Anker 2nd Gen Astro3 12000mAh vs Mophie Powerstation Duo XL

[Dualmonitors]

it appears to me that the 2nd Gen Astro3 version of the Anker 12000mAh has THREE "smart ports". it is an update/improvement that is buried and not well publicized. furthermore, initially, only the white ones were updated to have THREE smart usb ports, the black ones had one smart port and 2 "universal ports, i.e. non-smart ports". eventually, they also changed the black ones to have 3 smart ports - very confusing indeed! this brings question about Anker and how this company functions, but of course, i have not yet personal experience with Anker. I'd like to get this 2nd Gen Astro3 with 3 smart ports, but wanted to ask the good folks here to see if anyone can provide more granular detail about this Anker and also the competitor, the Mophie Powerstation Duo XL (also with 12000 mAh).

as such, reading through its specs and performance (amps output, etc), it seems like this particular most current iteration of the 12000mAh Anker is more advanced than the Mophie Powerstation Duo XL.

i'm wondering if anyone can shed some additional light on this? i don't know anyone that has had experience with both of these to really discuss the finer details and each unit's pros and cons.

thanks in advance.

 

[anon(27512)]

I would go with Mophie. I love their products and they've never let me down.

 

[Dualmonitors]

thanks deadp1xel for your feedback.

well, i've done more research on mophie and anker. confusing, as both companies have their own sets of "issues" and neither is entirely up front about all their specs, etc. Here's a summary of what i found:

Anker:

they are confusing as their newest and greatest product is actually their 12000 mAh model, the 2nd Gen Astro3 unit. Problem: they started with the black version, non-2nd Gen, then made a 2nd Gen WHITE unit, but still were selling the older gen black units! this caused massive confusion in the marketplace as folks would just place an order and selected the color they wanted without the site explicitly stating that black is older gen and white is newer gen! this does indeed make a difference is that the white 2nd gen (newest) has 3 "smart ports" and not "1 smart and 2 regular ports" (black older gen has merely 1 smart and 2 regular ports).

furthermore, their phone support person told me this, which i do not believe is entirely true:

- "... the 2nd Gen Astro3 uses "lithium ion batteries", which is far newer than the lithium polymer batteries that we use in our "20,000 mAh 2nd Gen Astro Pro2" model!!! ..."

Note carefully that they both use 2nd Gen in their model names, but the Pro2 20,000 mAh just says Astro and not Astro 3. Confusing?!? Yeah!

I do not believe his statement is true. i did some research online but the info i found were confusing as well. it is not clear that the "2nd Gen Astro3" used different battery technology than the "2nd Gen Astro Pro2" as he stated. i believe that he might be misinformed. he made other mistakes in the names of the models as well during the call, maybe he's just not detail-oriented?

there is also confusion as to which Anker wall transformer is optimal for the 2nd Gen Astro3 12,000 mAh model, as they actually sell Anker wall transformers with high Amperage outputs (not run of the mill low amp output typical cell phone transformers). their "Combo" packages appear to possibly sell the older gen 12000 batteries, but it is very unclear.

Anker does appear to take very seriously the differences in the handshakes between iPhons and Samsung Android phones! hooray. this is essential for those of us using non-Apple devices, as these handshake protocols do make a difference in charging appropriately.

Mophie:

they seem to be very very much Apple-centric and Apple oriented! Android seems to be almost an afterthought to these folks. This may be an issue as they focus far more on compatibility with Apple devices and seemingly only deal with Samsung/Android devices as an after thought. This is obvious in that Mophie offers up very little technical information. Their so-called manuals are minimalistic at best. Strange. They do NOT mention anywhere that these USB charging ports on their batteries are "smart" or not smart! Well, it makes sense to assume that they are only going to toot their own horns IF these are smart ports, right? If these are NOT smart ports, then they're just going to keep mum about this point, which is exactly what they are doing. On the other hand, users have reported that Samsung devices charge fine with Mophie products. Then again, reading users' reviews on Mophie will likely result in reading mostly Apple device users' reviews, not Android device owners' reviews. Note that Apple stores sell Mophie.

