[General Accessories] vectron:
This is a review of updated Anker Astro 2nd gen 6400 mAh battery. http://www.ianker.com/product/79AN7902-B2A, available on Amazon in 4 new colors: http://www.amazon.com/6400mAh-Portable-Charger-External-Technology/dp/B00EF1OGOG/?tag=vectron00-20

I reviewed the original New Gen Anker Astro over a year ago. This new line of rugged smooth surface batteries was introduced over a year ago and still one of the best sellers on Amazon. It has a unique 10-led segment capacity indicator (in 10% increments), PowerIQ port which automatically adjusts to a maximum current draw of any device (even iPads), and high efficiency output (so you actually don’t lose too much of advertised capacity). I have been using Astro for close to 20 months in heavy rotation. I have a lot of other Anker batteries, with Astro 3 (3 ports) and Astro 2 (2 ports) and this Astro (single port), but Astro gets the most mileage in our household because it’s the smallest and the lightest one.

I guess all the gadgets go through wear’n’tear, especially when it’s in heavy use, and after I found a problem with my original Astro battery and looked online for replacement – I realized that Anker recently updated it with a new version that has a faster battery charging, multi-color surface finish, higher efficiency, and increased capacity from 6000 mAh to 6400 mAh, while still keeping it under $30. Kindly enough, Anker offered me a replacement of my original battery, and I got a chance to take a closer look at it now. Big props to their service/warranty department because even so their typical warranty period is 18-months, under circumstances they still supported me after 20-months of use. I heard similar support stories from other users in our community as well. Just something to keep in mind!

Battery arrived in a similar packaging with all similar accessories of usb to micro-usb cable and a nice storage pouch. With this battery being in white color (other colors are black, blue, green, and white), they actually included a white usb cable instead of a black one - a nice “matching” touch. I know that next to the original black one, the white battery looks bigger in the picture, but it’s just an “illusion” where they are actually IDENTICAL in size (93 x 46 x 25mm / 3.7 x 1.8 x 1.0in) and still lightweight at only 135g.

The first change I noticed was micro-usb charging input going up to 1A to 1.2A – the charging of the actual battery inside of the Astro. This means 20% faster charging of Anker battery itself when you don’t have time to wait. Just don’t confuse it with their 2A output port which charges your phone/tablet. Efficiency also went up to a confirmed 90% which means that now you have access to 5, 750 mAh of capacity, versus 4,800 mAh in previous version. Availability of different colors is also great since my daughter and my wife were the primary users of this battery, and having something other than in “black” always means “accessorizing” in their vocabulary :)

So here you have it, a very impressive update that really feels like a worthy upgrade. You will notice that various Astro colors are priced differently, with a black one starting at $21.99 and others going up to $28.99, but price usually fluctuates and I see special deals all the time.

Here are the pictures.