icon name=icon-circle-arrow-right] Check out the Anker Astro E1 5,200mAh External Battery on Amazon
