The Anker Prime 2,7650mAh 250W Power Bank Is Under $100 for the First Time Ever - IGN

Oct 31, 2024

Woot! (owned by Amazon) has just dropped the price on its highest capacity power bank: The Anker Prime 27,650mAh 250W Power Bank is down to $99.99 (originally $180). Amazon Prime members get free shipping, otherwise it's an extra $6. This is the best price we've seen by a fair amount; the previous historic low was $120 during Prime Day. It also happens to be the best Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally X charger you can get. Very few power banks can match its 250W output.

With 250W of USB Type-C Power Delivery

The Anker Prime is a hefty power bank, measuring 6.4"x2"x2.2" and weighing in at 1.5lbs. This is something you'd put in your travel bag or backpack instead of your pocket. It has two USB Type-C ports and one USB Type-A port. The USB Type-A port supports up to 65W, although it drops to 18W if you're using the other ports at the same time. Each USB Type-C port supports up to 140W of Power Delivery (or a combined total of 240W if you're running both simultaneously). That's powerful enough to charge even the current 2024 Apple MacBook Pro 16" laptop, which accepts up to 140W of charging.

In terms of gaming handhelds, the Steam Deck supports up to 38W of charging, the Asus ROG Ally up to 65W, the Asus ROG Ally X up to 100W, and the Nintendo Switch up to 18W. That means the Anker Prime can easily charge all four gaming handhelds – including the ROG Ally X – at their maximum rates; you'll even be able to play and charge simultaneously.

A 27,650mAh battery equates to a 99.5Whr capacity. An 80% power efficiency rating (which is about standard for power banks) gives you about 80Whr of available charge. This power bank will charge a Steam Deck (40Whr) or Asus ROG Ally (40Whr) from empty to completely full 2 times, an Asus ROG Ally X (80Whr) 1 time, and a Nintendo Switch (16Whr) about 5 times. You can see here why we think something like a 20,000mAh capacity should be the bare minimum for more power hungry gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally (and even higher for the Ally X).

TSA states that power banks must be under 100Whr in capacity for carry-on (check-in is not allowed under any circumstances). This Anker Prime is just barely under that at 99.5Whr, but that is the nominal rating and in real-world testing, it will always be below that. You might get checked simply because the Prime 27,650mAh is a hefty-looking power bank, but you shouldn't have any problems getting it cleared.

The Asus ROG Ally X was just recently released and has taken the title as best Windows-based gaming handheld. It improves on the original ROG Ally in several ways, the biggest upgrades being a much bigger 80Whr battery with nearly the runtime, more RAM, a beefier cooling system, double the storage capacity on the base model, and better controls. It's not inexpensive starting at $799.99, but it's definitely an incredible piece of hardware.

This power bank is one of the best Steam Deck deals and Nintendo Switch deals going on right now, and absolutely worth considering if you find yourself short on power all too often. However, not everyone needs that much capacity or power and would instead benefit more from a smaller, slimmer, and less expensive power bank that might even be able to fit easily in your pocket. If you fit that bill, then check out these best power banks for travel.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.