Anker launches sister brand for home automation

I too have had positive experiences with their products. The products I used were well-priced, high quality and generally work. Why aren't they using their own brand?

I too have always found their products to be very high quality for the price point. I trust them more than a brand like Belkin. I once heard that Anker was started by a bunch of ex-Googlers, does anyone know if that's true??

I agree, I use probably a very similar charger for you along with a few other products and they're very high quality and were well priced.

I use their screen protectors too, and when it chipped they sent me a new one no questions asked.

I agree. And the result of their reputation and my own personal experience is that I now seek out Anker products. I've been impressed with the solar panel, the external battery, and the braided Lightning cable.

I do have some failure to report. We have 4 of their 5 port chargers and 1 of the 6 port, each ordered at different dates. Curiously two of the 5 port chargers have had the fifth port stop working after a while (the first 4 work fine).

(I haven't bothered chasing it up with customer service since I don't know which unit corresponds to which purchase date, or cared enough.)

I've only ever had one Anker product fail out of 50+ over the years. It was a USB A to micro B cable - the micro B connector started to bend and eventually snapped off. There was a lot of complaints on Amazon - it seems that it had affected a large number of customers. I contacted Anker, who readily acknowledged that this was a batch issue with that particular model but as they couldn't ascertain exactly which batches were affected, a replacement may well develop the same fault.

The offered me the choice of another cable (different product line) or a refund.

In that one instance where I had a problem, I think they handled it really well. The acknowledged the issue, were completely honest that a replacement with currently circulating stock could develop the same fault, and offered a solution.

With that sort of service at that price point, it's hard NOT to recommend them.

Agreed. Anker does indeed seem to be notable in the way of quality.

That said another contender for this category, may be Aukey. Although somewhat opaque, they appear to be a Chinese company founded in Germany.

While I can't speak to any of their cable products, the power adapters are simply marvelous in my experience.

My first Anker product was some USB cables. They were faulty. The excellent customer service though completely won me around and the replacements they sent have not failed yet (unlike many other usb cables I have owned).

Agreed - they've gained a bunch of brand capital, wonder why they're starting fresh.

My guess is that they don't want a failed HA product line associated with the Anker brand.

Most probably because there are similarly named competitors (e.g. Anchor http://www.anchor-world.com/)

I love their vertical mouse. I used the $160 one that people like to get and the $20 one is just as good for what I need it to do. It fits my hand perfectly too.

I also love their $15 wireless mini keyboard too. Super light and nice, responsive keys that are comfortable to type on.

Anker makes awesome stuff!

I bought the first gen one a few weeks ago. The scroll wheel failed within the first week (middle click still worked).

I just bought the second gen one, and it seems to be going alright so far.

As an aside regarding Anker, I left a review on the original mouse on Amazon saying how the scroll wheel wasn't working and got an email with a day from Anker confirming my address to send out a new one.

It hasn't arrived yet, but I was pleased with their customer service in that regard (I didn't expect it, hence ordering a new one!)

I want to try it out but https://amzn.com/B00BIFNTMC says "Note: This mouse is not compatible with Mac OS X El Capitan." Hm... can anyone confirm or deny?

It also says the thumb buttons can't be used in OS X, but I haven't been able to get them to work on my MS mouses either, so I can ignore that.

I'm using mine right now, and love it.

When I started experiencing forearm pain a few months ago, I bought several vertical mice from different manufacturers. The Anker was the clear winner for me. It fits the best in my hand and is shaped so I can easily lift it up and re-position it.

Over here on the US West (ie, the left of the rocky mountains), yes, humidifiers are needed.

Worst I experienced was Southern Utah - while driving down from SLC I could feel the moisture leaving my lungs. I imagine Arid-zona is probably even dryer.

There are people in places that are not as humid. Why does that surprise you so much?

Winters in Chicago can be positively arid, to the point where the cold, dry air will wake me up in coughing fits. I bought a humidifier last year to combat this and it's been much, much more livable.

They require a lot of cleaning and maintenance. Avoid it if you can.

We used one here in the UK when our daughter was young and had a series of chest infections (coughing throughout the night etc.) at the recommendation of the doctor (and it seemed to work).

It might not be big, but there is a market for most things, most places. Your (and my) experience is often not generalisable completely.

Stockholm in the winter time can be _really_ dry. I remember when I would take my hands in/out of pockets on my jeans. It would crack the skin on my knuckles and they would bleed. This is a shock when you come from the West coast of Scotland where it is always a bit damp!

Well, I personally upvoted this because I have used Anker stuff before, and they usually pop up in verticals dominated by no-name things banking on taglines/designs for sales (e.g., cables, battery packs, etc). They managed to distinguish themselves by providing a generally consistent line of quality in this crowded and loud market. I think it's neat they're now expanding in to more product-ey products.

I don't get why they're making a new brand, though.