It is disconcerting that when i called Mophie's Customer Support phone, they have no idea what "smart usb" ports mean whatsoever. They are VERY Apple oriented! They started a tech ticket to try to answer that question. Strange that they don't have an faq with that answer, right?

 

[anon(27512)]

thanks deadp1xel for your feedback.

Mophie:

they seem to be very very much Apple-centric and Apple oriented! Android seems to be almost an afterthought to these folks. This may be an issue as they focus far more on compatibility with Apple devices and seemingly only deal with Samsung/Android devices as an after thought. This is obvious in that Mophie offers up very little technical information. Their so-called manuals are minimalistic at best. Strange. They do NOT mention anywhere that these USB charging ports on their batteries are "smart" or not smart! Well, it makes sense to assume that they are only going to toot their own horns IF these are smart ports, right? If these are NOT smart ports, then they're just going to keep mum about this point, which is exactly what they are doing. On the other hand, users have reported that Samsung devices charge fine with Mophie products. Then again, reading users' reviews on Mophie will likely result in reading mostly Apple device users' reviews, not Android device owners' reviews. Note that Apple stores sell Mophie.

It is disconcerting that when i called Mophie's Customer Support phone, they have no idea what "smart usb" ports mean whatsoever. They are VERY Apple oriented! They started a tech ticket to try to answer that question. Strange that they don't have an faq with that answer, right?

You're welcome! I don't know anything about Anker to be honest. Never even heard of them until your post. I checked them out and 'smart USB' reads as marketing hoo-ha to me. I can understand why when you called mophie they had no idea.

They're probably Apple centric given the enormous market. That said I use both apple, samsung, and android devices. The mophie charges all of them perfectly, even my Glass which is hooked up to the mophie as I type this. Again though buy what you're comfortable with and what you will think works best for you what may work for me may not work for you. If you do buy the Anker and don't like it Amazon has an amazing return policy. If you buy the mophie though buy it directly from them or an apple store. There are many counterfeit mophies.

 

[Dualmonitors]

i did additional research, and concluded that Mophie is indeed very Apple-centric. I went into an Apple store here and looked at their Powerstation Duo XL model (their largest mAh unit) and on the box, it said "compatible with..." and listed several bullet points all with i-Devices. Not one single non-"iDevice" was mentioned!

on their smaller mAh units, some packaging did mention non-iDevices, however.

nonetheless, if one were to peruse carefully Anker's site, you'd see that their most current model (not their largest mAh model) is their "2nd Gen Astro3 12000 mAh" and they actually go out of their way to mention compatibilties with various devices. however, they did tell me over the phone that their most current info is actually on their own Amazon listing rather than their own website! how odd is that?

in any case, in sum, i felt more confident that Anker's "2nd Gen Astro3 12000 mAh" would be more compatible or as least they are more cognizant of the requirements of Android devices rather than merely the various iDevices. Essentially, I was left with the feeling that Anker is more brand agnostic. This is important to me as I have all non-iDevices, including the new TabPro 8.4.

I wish someone would also be looking into this in order to further vet the accuracy of my educated guess about the differences between Anker vs Mophie.

Thanks all!

 

[anon(52425)]

I would go with Mophie. I love their products and they've never let me down.

Mophie is overpriced. Anker is an excellent choice and has been working fine for me for almost a year.

 

[Dualmonitors]

Mophie is overpriced. Anker is an excellent choice and has been working fine for me for almost a year.

@Xm_jdm: may i ask what devices and brands you charged your Anker with please? thanks!

 

[anon(52425)]

@Xm_jdm: may i ask what devices and brands you charged your Anker with please? thanks!

iPad Air, iPhone 5S, Galaxy S4, Nike Fuelband... the list goes on.

 

[Dualmonitors]

iPad Air, iPhone 5S, Galaxy S4, Nike Fuelband... the list goes on.

So, essentially, we can feel confident that the Anker is brand agnostic.

May I ask what model of Anker you have? I have the Anker 2nd Gen Astro3 12,000 mAh, obviously.

Thank you.