Mophie Powerstation Plus XL power bank review
REVIEW – It’s been a long while since I’ve needed a portable charger, but as my phone gets older, the battery is starting to wear down. Since I have wireless charging, I figured that the best option for a power bank would be one that supports it. Mophie has been a solid manufacturer of power banks for years, so when I saw they had the Mophie Powerstation Plus XL, I was excited to give it a try.
What is it?
The Mophie Powerstation Plus XL is a wireless power bank with a built in lightning cable for wired or wireless charging.
Design and features
There isn’t much that comes with the Mophie Powerstation Plus XL. I found it odd that they did not include a charging cable, though it uses a Lightning cable that most iPhone users own for charging.
Other than the charging port, the power bank has a USB port to plug in any charging cable that you may need. Friend have an Android? You can still charge it just fine.
If you have an iOS device, however, you can either wirelessly charge (if your iPhone or Android model allows) or plug in via the built-in Lightning cable. Charging with the Lightning cable goes very quickly. I was surprised when my phone went from 25-80% in around 45 minutes. I was even more surprised that my iPad quickly charged up as well, since it’s an older generation iPad Air.
I really liked that the built-in cable tucked away nicely and the magnetic flap kept everything hidden away. It also has a nice aesthetic look to it; very similar to an iPad case/cover. The coupled with the shiny/matte finish of the rest of the power bank gives it a sleek look.
Charging via wireless was quite a bit slower. For me, the wireless charging is perfect for having at my desk. I can pick up the phone and set it down when I need to. You just have to press the button on the side to start up the charging. Once you lift the phone off, you have a little time to place it back down without having to press it again. You also use this button to check how much juice the battery has left.
The only thing that worried me about the wireless charging was the heat it generated. Between the phone and the pack itself, it put off a good amount of heat.
One thing I noticed about the Powerstation Plus XL was the size. It was a thicker version of my iPhone X. The weight seemed to be a little heavier than the phone itself, despite being double the thickness. The thickness made it less portable, however, since I could not put it in a or my smaller purse.
Final thoughts
Overall, it was really convenient to have the Mophie Powerstation Plus XL on my desk to top up my phone after work. I could set the phone on the power bank and forget about it for a bit. If I needed a quick bit of juice to get me by for the rest of the day, I could always plug it in with the included Lightning cable and it would very quickly get my phone charged. I am not sure how much I would use this for travel since it is a bit bulky, but it is very convenient to have around for portable charging. If you are looking at getting a power bank for your device, then take a look at the Mophie Powerstation Plus XL.
Price: 99.95 Where to buy: Zagg Website and Apple Source: The sample of this product was provided by Zagg.
Mophie Powerstation XXL review: This is the portable battery you’re looking for
At a Glance
Our Verdict
Mophie’s Powerstation XXL surpasses its Powerstation XL predecessor to become our new favorite portable power bank. Well done.
The last time I tested a portable battery from Mophie was in 2017 when I reviewed the Powerstation Plus XL. It was impressive enough to earn PCWorld’s Editors’ Choice award as the best overall power bank. Now it’s time for it to be replaced by its burly brethren: Mophie’s Powerstation XXL, a 70 battery pack that has more capacity and is just as efficient.
Note: This review is part of our roundup of portable power banks. Go there for details on competing products and our testing methods.
The Powerstation XXL has a 20,000mAh battery for a total of 74Wh of power. There are three ports—two USB-A, and a lone USB-C port—indicator lights, and a power button.
The fabric material covering the top and bottom of the pack are a nice break from the usual plastic housing, although the edges of the pack are black plastic. The pack itself is roughly the same width and height as Samsung’s Galaxy S10 Plus—you’d need to stack three of those phones to approximate the pack’s thickness.
The pack’s ports live on the front of the pack—with the USB-C port between the two standard USB ports. The USB-C port is used to charge devices or charge the pack itself. It can put out 5V/3A (15W) of power, while the standard USB ports are limited to 5V/2.4A and 5V/1A, respectively. The Powerstation XXL can charge at a maximum of 5V/3.4A, or roughly 17W.
I was able to charge the pack from empty to full in 5 hours and 6 minutes.
As for efficiency, the Powerstation XXL is the third-most efficient pack I’ve tested overall at 92.51 percent. The Mophie Powerstation Plus XL is still the top pack at 93.41 percent, and the ZeroLemon ToughJuice is second at 93.27 percent.
The average efficiency for all portable batteries I’ve tested is 83 percent.
Included in the box with the XXL is a USB-A to USB-C cord that’s far too short, but appreciated nonetheless.
On the left side of the pack is where you’ll find the power button and four indicator lights. The lights are hard to see if you aren’t looking at them straight on, and they don’t stay on while the pack is charging to easily see its current status. I’d like to see improved visibility from multiple viewing angles and for the lights to remain on while charging.
