Review: Anker PowerCore 20100 Ultra High Capacity Portable Battery Pack

In todays modern battery powered mobile world it is very inconvenient to be caught out of charge. Usually when you first get your device it never seems to be an issue but as your device ages the battery never seems to last as long. I have 3 mobile devices and decided it was a good time to buy a mobile battery pack. The first one I bought was mostly dead after one charge of my iPhone 6 Plus. It was time to look for a larger capacity and thats when I found the Anker PowerCore 20100 Ultra High Capacity Portable Battery. I’d bought other Anker products and been really impressed at the quality and thoughtfulness in their design. A list of other Anker products I’d recommend can be found at the bottom of the post.

Tech Specs

Anker in general has some great technology and this product is no different, below are the tech specs from Anker:
Ultra-High Capacity: It can charge the iPhone 6 seven times, the Galaxy S6 five times or the iPad mini twice. Recharges in 10 hours with a 2 amp charger, phone chargers (generally 1 amp) may take up to 20 hours.
Fast Charging Technology: The trademarked PowerIQ and VoltageBoost technologies combine to deliver the fastest possible charge up to 2.4 amps per port or 4.8 amps overall. Input: 5V / 2A.
PowerIQ: Discovers and replicates the charging protocol of the device’s original charger.
PowerIQ: Device safely accepts its fastest possible charge speed.
VoltageBoost: Detects the cable resistance and adjusts current accordingly to provide the fastest, most steady charge, whatever cable you use.
Certified Safe: Anker’s MultiProtect safety system ensures complete protection for you and your devices.
Short Circuit Protection
Temperature Control
Output Voltage Surge Protection
Output Current Stabilizer
Power Overload Recovery
Battery Cell Protection
Auto Shut-off Sleep Mode
Input Voltage Surge Protection
Output Current Limiter
Low Voltage Protection

Other Good Stuff

Anker has a superb warranty, a whole 18 months which shows faith in their products. The device also come with a micro USB charging cable and a travel pouch. The pouch is a nice idea to keep your device safe and looking good.

Note: All other cables needed to charge your devices are sold separately. I’d recommend the lightning/micro USB hot swap Spigen cables.

Uses

My PowerCore goes everywhere with my in my bag, it doesn’t take up much room and I don’t notice additional weight. I’ve used it in many different situations but some key ones have been on a transatlantic flight to top up my devices prior to landing. I’ve used it in coffee shops and even at the top of a mountain to keep charge on my mobile phone. The device is rugged, versatile and highly mobile thats to its high capacity.

Summary

In summary, if you are looking for or considering a mobile power solution then I would highly recommend the Anker PowerCore.

Other Anker products I own and I’d recommend include:

Anker PowerPort 5: 5 port USB charging hub utilising all of the charging technology mentioned above in a portable hub.
Anker PowerDrive 2: 2 port USB charger for the cigarette charger (12V outlet) in your car.

Review: Bose QC25 Noise Cancelling Headphones

Note: Ironically the very day I wrote this review the headphones broke! The right hand ear piece died completely. Apparently this fault isn’t uncommon, having asked a few people in my office. All were clear, as am I, that the Bose support is fantastic. One 5 minute call to Bose and they are sending me a UPS label to send the headphones back and a replacement will be sent out. No hassle or questions given!

If you’ve never used noise cancelling headphones before, or you are seeking your first pair the Bose QC25 headphones will blow you away! I first picked these headphones up on a transatlantic flight back from Houston. I was in economy with the cheap and nasty headphones provided by the airline, the hum of the cabin still clearly audible. I couldn’t use my wireless headphones so I was out of options, until I opened the duty free magazine. I promptly ordered the headphones on the plane and within 5 minutes was in noise cancelling heaven.

The moment I flicked the power switch on the earphones, the noise evaporated. I could now here the plane movies clearly, all the little intricate sounds which were previously masked by the cabin noise. The great thing about the QC25‘s is they come with a battery and with an airline adaptor to connect to the planes sound system. It means you can use them literally right out of the box. The unit takes a single AAA battery and there is a holder for a spare battery in the case, very functional!

