Baseus PicoGo AM31 Qi2 power bank review: I finally found my perfect iPhone companion

Instant Insight

The Baseus PicoGo AM31 Qi2 power bank is a lovely everyday carry (EDC) if you want something pocketable for the last-gasp power shot to your phone. It has a terrific build with strong magnets and offers the convenience of a built-in kickstand, as well.

The magnetic position lock is great, and support for Qi2 standard means your iPhone can tap into the full 15W wireless power share potential. In wired mode, you can draw 20W out of this tiny power bank. It does run warm, but not to a worrying extent.

Baseus PicoGo AM31 specs: A quick look at the numbers

I carry an iPhone 17 Pro with me at all times. Not because it’s the only phone that has my heart. Apple just has me locked in its ecosystem, and I test more experimental apps (read: TestFlight program) and beta OS builds than I can count on my fingers. It’s a great phone, otherwise, but my wayward ways are a recipe for unnatural battery drain. 

But that’s not the end of my ordeal. I love to work outdoors. Cafes. Parks. Essentially, anywhere away from my workstation. Lugging a charging kit is something I despise. My jeans pockets aren’t fond of a massive power bank either. All that puts my iPhone’s full-day battery survival in serious jeopardy. Maybe, something small, convenient, and versatile can work? 

There certainly are products that meet the above criteria, and that hunt landed me at Baseus’ doorsteps. And specifically, the Baseus PicoGo AM31 Mini Magnetic Power Bank with Stand 20W 5000mAh. Ignore the utterly loquacious name. Let’s call it the Baseus PicoGo AM31, for it’s a product that is fittingly tiny, and gets the job done — with some heat.

Baseus PicoGo AM31 build: You’ll love how tiny it is

Quick take: The charmingly small build and barely-there heft is paired with a solid build and some welcome extras.

One of the biggest — if not the defining — reasons to pick up the Baseus PicoGo AM31 wireless power bank is the size and bulk. It tips the scales at just over 140 grams, and its compact size ensures that you can keep it in just about any pocket on your attire or carry bag. And as you can see in the image below, the tiny power bank can even fit in the small pocket of my jeans. 

If you are someone who doesn’t like to carry a bag for gadgets and wires in a bag, and trust your laptop (and phone) to last the whole outdoor work session away from a power port, the Baseus PicoGo AM31 should serve as a perfect companion device. 

You can shake your iPhone without the case flying off. 

Another crucial perk is the built-in magnet. It’s pretty strong, and during my usage, the power bank never slid off my iPhone 17 Pro or the Google Pixel 10 Pro — both of which have magnetic rings underneath the real glass shell. The situation was no different with a case applied. 

I tested Apple’s TechWoven Case for the iPhone 17 Pro and the Spigen Ultra Hybrid Neo One (Mag Fit) for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Once again, the magnetic lock is pretty strong, and at no point will the Baseus power bank slip off the phone’s cover shell. You can hold the power bank in a vertically oriented position and let the phone hang off it.

But there are a couple of problems hiding behind the conveniences. First, not all phones fit well with the power bank. Any device with a large (or tall) camera outlay close to the charging coil will create a problem. The Pixel 10 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro slot in just fine. The Galaxy S26 Ultra? Not so much, as you can see in the image below. 

Second, we have the USB-C port’s placement. The kickstand at the back is pretty useful. Whether you’re scrolling a social media feed or watching horizontal videos, it can comfortably handle any position for your phone. However, in portrait propped mode, you don’t want to tap too hard on the screen, or the phone will topple over.

It’s the placement of the USB-C port that is awkward. When the kickstand is in use, the USB-C port is at the bottom, which means you can’t charge it. Only when the kickstand is propping up the phone vertically is the USB-C port accessible for charging, or souping up another device with a cable.

 Those two are not fundamental flaws, but worth considering. On the contrary, if your prerequisite is simply a small power bank with a strong magnetic connection and a built-in kickstand, the Baseus PicoGo AM31 Qi2 powerbank is arguably one of the best bets out there. 

Build and design score: 8/10

Basues PicoGo AM31 Qi2 powerbank charging performance 

This power bank comes equipped with a 5,000mAh battery. Ideally, it should be enough for a full top-up on nearly every mainstream phone sold in the US. It can cover the iPhone 17 Pro (4,252 mAh), the Pixel 10 Pro (4,870 mAh), and the Galaxy S26 Ultra (5,000 mAh), while falling just short of the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s range. 

In reality, there’s a bit of a power bleed happening, though nothing too much to worry about. You can blame the losses on voltage and thermal woes, something you will even face with electric cars and everything else in between that has an electrochemical foundation. 

I mostly used it with my iPhone 17 Pro, and it took the battery from 7% to 78% in just over two hours. On the Pixel 10 Pro, the Baseus power bank could only manage 53% top up before it died. The charging times could also have been better, but that’s what you get here.  

Broadly, it can handle a current-gen iPhone with an average Qi charging rate of 10-13% in half an hour.

I’d also like to highlight that the power bank runs hot when it’s juicing up your phone. And depending on the ambient temperatures, you may want to keep it outside your leather-lined bag or jacket pockets. Baseus says there’s a nine-layer heat protection system in place, so you shouldn’t worry too much about fire hazards. 

When I first began using it, the ambient temperatures usually hovered between 8-14 degrees Celcius (46-57 degrees Fahrenheit). I noticed that the power bank didn’t get too hot when lying outside, but I could definitely feel the warmth building up. At no point did it get worryingly hot that I had to take it off the phone.  