Overall, the Powerstation XXL does it all—save for wireless charging—and is affordably priced. Even though it doesn’t have charging cables built into it, its efficiency, speed at which it charges back up, and price point make it too good to pass up.
Mophie Snap Juice Pack Mini review: Apple’s MagSafe, but not
Mophie‘s Snap Juice Pack Mini acts like a MagSafe wireless charging pack, but crucially, it’s not.
It would be easy to conclude that the new Snap Juice Pack Mini is MagSafe certified. After all, the company’s own marketing repeatedly references Apple’s MagSafe, noting that the battery pack is compatible with MagSafe for iPhone 12 models.
However, that’s not actually the case. Mophie’s new battery pack simply offers Qi wireless charging, holding the battery in place on your iPhone 12 with a series of magnets that align with the MagSafe charger.
Read from AppleInsider
Because it’s not MagSafe certified, that means the recharge capacity of the Snap Juice Pack Mini is just 7.5 watts.- half of what true MagSafe is capable of.
However, if you bring along a USB-C to Lightning cable and recharge that way, it increases the output to 12 watts.
That major caveat aside, as a small, able 5,000 mAh battery pack, we like the Snap Juice Pack Mini a lot. Mophie says a fully charged battery can give an iPhone 12 in default settings a complete charge from 0 to 100%.
It holds a hefty 5,000mAh of charge for your iPhone, which it can deliver wirelessly.
Both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro feature 2,815mAh batteries. That means owners of the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which boasts a 3,687mAh battery, won’t get a complete recharge from this accessory.- but they will get some extra juice to finish out the day, if necessary.
In our own tests, with an iPhone 12 Pro, the handset recharged at a rate of about 1/3 capacity per hour (slower, naturally, as the phone approached 100%), but with enough juice to top off a near-dead phone. Recharging was a bit faster.- about half-capacity in an hour.- when using a USB-C to Lightning cable.
And for recharging the battery pack itself via its USB-C port, that was accomplished in about two hours.
An alignment guide you get with your power bank.
Another plus of the product, along with the rest of the Snap accessory lineup, is that it comes with a Snap Adapter, a metallic ring with an adhesive that can be attached to non-MagSafe compatible devices, like the iPhone 11.
With this adapter, older iPhones.- and other Qi-compatible devices.- will magnetically attach not only to the Mophie Snap Juice Pack Mini and other Snap accessories but also to Apple’s own MagSafe accessories (albeit at a slower charging rate than the full 15 watts of true MagSafe).
The large circle magnet on the battery itself is plenty strong enough to attach and stay connected to our iPhone 12 Pro.
However, the small orientation magnet that resides below the main ring magnet is, to put it bluntly, worthless.
It’s small enough to be easily dwarfed by the iPhone 12 Pro.
The good news is even if the battery is off-kilter, it will still charge, so if it gets knocked out of alignment in your or bag, you should be OK. But it raises the question of: What is the orientation magnet’s point if it doesn’t do its job?
It should also be noted that Zagg’s website initially and incorrectly stated the battery pack would be rechargeable through Qi. We tried this repeatedly on different charging pads and contacted Zagg after we couldn’t get it to work, and the company later confirmed that it was an error on their site that has since been corrected.
If you plan to use the battery pack with MagSafe on Apple’s iPhone 12 mini, be aware that the accessory obstructs one of the cameras. We didn’t have an iPhone 12 mini to test, but Zagg says the battery will interfere with zoom functions, and it also hangs off of the bottom of the phone by 4.8mm.
The base of the Snap Juice Pack Mini nicely mirrors the elements on the bottom edge of the iPhone.
The Snap Juice Pack Mini has one USB-C port, which recharges the unit at a speed of 15 watts. The port pulls double duty and can also be used for the aforementioned Lightning charge of the iPhone at faster speeds, but it really opens up the battery to be used for recharging anything, including other USB-C accessories like Apple’s new Beats Studio Buds.
We can also confirm that the battery pack will provide power to an iPad Pro. Obviously, with its small capacity, it won’t be completely refilling your iPad, but if you’re in the single digits of remaining battery percentage, it could get you through until you find your way to a proper wall charger.
In our test, a 12.9-inch iPad Pro went from 73% to 100% in about an hour and a half, and there were still one out of four dots of capacity shown on the battery pack.
The USB-C port also has the added benefit of indirectly adding USB-C charging to the iPhone. If you’re the type of person who wants to go all-in on USB-C and ditch your Lightning cable, or you don’t have a Lightning cable available, the Mophie Snap Juice Pack Mini is a viable solution.
The Snap Juice Pack Mini sits quite nicely on the iPhone’s back, hugging the space below the camera module.
The final factor to consider here is the price. At 49.95, despite its shortcomings, it’s not a bad deal for an ultraportable, well-designed battery that works with MagSafe and offers USB-C output for other devices.
