There’s nothing worse than low battery anxiety — that point where your phone goes below 20% battery life, and you have no idea when you’ll be seeing a charger in the next few hours, be it because you’re on a plane, a train or just out and about. That’s why a supplementary battery is a must.
For iPhone owners, there are plenty of choices, but it’s the Anker MagGo 622 that I’ve grown to appreciate — first with my iPhone 14 Pro, and now that I’ve upgraded to an iPhone 15 Pro Max. All five colors of this device are currently $40 for Prime Big Deal Days — a nice 20% discount from the usual $50 price, or a whopping 43% off the list price.
Previously, I had — and liked — the similar 321 model. Like Apple’s similar (and now discontinued) MagSafe Battery Pack, the MagGo 321 magnetically attaches and powers recent iPhones that are MagSafe-equipped (that’s most models since 2020’s iPhone 12). However, that Anker only cost me $22 at the time. And it gave my iPhone another full charging cycle, while still being slim enough to fit in my pocket without any annoying connecting cords or cables.
Read more: Best MagSafe Accessories for iPhone
But the MagGo 622 adds a fold-down kickstand. That’s a key feature when I’m traveling — plop it on the tray table of a plane or a train, and you can enjoy video on your phone in landscape or portrait mode. Have a nearby power outlet? The 622 has passthrough charging via its USB-C connector. (And now that the iPhone uses USB-C too, that’s one less cable in my bag.)
Amazon October Prime Day 2023
Now, a few notes and caveats:
- The Anker products aren’t officially compatible with Apple’s MagSafe standard, so they charge more slowly than those pricier Apple-sanctioned products. (The latest iPhones support the newer Qi2 wireless charging standard, but few if any of those have hit the market yet — and Apple has yet to detail which improvements, if any, the new chargers will deliver.)
- You’ll need to have a MagSafe-compatible phone case for the 622 or any magnetic battery to attach properly. And, like most gadgets nowadays, you’ll need to bring your own power adapter, as only the USB-C cable is provided in the box.
- Lastly, you don’t get the fancy on-screen indicator of how much juice the battery has left in it (but it does have a four-bar LED indicator on the side for that).
But those are all basically quibbles. If I’m spending the day traveling — or just walking around — the Anker MagGo 622 is clipped onto my iPhone, ready for action.
This story was originally published for the July Prime Day event, and has been slightly updated for October’s Prime Big Deal Days.