Skip ahead 24hrs and I was in the office, the very definition of hell, open plan! Unable to concentrate due to the talking in the office I put on the QC25‘s and again, the noise was gone! I could vaguely here conversations going on around me when there was nothing being played through the headphones. As soon as the music started there was no way I could hear any of my surroundings, bliss!

The Bose QC25‘s are not cheap, but you pay for what you get. Not only that, but if you do use them in the office environment then they will pay themselves back in terms of increased productivity and stress reduction. These really are one of the best investments I have made with respect to technology, I wouldn’t be without them now. Bose has recently released the QC35‘s which are a wireless version of the QC25. However, if we forget the difference in audio quality between wired and wireless the major drawback is that the battery is not useable replaceable. When I pay over £300 for a set of headphones, I don’t want them to have a shelf life governed by a battery. In my opinion, that makes the QC25’s a better purchase at this time.

What was Published, and Links of Note

Here is a list of articles we published this week. You can keep up to date with Apple Resource by following us on Twitter or Signing Up to our weekly update e-mail.

How to Clear All Apple Watch Notifications in a Swipe and Two Taps

Ever noticed the red dot at the top of your Apple Watch screen and wondered what it means? Or even swiped down to see a load of notifications and you wonder how to clear them all? This article will show you something very few people know!

How to Preserve iOS9 Battery Life: Part One Background App Refresh

If you wish your iOS device battery life was better then this series of posts is for you. It will show you a range of practical tips to help maximise your battery life without making your phone a dumb phone again.

Links of Note

Jawbone Ceases Production of Their Fitness Trackers

If you have a Jawbone fitness tracker then this article might interest you. Hardly surprising but somewhat annoying for owners.

Apple Employees Face Death Threats

An interesting anonymous report by a UK Apple employee showing that its not all rainbows and glitter working for Apple.

The Best TV Tracking App

A good app review and comparison for TV tracker apps. Spoiler alert the best one was Television Time which you can see HERE.

How to Preserve iOS 9 Battery Life: Part 1 Background App Refresh

I’ve had my iPhone 6 Plus for about 1.5 years now, initially the battery life was amazing. More recently I’ve noticed that it rapidly drops off, this is in part due to the age of the device but it’s also in part due to several factors that I will cover in a series of posts about preserving iOS 9 battery life. I expect these tips will remain valid even with subsequent iOS versions.

Background App Refresh was a feature introduced in iOS 7 and for the best summary of what it does I refer to an Apple support article:

…Apps can continue to run for a short period of time and are then set to a suspended state so they are not actively in use, open, or taking up system resources. They will instantly launch when you return to them. Certain tasks or services can continue to run in the background. To lessen the effect on battery life, normal app background refreshing is scheduled for efficient times, such as when your device is connected to Wi-Fi, plugged into a power source, or being actively used. When Background App Refresh is on, apps that take advantage of this feature can refresh themselves in the background. For example, an app can check if new content is available and download the updates, or retrieve the updated content in the background when it receives a push notification, so the new content is ready for viewing when you launch the app. Apps can also schedule background refreshing based on your location. If you force an app to quit by dragging it up from the multitasking display, it won’t be able to do its background activities, such as tracking location or responding to VoIP calls, until you relaunch the app. iOS learns patterns based on your use of the device and tries to predict when an app should be updated in the background. It also learns when the device is typically inactive, such as during the night, to reduce update frequency when the device is not in use.

You will read many articles on the internet that tell you disable all Background App Refreshing to save battery life and others that will tell you not to bother at all as it makes no difference.

Apple Resource’s advice is to go through the list and make a conscious decision as to how much you use each application and how much you’d value it updating whilst in the background. It’s perfectly OK to leave apps that you value and use all the time as active due to the intelligent way Background App Refresh works. What you don’t want is every single app using it if you rarely use them. Although it was first introduced in iOS 7, apps taking advantage of Background App Refresh will have percolated through over time, which is why you may have a shock when you open up the Background App Refresh found at:

Settings -> General -> Background App Refresh

Leave a comment about how many apps you ended up disabling. As always, follow Apple Resource in Twitter, Facebook or sign up to our monthly newsletter.

