Benks ArmorGo 10K Qi2 Battery Pack
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Benks ArmorGo 10k battery pack is a Qi2 MagSafe charging option for $63.
- It features a 10K capacity battery, an Aramid fiber build, and comes in 2 colors.
- It’s pretty chunky.
I’ve tested dozens of MagSafe battery packs, and my biggest pet peeve is when they’re too big. No one wants to be hoisting a brick to the back of their phone all day, but once you begin get to the 10,000 mAh capacity options, you might as well be selecting stones — literally.
While phones keep getting smaller, the MagSafe battery pack market is packed with chunky, heavy batteries, so much so that sleek designs like the Anker Nano MagGo 5K Slim or the Torras MiniMag are harder to come by.
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However, I just found a pack that strikes a happy medium. Benks’ ArmorGo 10K Qi2 MagSafe battery pack blends a comfortable grip with a bigger capacity battery and delivers a charging option I happily carried on vacation all week — and would again.
Right now, the 5,000mAh option is available on Amazon, while this 10,000mAh pack is online at Benks’ website.
This pack is upgraded with certified Qi2 wireless charging (that’s 15W wireless and 30W wired). It’s thick enough to house the larger battery but still sleek enough to be practical and lightweight enough to carry. It’s also wrapped in a durable aramid fiber that leaves a soft-to-the-touch tactile feel.
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It’s available in two colorways: Black and Dawn (a light gold). This pack isn’t suitable for all Samsung series cases, so keep that in mind if you’re an Android user. Of course, there are still plenty of ways to make your Android device MagSafe compatible, and newer devices, like the just-launched Google Pixel 10, finally have magnetic charging natively via Pixelsnap, Android’s version of MagSafe.
The Benks ArmorGo 10K Qi2 battery pack on an iPhone 14 Pro.
Kayla Solino/ZDNET
I carried this battery pack on the plane and while on a week-long vacation at the beach, and it was a winner. My friends swiped this up to charge their own phones while we soaked up the sun all day, and everyone was raving about the size-to-power ratio. For 10,000mAh, they felt it just had to be bulkier — and it’s not.
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However, one look at it will tell you that this battery is bulkier than other options like the Anker MagGo 5K Slim, which I also tested while on PTO. But compared to others available, it’s a great size at 0.65 inches thick, comfortable to hold, and easy to travel with. It’s also only a smidge over 7 oz, so it’s not uber heavy.
The Anker Nano 5K Qi2 Slim (top) and the Benks ArmorGo 10K Qi2 battery pack (bottom).
Kayla Solino/ZDNET
Charging-wise, the Benks ArmorGo was stellar. It was able to top off multiple iPhones of varying models throughout the week, and while it got warm (as you should expect with any MagSafe battery), it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. Even while charging on the humid Florida beaches, I didn’t see an “iPhone too hot to charge” notification even once.
ZDNET’s buying advice
Overall, I think the Benks ArmorGo 10k Qi2 battery is a great MagSafe charging option for someone who needs more capacity than that offered by more compact 5K models. I’d still recommend a lighter option for most people, but if that’s not you, this one from Benks is great.
It’s heavier by nature, but it remains sleek and functional and is priced very competitively (around $60) – on par with several 5K options — like Anker’s new Nano MagGo 5K Slim — that clearly offer less power.
