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Comment by avian | Hacker News Reader

> but everything I've bought feels well made

No comment on Anker quality, but the "feels well made" feeling is something that has been known and gamed (for example, by including dummy weights in devices) in the hardware industry since forever. It is relatively unrelated to things you as a consumer may actually care about (like adherence to safety standards or amount of engineering effort put into the longevity of a product).

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> No comment on Anker quality, but the "feels well made" feeling is something that has been known and gamed (for example, by including dummy weights in devices) in the hardware industry since forever.

Yup but for Anker devices you have a lot of nerds picking them apart on Youtube. If Anker were to engage in shady practices, the uproar and resulting shitstorm would be on a scale that could tank the entire company.

IMHO, Anker is one of the last remaining (funny, the company isn't that old) "brands" in the original sense.

That said, the last two Anker power pack models I've bought were both recalled for sometimes exploding/melting down in use. Once I'll give them, but twice? In a row?

You could also count recalls as a higher quality signal: QA, people testing, how they handle the recall & replacement, etc. Way better than not hearing anything because nobody's looking. I'm skeptical Anker is doing crazy-unique things with their manufacturing, vs. an OEM manufacturer cutting corners to save pennies.

A lot of big manufacturers have had recalls (for things like laptop batteries, vehicle batteries, the infamous Hoverboards, etc) so I wonder what Anker's batting average is compared to others. It's clearly a hard problem and squeezing in the level of density that customers expect means potentially thinner safety margins.

If they had better QA (and QC) they wouldn't need a recall.

One of mine bought in 2017 was recalled and replaced, which impressed me: how many of the word salad brands of today would even be around to handle a recall if their devices decide to spontaneously combust?

14 years old is sadly pretty good by tech standards.

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