How to Clear All Apple Watch Notifications in a Swipe and Two Taps

I consider myself an advanced user of Apple products, but just yesterday I learnt a trick about clearing notifications on my Apple Watch that I never knew. When you see a red dot on the top of your watch face this indicates that you have waiting notifications. Swiping down with your finger you are presented with a list of all your notifications.

What if you don’t want to read them all but want to clear them ready for new notifications, how do you do that? Here’s how:

1. From the watch face swipe down from the top of the watch face showing all of your notifications.
2. Press on the watch screen and an icon will appear on your screen saying ‘Clear All’.
3. Tap ‘Clear All’ and you are all clear of notifications.

Below are photos in the correct order showing you what you will see stepping through the process.

Liked this article? Why not read about why I wouldn’t give up my Apple Watch.

What was Published, and Links of Note

Here is a list of articles we published this week. You can keep up to date with Apple Resource by following us on Twitter or Signing Up to our weekly update e-mail.

Note: Apple Resource will move from three weekly posts to two. I hope the two we provide will be more unique and in depth than any other Apple related sites providing you with more unique content going forward. As always, I want to know what you as a reader is looking for. Please drop me a line on Twitter with anything you’d like to see published.

How to Enable iOS Night Shift Mode and Why You Should

iOS now comes with a blue light reduction feature. This not only aids your ability to sleep when using your devices close to bed time but it has medically proven health benefits as a result. This article shows you how to enable and use the feature.

How to Make an Online Backup with iCloud

Backup is one of the most critical things you can do with your technology today. Don’t be one of the people that turns up at the Apple Genius Bar in tears! As well as local backups you should be enabling cloud backups. Apple’s iCloud is a great offering, but don’t get caught short with its initial 5GB limit!

Links of Note

How to Backup iOS Devices Before Upgrading

To compliment Apple Resources backup article I’ve linked to The Sweet Setups post on backing up. It doesn’t added to much beyond the Apple support articles linked to here but its a nice article none the less.

Uber Enters Race to Perfect Driverless Vehicle Technology

MacRumors has posted an article on Uber entering the driverless car space. I think this is probably one of the most exciting tech areas going forward. From an Apple perspective they could do really well here, from my productivity side (DavidJMoore.com) a driverless car could really increase your productivity if you could work or rest whilst the car does the driving!

Apple Working on OS X 10.12 Feature Allowing Macs to Be Unlocked via iPhones Touch ID

It’s been two years since I provided feedback to Apple to make touch ID available on the Mac range. This will be somewhere in between, maybe somewhat gimmicky depending on how you use your desk space or mobile devices.

How to Make an Online Backup with iCloud

In the wake of multiple updates from Apple this week, including iOS updates it is a pertinent time to remind everyone the importance of backing up. You should be backing up your iOS device both locally and online.

Apple has an excellent online guide that shows you how to backup both locally with iTunes and online via iCloud.

But here is a really important message I want to impart on you. iCloud online comes with 5GB of online storage, you need to be aware of this. For your average iPhone user snapping pics and videos this will be used up rapidly.

Apple has a range of very affordable monthly tariffs for iCloud storage, make sure you invest and upgrade. It will cover all of your iOS devices and ensure that your devices are backed up every night as they are plugged in to charge.

Did you find this information useful? Follow Apple Resource on Twitter, Facebook or sign up for a free monthly Newsletter which will contain some unique content that won’t be found on the site.

Related and Similar Posts of Interest:

How to Enable iOS Night Shift Mode and Why you Should

Review: Verbatim MediaShare Wireless – Stream Files, Movies and other Data Wirelessly to Your Tablet and Smart Phone

How to Enable iOS Night Shift Mode and Why You Should

EDIT: Apple has just released iOS 9.3.2 which now allows night shift mode to operate in low power mode.

Night Shift mode in iOS is a system setting that allows you as a user to vary how your iOS device handles the blue light that its screen emits and varying times of the day.

Why Would I Want to Reduce Blue Light?

