The second one has more outputs, and as far as I can tell, more power to give. Horrible description, I know, but I really don’t know the difference between watts, amps, and ohms. I know there’s also watt hours and milliamp hours, and probably other stuff I don’t understand.
Anyway, why such a huge price difference?
The 26/25 mAh power bank (no model designation has less energy capacity, is TSA-compliant for carry-on to an airplane and has a maximum USB-C output of 140 W (charging only one device; if you charge multiple devices that gets divided). It is useful if you want something to charge multiple phones or a single laptop on an airplane, or just a device small enough to carry in a messenger bag or small backpack.
The SOLIX C200 is a much larger device (physically too small for a messenger bag), can output up to 200 W from one USB-C port, and also has an XT port (I assume an XT60) for charging with a solar panel. It is more suitable for casual camping or ‘emergency’ use during a power outage to charge multiple devices.
The SOLIX C300 actually has charging/power output via a car charger and a pop-up ambient light that is really useful for camp table use. If you are going to go for a larger powerbank that is probably the better value.
Stranger
Do you think the smaller one is more expensive because you’re paying for convenience?
The smaller, more expensive unit can power TWO 140W USB-C ports at the same time. (It then has 20W of output left over for the remaining USB-A port). It is more expensive probably because it needs more advanced power & battery electronics for the increased output (300W vs the bigger unit’s 200W total). This is good if you need to charge two laptops at the same time, but only once each.
The bigger, cheaper one can only power ONE 140W USB-C port. (It then has 60W of output remaining split among all the other ports). This has less power output, BUT more ports. It is good if you need to charge one laptop and several phones or smaller devices at the same time. However, it also has a MUCH larger battery inside (90 Ah vs the smaller one’s 26 Ah). That means it can charge those devices several times over before it, itself, would need a recharge.
PS You can see all the options on the Anker site itself.
All their small power banks: Power Banks - Anker US
Solix is their bigger units: Portable Power Stations - Anker SOLIX US
If you tell us what exactly you need to charge, and whether size matters, we can give a better recommendation.
If it helps:
Watts (W): How much power it can put out at once. By analogy, if you think of a garden hose, this is how “strong” the flow of water would be.
Amp-hours or milliamp-hours (Ah or mAh): The “capacity” of the battery, which is how much energy it holds or how many times it can charge your devices. In a water analogy, it would be the size of your water tank.
And if you ever see a device or battery with watt-hours (Wh) instead of amp-hours (Ah), you can multiply the Ah by 3.7 to get the Wh. e.g. smaller battery bank’s 26 Ah * 3.7 = 96 Wh, which can charge roughly 2 laptops or 7 phones. (Assuming the device has a lithium-ion battery, which most recent and expensive consumer electronics do. Cheaper/older ones may not.)
Sorry, one mistake: The bigger unit is 60 Ah, not 90 Ah, sorry (was looking at the wrong model)
Honestly, just so my kids can charge their devices when they’re sitting on the couch that isn’t near a power source. It can sit near the couch, so they don’t leave portable batteries everywhere, or have cables stretched into multiple tripping hazards.
I assume the larger, less expensive one will be fine, and probably overkill, but at least I won’t have to charge it too often. I was just curious about why the price difference in the two devices.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
It really just boils down to max power output in each port. It is easy to put out 20W in a single port (enough to charge most phones relatively quickly). It takes much more advanced and expensive electronics to be able to do 140W per port (only needed for big/powerful laptops). What are your kids charging?
Even if you leave aside the battery altogether, just to find a regular wall adapter that can output 140W straight from the wall outlet to USB-C is going to cost you a chunk of change (probably around $50 for a high quality one), more than that if it’s a physically smaller unit (for Anker, that’s their “Prime” and “GAN” chargers).
If you have two of those in the same charger, it’s going to cost even more.
And if you want that much power from a battery (as opposed to the wall), it’s going to cost even more, because then you have to do special heat and safety management for the battery too… they are little bombs inside, and when managed with low-quality electronics, they can burn or explode. Anker is generally pretty good about that, though they do occasionally have recalls.
If it’s just for your couch, does it even need a battery? You can just run an extension cord to one of these instead and never have to worry about charging it: Anker Prime Charger (250W, 6 Ports, GaNPrime) - Anker US
Keep in mind that the battery itself is a consumable only good for a few years. If your kids are using it every day, and it’s not plugged in, it will be pretty severely degraded (and need a replacement) after just 2-3 years. The battery chemistry degrades with heavy usage. It’s unlikely Anker will sell replacement batteries, so you’ll probably have to replace the whole unit then.
The regular wall charger won’t have that problem.
When shopping for something like this, what I do is:
Then you can find the right charger or battery for that particular scenario. The following chargers/batteries would all look quite different, and have different price points and tradeoffs:
Unfortunately, Macbooks have gotten hungrier. The latest 16" Macbook Pros use 140W adapters.
Oh, you’re right, sorry. I should’ve specified the non-Pro ones (regular and Airs)
140W if you want the fastest fast charging and you’re using it while it’s charging, but they’ll still charge on much less, especially when asleep.