As I shifted back to my hometown, where the daytime usually treated me to a searing 41-degree Celcius (105-degree Fahrenheit) heat, the Baseus power bank started running hot within ten minutes of slapping it to my phone’s back. The hottest I measured it was in a room without any air-conditioning, when the external temperature reached 57 degrees Celsius (136 degrees Fahrenheit). 

Now, that’s hot. And if you’re out and about in a sweaty locale, you might want to take breaks between the wireless charging spells. Once again, it doesn’t usually get toasty, or uncomfortably hot, but depending on where you live, your mileage might vary.

You just can’t avoid the science toll behind heat and wireless power transfer.

In wired mode, the power bank ran a lot cooler and faster, too. You see, this power bank is cleared for Qi2 top-up at a peak 15W rate, but in wired mode, it climbs to 20W. For example, a half-tank recharge on my Pixel 10 Pro took less than an hour, while in wireless mode, you have to wait over two hours.

The wired output is still slower than what you would get from a charging brick with a sustained power supply. The Baseus PicoGo AM31 only maintained its 20W wired output for over 17 minutes, and then dropped. As a result, the charging pace also slowed down, but not dramatically.

When I measured the temperature in my hilly work campus, the outer shell usually hovered close to 33-degree Celicus (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in wired mode. And in case you are wondering, yes, you can charge two devices with the Baseus PicoGo AM31 Qi2 power bank. If your iPhone and AirPods need a boost, this one can handle both!

Charging performance score: 7/10

There’s a discipline to using it 

The Baseus PicoGo AM31 Qi2 power bank is a jack of many trades, and master of none. And that’s not exactly a bad thing. You see, a power bank with a 5,000 mAh rated capacity isn’t a great start to begin with, especially in an age where all mainstream phones have reached the same native battery capacity. The likes of OnePlus are already pushing the 8,000 mAh envelope. 

That status quo, paired with the electrothermal loss, means the Baseus PicoGo AM31 isn’t quite going to fully juice up an empty phone tank. And it’s not going to be blazing fast at it, either. Think of this one as more of an on-the-go companion for the last-mile power-up

For days when you need to record some vacation pics and concert videos, or the Call of Duty: Mobile gaming sessions stretch a tad longer. Maybe your cab or public transport ran into delays, and you ended up streaming a film, or two, on your phone. Those are the scenarios that the Baseus PicoGo AM31 Qi2 power bank is perfectly suited for. 

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t carry it along on regular days. That’s actually the beauty of it. You can take it on your daily work trips without ever feeling the extra bulk in your bag or jeans pocket. It fits in snugly, and you won’t even feel heft burdening your wrists if you’re just carrying it attached to the phone in your hands. 

It’s the perfect EDC (aka Everyday Carry) gear.

It doesn’t redefine the boundaries of what a power bank can do. It’s the ease of usage and versatility that wins here. It’s so light and compact that I almost never took it out of my pockets, and didn’t even feel it hogging the space either. It’s only when I needed a quick burst of 20-30% top up for my iPhone that I took it out.

Talking about convenience, there are a couple of other reasons that I love the  Baseus PicoGo AM31 Qi2. First, the magnetic surface. It’s smooth to touch, but not slippery, and has a matte-like coat on top. It doesn’t get scratched, and more importantly, it won’t leave your phone with scuff marks.

You can just slip your phone in the same pocket as the power bank, and the two will happily hug each other for wireless power transfer, while you carry on with the rest of your day’s chores. It’s just convenient. Second, the LEDs are positioned close to the top edge, which means you can take a peek at the battery levels without even taking it out of the bag or pocket. 

Lifestyle convenience score: 9/10

Verdict: Is this the dream tiny power bank?

The Baseus PicoGo Qi2 5000 mAh is an easy pick. If you want something small, light, and versatile for a last-mile power shot, the Baseus offering is a pretty solid option. It offers a great build quality, strong magnets, and the convenience of a kickstand, as well. 

The charging performance in wired and wireless modes is acceptable, as long as you don’t chase a perfect pound-for-pound efficiency. In wired and wireless mode, it can take anywhere between an hour, or two, to fill nearly 50-70% of your phone’s depleted tank. 

The big draw here is that the top-up happens inconspicuously in your hand or pocket. And you barely even feel the extra heft of carrying a charging gear. At $50, it’s not a bad deal by any stretch of the imagination. And if you’re shopping online at Amazon, you can usually score it at $30 a pop.

Why not try

Anker MagGo Power Bank (5K, Slim): If your primary concern is a super slim power bank that can also handle 15W Qi2 wireless charging, this one’s a solid option. At $49.95, it’s also matching the price, but you lose out on the built-in kickstand.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro Magnetic Power Bank with Qi2 15W 5K: This Qi2-ready battery pack also offers a built-in kickstand, strong magnets, and matches the asking price of its Baseus rival. 

Satechi OnTheGo Qi2 5K Magnetic Power Bank with Stand: This one looks more like a wallet with a sleek leather-inspired build and a robust stand mechanism. It handles wired top-up 20W and wireless charging at 15W, so it’s a neck-and-neck rivalry. 

How did we test it?

I tested the Baseus PicoGo AM31 Qi2 5,000 mAh power bank for over a month, and in that spell, I used an iPhone 17 Pro, Google Pixel 10 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra with it. All three phones were used with — and without — a charging case with built-in magnets.

All the temperature measurements were taken using an infrared laser thermometer, while the ambient temperatures were based on the real-time readings supplied by the local meteorological department, as well as the air conditioner readings in closed spaces. 

The charging test was conducted on all three phones when the battery was empty, and successive readings were taken at 10%, 25%, and 50% values. We used the charging cable supplied by Baseus in the retail package and a 20W third-party charger to charge the power bank.