In short, blue light is the same light that reaches your eyes when you step outside. Biologically speaking it signals to your brain that it’s day time and hence your body reduces the production of melatonin, the hormone that makes you fall to sleep and that is critical for the synchronisation of your circadian rhythms. When using your iOS device during the day, this isn’t an issue but if you are using it at night time the blue light interferes with your circadian rhythm and hence your ability to sleep as well as your ultimate sleep quality.

There are some added benefits besides the blue light reduction, such as the reduction in being blinded when you wake in the middle of the night and look at your screen! The warmer temperature on the screen will be much easier on your eyes.

How Do I Use It?

Here is how you enable Night Shift mode:

Settings -> Display & Brightness -> Night Shift -> Scheduled (Toggle On/Off)

From this menu you have several options, I recommend you toggle ‘Scheduled’ on which will present you with new menu options. Again, I’d personally recommend that you set it to ’Sunset to Sunrise’ but if you want to, you can choose a ‘Custom Schedule’. ’Sunset to Sunrise’ will use your location and enable the ‘Night Shift’ to occur at exactly the right times for maximum benefit.

If you find yourself wanting to disable it, say because you are watching a movie, then from the iOS home screen you can swipe up from the bottom. This will bring up a menu where there is a new icon which looks like a sun icon thats half black and half white. Tapping this during the day will enable and disable the Night Shift. Toggling this when your phone is in scheduled night shift will present you some menu options for temporary disablement.

The final settings are for colour temperature, personally I set it to the most warm to remove as much blue light as possible but you should set it to whatever you feel comfortable with.

Conclusions

Applications to reduce blue light on electronic devices have been used for years on many other devices via apps like F.lux, however, this is the first time this has been possible on iOS (after F.lux was removed from the app store). Whilst it may take a little bit of getting used to you will soon notice the health/sleep benefits of minimising blue light around bed time. Indeed, this looks to be the way Apple is going as a default after the release of the new iPad Pro (9.7”) with True Tone display which adjusts the amount of white light dependant on the ambient light to make the display appear more natural.

What are your thoughts on ‘Night Shift’ mode? Leave a comment below.

Want to keep up to speed with whats going on at Apple Resource? Add Apple Resource on Twitter, Facebook or sign up for my free monthly news letter which will contain unique new content.

What was Published, and Links of Note

Here is a list of articles we published this week. You can keep up to date with Apple Resource by following us on Twitter, Facebook or signing up to our weekly update e-mail.

Review: Verbatim MediaShare Wireless – Turn a Hard Drive into a Wireless Hard Drive and Stream Files, Movies and other Data Wirelessly to Your Tablet and Smart Phone

The Verbatim MediaShare Wireless is a wireless hub that allows you to access USB hard drives and SD cards on up to 5 devices on its local wi-fi connection.

How to Name Locations in Apple’s Find My Friends App

Ever wished that your contacts locations in Find My Friends app and system wide where in friendly names that you easily recognise? This ‘How To’ will show you how to give your contacts locations friendly names.

How to Remove Connect from Apple Music

Here is a simple guide to remove the Apple Music Connect button from your Apple Music app.

Links of Note

Automating OmniFocus on iOS

Omni Group has released a new version of OmniFocus that can now interface with template files to create project templates on iOS. Thanks to David Sparks for highlighting this use case.

Mac Power Users Podcast Episode 320: Always Good Advice

My favourite podcast, this episode is listener feedback, well worth a listen if you are a Mac/iOS user with an interest in using your devices better.

How to Remove Connect from Apple Music

When Apple Music launched back on June 30th 2015, Apple also announced Connect, their social media style interaction with music artists located in the Apple Music app. Connect was a second attempt at the artist social networking after the failed Ping, which was launched September 1st 2010.

However, it doesn’t appear that Connect is a success for Apple Music with widespread consent online and many many people looking for a way to remove the Connect button from their Apple Music app. It’s rumoured that Apple will allow its users to remove the button in iOS 10 but in the meantime there is a way to remove it and replace it with ‘Playlists’.

To remove the Connect button from Apple Music you need to go through the following menu’s:

Settings -> General -> Restrictions -> Apple Music Connect

For the majority you will need to enable the ‘Restrictions’ section then toggle the Apple Music Connect button. When you switch back to Apple Music you will now see your Playlists button where Connect used to be. Enjoy!