Is the Anker Power Bank (Zolo 20,000mAh) Actually Worth It?
By Daniel Kruger, consumer tech · updated 2026-07-27
Worth it if you're tired of losing charging cables, not if you need to power a laptop.
Worth it, if you're a single-phone traveler who hates carrying loose cables
around $35price at time of review — check Amazon for current
- Worth it ifYou constantly lose or forget charging cables
- Skip it ifYou need to charge a laptop or tablet needing more than 30W
Amazon shoppers rate it 4 out of 5 across 12,841 ratings. That is their number, not ours.
Affiliate link. Opens Amazon in a new tab.
As an Amazon Associate, Is It Worth It Reviews earns from qualifying purchases. It costs you nothing extra, and it has never changed a verdict.
Picture the phone icon flashing red at the gate, the charger sits with no free outlet, and you patting your bag for a cable that isn't there. If you've ever needed an anker power bank and instead found a tangle of loose cords, you know the real failure isn't the battery, it's the missing cable.
Here's the clever bit hiding in plain sight: the cable is not a separate accessory, it's built into the power bank itself. A 5.98 inch USB-C cord folds flush against the case, rated for over ten thousand bends, so the one thing that usually goes missing, gets lost, or fails first is no longer a separate item you can leave behind. That single design choice is why this thing survives in a bag long after a cheaper bank with a detachable cord has broken its plug. The 20,000mAh cell behind it is sized for real trips, not top-ups: enough to take an iPhone from empty to full about four times before you need an outlet again. The 30W output moves that charge quickly (an iPhone can hit over half in half an hour) and doubles as a fast input, so recharging the bank itself doesn't become its own overnight chore. Underneath all of it, ActiveShield 2.0 is quietly checking temperature millions of times a day and trimming output the moment anything runs warm, so the speed doesn't come at the cost of the bank cooking itself, or your phone, in your bag. At 12.45 ounces and roughly the size of a deck of cards, it disappears into a pocket instead of turning your bag into a gadget drawer.
So you're not really paying for milliamp hours, you're paying to never dig through a bag for a cable again. The capacity is just insurance on top of that, the built-in cord is the actual point.
Worth it if
- You constantly lose or forget charging cables
- You travel light and charge one phone at a time
- You want one less thing to pack for a trip
Skip it if
- You need to charge a laptop or tablet needing more than 30W
- You regularly charge multiple devices at once
- You want maximum capacity for multi-week trips
Not for anyone who needs to charge a laptop or run multiple devices at once.
If you're someone who travels light and charges one phone at a time, this is a quiet yes, it disappears into a pocket and just works. If you need to top up a laptop or juice multiple devices at once, look elsewhere, 30W and one cable won't cover that job.
Check price on Amazon · around $35 or Add it to your Amazon cart to sit on it
Before you go
Which Anker power bank is best?
The best one depends on what you're carrying, not the biggest number on the box. For someone carrying a single phone and wanting one less cable to pack, a 20,000mAh model with a built-in cord hits the sweet spot; larger capacity banks mostly add weight for charges you don't need.
Is the Anker power bank any good?
It does one job well: keeping a phone charged without a separate cable, backed by temperature monitoring that keeps fast charging from overheating. Whether it's good for you comes down to whether that's the job you actually need done.
Full spec sheet
| Connector Type | USB Type C |
|---|---|
| Brand | Anker |
| Battery Capacity | 20000 milliamp_hours |
| Color | Black |
| Special Feature | Built In Cable |