Apple is rumored to be working on its own MagSafe battery pack, which will presumably charge at the full 15 watts capable of the wireless charging standard.
Apple’s last Smart Battery Case for the iPhone 11 was considerably expensive at 129, and there’s no reason to suspect an iPhone 12 version with MagSafe would be any cheaper. There’s also the issue that the iPhone 11 Smart Battery Case could only charge an iPhone 11.- it didn’t offer the ability to connect a cable and charge other accessories, like Mophie’s new product can.
Mophie’s packaging is minimal, but does the job.
It’s far from perfect, but there’s still a lot to like about the Mophie Snap Juice Pack Mini. It’ll easily recharge your iPhone in your or while being used, and it works with other small accessories with a USB-C cable, and it’s priced reasonably for an accessory with these capabilities.
Just don’t buy into the MagSafe marketing hype, because this little battery is not truly pushing Apple’s wireless charging standard to its full potential.
- Works with MagSafe
- Wireless and wired charging options
- 5,000mAh capacity
- Snap Adapter for non-MagSafe hardware.
- Not actually MagSafe certified.
- Only 7.5W wireless charging rate.
- Useless Orientation magnet.
- Blocks iPhone 12 mini’s camera.
Where to buy
The Mophie Snap Juice Pack mini retails for 49.95 at parent company Zagg.
Zagg power bank
UPC 848467036657 is associated with ZAGG Power Amp 12 Travel Charger for Universal Smartphones. Retail Packaging.
UPC 848467036657 has following Product Name Variations:
- PWR AMP 12 BLK
- ZAGG Power Amp 12. Power bank 12000 mAh. 2.4 A. 2 output connectors ( USB (po
- Zagg Power Amp 12 Travel Charger For Universal Smartphones. Retail Packaging.
- Zagg Power amp 12000mAh Portable Charger. Black (Refurbished)
- Zagg Power Amp 12 12000mah Portable Charger Power Bank For Cell Phone Black Mp
- ZAGG Power Amp 12 Travel Charger for Universal Smartphones. Retail Packaging.
- ZAGG Power Amp 12 Universal Battery Charger for Smartphones. Black
- Zagg Power Amp-12 Portable Charger.-12000mah Free Shipping
- Zagg Power Amp 12. Power bank 12000 mAh. 2.4 A. 2 output connectors. ZGAP12-
- ZAGG ZGAP12-BK0 PWR AMP 12 BLK
- ZAGG Power Amp 12
- ZAGG POWER BANK 12000MAH BLACK by Zagg
Info
| UPC-A: | 8 48467 03665 7 |
| EAN-13: | 0 848467 036657 |
| Amazon ASIN: | B017PB3B6Q |
| Country of Registration: | United States |
| Brand: | ZAGG |
| Model #: | ZGAP12-BK0 |
| Size: | Black |
| Color: | Black |
| Weight: | 0.8 Pounds |
| Product Dimension: | 10.1 X 1.2 X 2.9 inches |
| Last Scanned: | 2020-08-16 05:42:41 |
Shopping Info
Products with UPC 848467036657 were listed on the following websites. Product are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Disclosure: We may earn a commission when you use one of our links to make a purchase.
| PWR AMP 12 BLK | 10.99 | 2018-11-26 08:08:52 | |
| ZAGG Power Amp 12. Power bank 12000 mAh. 2.4 A. 2 output connectors ( USB (po | 17.95 | 2020-02-04 21:56:07 | |
| Zagg Power Amp 12 Travel Charger For Universal Smartphones. Retail Packaging. | 22.62 | 2018-12-28 05:14:58 | |
| Zagg Power amp 12000mAh Portable Charger. Black (Refurbished) | 29.95 | 2020-05-24 08:43:23 | |
| Zagg Power Amp 12 12000mah Portable Charger Power Bank For Cell Phone Black Mp | ₤34.50 | 2019-03-27 05:08:29 | |
| Zagg Power Amp-12 Portable Charger.-12000mah Free Shipping | 39.39 | 2020-08-16 05:42:41 | |
| Zagg Power Amp 12 12000mah Portable Charger Power Bank For Cell Phone Black Mp | ₤44.99 | 2018-12-09 04:51:26 | |
| Zagg Power Amp 12. Power bank 12000 mAh. 2.4 A. 2 output connectors. ZGAP12- | 47.99 | 2017-06-14 12:28:45 | |
| ZAGG ZGAP12-BK0 PWR AMP 12 BLK | 49.99 | 2018-11-08 10:26:37 | |
| ZAGG Power Amp 12 | 66.99 | 2019-02-16 01:05:58 | |
| ZAGG POWER BANK 12000MAH BLACK by Zagg | CAD69.99 | 2018-11-08 19:33:15 | |
| ZAGG ZGAP12-BK0 PWR AMP 12 BLK | 550.00 | 2017-11-22 07:49:08 |
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