Anker 737 Power Bank review: keeping phones and a laptop charged through an outage

This is a research-based review, based on manufacturer specs and published data. We do not test products. Specs and FAQ answers come from Anker's 737 Power Bank (PowerCore 24K) product page, checked November 1, 2026. Planning guidance comes from Ready.gov.

Ready.gov's power outage advice is to plan for batteries and other alternative power sources, such as a portable charger or power bank. In practice, the phone is the household's news feed, flashlight and emergency line, and it is usually the first thing to run flat. A good power bank buys time before you need a generator or power station, and it moves energy to wherever someone is.

The Anker 737 is a large, fast power bank: 24,000 mAh, up to 140 W total output and a built-in screen. It sits between a pocket bank and a small power station.

Who should buy it

• Households that want a few days of phone charging without a power station.
• Anyone with a laptop for work or medical paperwork: the USB-C ports deliver up to 28 V at 5 A, enough for many laptops that charge over USB-C.
• Owners of USB-C radios and lights, such as the Midland GXT67 PRO or the Fenix PD36R PRO.
• People with a power station or solar setup who want to carry power to a bedroom, car or shelter without moving the big unit.

Who should skip it

• Anyone counting on solar alone. The 737 has no solar input; it recharges over USB-C, so you need a wall outlet, a car charger, a power station or a USB solar charger with a suitable output.
• People who need AC power for a CPAP or a fridge. That is a job for a power station such as the EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus.
• Buyers who want a light bank for a jacket pocket. At 630 g it is heavy for a pocket.

Strengths

• High output. 140 W maximum, with two USB-C ports that each support up to 28 V at 5 A, so it can charge a laptop and a phone together.
• Fast refill. The USB-C input also accepts up to 28 V at 5 A, so it refills quickly in a short window of grid power or from a power station.
• Visible status. The display shows battery level, battery health, cycle count and power in and out, which takes the guesswork out of rationing.
• Three ports. Two USB-C and one USB-A cover older cables and devices.

Drawbacks

• No solar input, and no AC outlet.
• Display drain. Anker's FAQ says that with the settings screen always on, the bank uses 0.36 W and about 15% of its battery in about 24 hours. Turn the screen off when idle.
• Heavy. 22.22 oz, more than most phones and a radio combined.
• No watt-hour figure on the product page. That makes it harder to compare with power stations, which are rated in Wh.

How it compares

The 737 against a rugged solar-ready bank and a small power station, the two other ways households keep phones charged. Figures are from each manufacturer's page.

Using it in a long outage

Work out how many phone charges you have

Anker lists capacity in milliamp-hours, not watt-hours. At a typical 3.6 V lithium-ion cell voltage, 24,000 mAh is roughly 86 Wh of stored energy (our arithmetic, not an Anker figure), and conversion losses mean less reaches your devices. To estimate phone charges, look up your phone's battery size in watt-hours and divide, then take off a margin for losses. The display shows exactly what is going out, so after the first day you will know your household's real rate.

A charging routine for a multi-day outage

1. 01Charge the bank to full when a storm is forecast, and turn the display off while it waits.
2. 02Put phones in low-power mode and charge them before they go flat, in short top-ups.
3. 03Charge radios and lights from the USB-C ports rather than leaving them to die.
4. 04Refill the bank from a power station during the day, when solar is coming in, or from the car while it is running outdoors for another reason.
5. 05Keep the bank and cables in one place everyone knows.

Pair the bank with a hand-crank or solar radio such as the Midland ER310, which gets alerts without draining your phone. Midland itself says the ER310 cannot reliably charge newer phones, so the power bank is the phone's backup, and the radio is the news backup.

Medical devices and medicine

Ready.gov advises talking to your medical provider about a power outage plan for medical devices powered by electricity. A USB power bank can keep phones and other USB-charged devices going, but it cannot run AC devices. If a device is life-sustaining, plan for a larger source and know where to go for power.