Most people today can’t live without their phone, especially in New York.
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people → live → York
It’s your credit card, your MetroCard, and, depending on where you work, how you access your office building.
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you → ’ → building
In a city that runs literally around the clock, you can’t run around with a battery at 5%.
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you → run → %
So, for the New York Post’s Made It Here Awards for the best power banks, I relentlessly interrogated eight different power banks with one singular, unforgiving question: Which of these will actually keep a New Yorker’s phone alive from the bleary-eyed first swipe of the morning to the desperate last train home?
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Which → make → train
I judged every single bank on five distinct metrics: charging speed, real-world capacity, portability, heat management and overall value.
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I → judge → metrics
Out of the pack, one battery did the most, and it managed to do it the fastest.
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it → do → it
The Anker MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro snaps to the back of your iPhone, charges it wirelessly at 25W, actively cools itself with a built-in fan and even props your screen up on a sleek kickstand.
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Pro → snap → kickstand
Screen shows battery, battery health and temperature
Recharges itself fast at 45W
Cons:
17.8 millimeters thick
No built-in cable
The fan is audible up close
Top of its class price
Packing a robust 10,000mAh capacity, the MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro
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fan → show → capacity
features Qi2.2 wireless charging up to 25W, alongside a highly capable USB-C port that handles both input and output at 45W.
It relies on an impressively small fan – complete with both Cool and Silent modes – to manage internal heat, while a comprehensive six-screen display tracks your battery level, overall cell health and operational temperature.
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display → feature → level
For a power bank to not just survive, but thrive in New York, it needs to complete three uncompromising jobs: charge fast enough to matter on a 20-minute subway ride, last from the initial morning swipe until walking in the door at night and it absolutely can not cook your phone in your pocket.
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it → survive → pocket
This is the one battery that accomplished all three.
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that → accomplish → three
How easy is it to set up?
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it → set → ?
This is easy to set up.
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This → set → ?
You don’t even have to create an account.
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You → have → account
You simply snap it onto the back of a phone, and it instantaneously starts charging.
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it → snap → phone
A tactile button on the side cycles effortlessly through the various data screens, while a quick double-tap either switches charging modes or disables the wireless function entirely.
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tap → cycle → function
One crucial fit note: Anker officially lists it for iPhone 13 through 17 models, excluding the iPhone 16e, which lacks MagSafe capabilities.
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which → list → capabilities
Phones without MagSafe naturally demand a MagSafe case to operate properly.
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Phones → demand → case
Furthermore, only iPhone 16 models and later are built to receive the full, unbridled 25W flow.
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models → build → flow
Measuring 4.14 by 2.79 inches, standing 17.8 millimeters thick and weighing in at under 8 ounces, this serves a bit better as a jacket-pocket or a tote-bag companion rather than squeezing into tight denim.
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this → measure → denim
The kickstand, however, is the specific feature I’d gladly pay extra for.
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I → pay → extra
It smoothly adjusts from 0 to 80 degrees, and Anker claims it has been rigorously tested to survive 5,000 cycles.
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it → adjust → cycles
If you turn the wireless charging off, the bank functions perfectly as a plain, weighted magnetic phone stand.
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bank → turn → stand
Meanwhile, the built-in screen does much more than flash a basic battery percentage.
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screen → build → percentage
It features six distinct interfaces covering charging status, battery level, overall cell health and operating temperature.
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It → feature → status
Battery health is the surprisingly rare metric here, as most banks flatly refuse to tell you when their internal cells are dying.
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cells → refuse → you
It comes in phantom gray, burgundy red, polar night blue and starlight silver.
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It → come → gray
How fast does it charge?
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it → charge → ?
Delivering 25W is the fastest magnetic wireless charging you can get right now, and that blistering speed comes from the emerging Qi2.2 standard this bank uses.
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bank → deliver → standard
It took my iPhone Air from 0 to 50% in about 30 minutes with the fan on.
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It → take → fan
Conversely, a typical 15W wireless charger generally takes about 45 minutes to reach that same 50% threshold.
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charger → take → threshold
Anker’s own internal metrics boast a 50% charge in just 25 minutes when attached to an iPhone 18 Pro.
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metrics → boast → Pro
That specific margin of time is exactly the difference between holding a dead phone and securing half a battery on the chaotic ride from the office in Midtown to drinks downtown.
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margin → hold → drinks
If you decide to plug in a USB-C cable, the device pumps out an impressive 45W, which provides more than enough wattage to properly feed an iPad or even a laptop.
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which → decide → iPad
It refills itself at that identical 45W rate, and Anker promises that velocity gets the battery back to 80% in under an hour; by comparison, our runner-up, the Ugreen MagFlow Pro, refills at only 30W.
How long does the battery last?
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battery → refill → 30W.
A 10,000mAh bank never actually delivers 10,000mAh directly to your phone, because a significant portion of that raw energy is inevitably lost as heat during the transfer.
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portion → deliver → transfer
The only number that really matters is how much power lands securely inside your device.
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power → matter → device
During my testing, this bank recharged my iPhone Air an impressive two full times.
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bank → recharge → Air
Translated into harsh New York terms, that represents a full day of swiping OMNY, staring at Google Maps, snapping photos and doomscrolling in between, all while retaining a generous second charge left over for late-night emergencies.
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that → translate → emergencies
Using only the power bank to keep my phone juiced, I was able to get two full days’ worth of power out before I needed to sync up with the socket again.
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I → use → socket
…and 37 more, not listed.
The Aporia
