Anker Laptop Power Bank 25,000mAh (A1695): problems, parts and running costs

Checked: 2026-10-20

Summary

The most reported failure is the short side cable that doubles as the hand strap: owners report intermittent contacts and cracked solder joints where that cable meets the board, and the retractable top cable has its own reports of stopping fast-charging or refusing to retract. There are no consumables and no owner-replaceable parts, so the only running cost is electricity for a pack that recharges in about two hours with a 100W charger.

Common problems and fixes

Side/strap cable fails — the strongest recurring complaint. Owners report intermittent contacts on the strap cable, a strap cable that stopped working, and solder joints where that cable meets the main board cracking or failing; one thread calls the side lanyard cable “a fatal flaw”. There is no owner-repair path, so the fix is a warranty claim: the pack is covered for 18 months, and one owner reported a failed integrated cable replaced under warranty. [15][16][1][3]
Retractable cable fails — one owner says it stopped fast-charging and outputs 0.1W constantly, another that it simply stopped retracting in basic use. Anker rates the mechanism for 20,000 retractions and 20,000 bends, so an early failure falls under the same 18-month warranty; until then, charge through one of the three USB-C ports instead. [15][3]
Heat and throttling with two laptops at once — How-To Geek charged two MacBooks together and the pack throttled internally, without heat felt on the outside; after draining it, the pack refused to recharge until it cooled and then accepted only about 50W from a 100W charger. Charging one laptop at a time is the practical workaround, and Temperature Protection Mode stops the pack until the temperature returns to normal. [8][4]
Shared output cap — the 165W headline is a total across ports and is only reached with two USB-C devices; with three or four devices the total falls to 130W, each built-in cable caps at 100W, and there is no wireless charging. Plan around two devices when you need the headroom. [1][3][4][9]
Slower recharge than the 100W claim — Anker states the 100W peak input applies only above 25% battery, and Macworld measured a 90W maximum input and a recharge just under 1:35 hours with a 200W desktop charger, while Anker’s own figure is about two hours with a 100W charger at 77°F. Start from above a quarter full when speed matters. [1][3][7][4]
Strap cable comes unhooked from its slot — a repeated ergonomic complaint: the fixed cable unhooks from the plastic slot on the side of the housing. Re-hook it and treat it as a handle rather than something to pull on. [8]
Pass-through and multi-source recharge limits — pass-through charging works, but it needs a charger rated at least 20W with input power above output power, and the pack cannot be recharged from several sources at once: it picks the highest-power one. [9][4]

Parts and consumables

Side/strap USB-C cable (A1695) — the part that fails most often; it is built into the housing and not sold as a spare, so a failure is a warranty case rather than a part swap. [15][16]
Retractable USB-C cable (A1695) — also built in, about 2.3 ft (70 cm) long; owners report it stopping fast-charging and stopping retracting, and it is rated for 20,000 retractions and 20,000 bends. [15][3][4]
USB-C charger for recharging — not included with the standalone unit (the box holds the power bank, the manual and the 18-month warranty), so a 100W-class charger is an extra purchase; some retail bundles add a pouch. [3][4][12]
Battery cells — five 21700 lithium-ion cells in series, not user-replaceable; the display tracks battery health, cycle count and current maximum capacity, and a warning appears below 60% health. [6][4]

Yearly running cost

There are no consumables, no subscription and no owner-replaceable parts, so the recurring spend is electricity only. The pack holds 90Wh rated and about 63–70Wh usable to devices, and recharges in about two hours with a 100W charger at 77°F [1][4]. Turning that into a yearly figure needs a local electricity rate, which these sources do not give, so the yearly electricity total is not enough data to compute. The one extra purchase is a 100W-class USB-C charger, since none is included with the standalone unit [4][10]. Capacity loss is tracked on the display rather than fixed by a spare part [9][10].

When it is a good buy

Anker’s own store lists the pack at $119.99 against a $135 compare-at figure, and its US collection page shows $104.99 (October 2026). Macworld’s January 2025 review put Best Buy, Walmart and Newegg at $119.98–$119.99. PCWorld’s July 2025 deal coverage recorded $94.49, 30% off the $135 MSRP.

At or below about $100 — strong value for 90Wh with three 100W USB-C connections, two built-in cables and the detailed display; the cable-durability and heat cautions are what you pay for that package.
$100–120 — fair-to-good, matching Anker’s own listing and the Macworld table.
$121–135 — weaker, because the buyer gives up real savings against the sale figure while the strap-cable failure signal stays.
Above $135 — poor value here: larger Anker packs and rivals with longer single-port output, such as 140W PD3.1, are the better comparison.
Ugreen 25,000mAh — Can Buy or Not’s Singapore market check found the Anker at S$150–160 against S$120 for the Ugreen; the better choice when you want the same capacity without the built-in cables and the display. [9]
Anker Prime A110A — Wirecutter’s laptop power-bank top pick, and a different model from this one; the better choice if a third-party recommendation matters more than the 165W total or the integrated cables. [13]
Rivals with 140W PD3.1 single-port output — the better choice when one laptop needs more than the 100W per-port cap this pack offers. [9][14]