Chronicle of Mophie Powerstation Plus XL

Carrying a portable battery is a convenient way to avoid looking for a plug while traveling, but it can also mean carrying multiple charging cables. For those who use Apple devices, the fact that our iPhones and iPads use a Lightning cable while our batteries are recharging via micro-USB or USB-C can be a real problem.

Now, Mophie is making Apple-exclusive versions of some Powerstation products that eliminate the multi-cable headache. They have lightning ports for input input so the same power adapter and cable used to charge your phone can be used to charge the battery. They are only sold on the Mophie website and Apple stores.

Integrated Lightning

The new Powerstation Plus is available in two sizes: a standard model with 6000 mAh battery life for $ 80 and a slightly larger XL version, with a battery capacity of 10,000 mAh and costs $ 100. I've tested the big one, and I recommend it on the smaller one (the size difference is minimal, but you get 66 percent more capacity for a 25 percent higher price.)

Models More are separate from other Powerstations few built-in cables to charge your phone or tablet. In the case of these Apple exclusives, this is a Lightning cable, the other Powerstation Plus models have a micro-USB cable with a Lightning adapter.

They are quite attractive, with a rubberized outer edge and fabric covered sides in four colors: black, gray, teal and dark blue. This gives them a warm and inviting appearance, but the fabric cover degrades quite easily in your bag and is harder to clean.

Jason Cross / IDG [19659009] A built-in Lightning cable makes it easy to charge your iOS devices, and you can use the 10W USB-A port at the same time.

The size is relatively compact for a 10,000 mAh pack, and you're not limited to the built-in Lightning connector. There is also a 2.1A USB-A port, and this pack can expel enough juice to power this port and the integrated Lightning cable at the same time. If you plug a device into the battery and plug the battery into an outlet for charging, it is smart enough to prioritize the charge of your gadgets first, and the battery afterwards.

Badly done wireless charging

I can not quite However, try to determine the role of the Qi compatible wireless charging pad on the XL size unit. I'd love to snap my phone on this thing and let it charge, but that's not how it works. Instead, wireless charging is a receiver so you can put the battery on a Qi compatible wireless charging cradle for charging the battery .

That seems almost stupid. Wireless charging is ideal when you put your phone on the desktop for an hour or two, but it is far too slow to be convenient for recharging a 10,000 mAh battery. Even with a wired connection to an Apple 12W power adapter, it took hours and hours to charge this battery, and a wireless charger would be even slower.

Apart from the fact that wireless charging is the opposite of what I expected, it works pretty well. I've received almost four full refills from my iPhone X, as the 10,000 mAh rating would have me believe. It charges the devices just as fast as the iPad charger, which is not quite up to the USB-C chargers but still two times faster than the 5-watt AC adapter that the one that came with your iPhone.

Bottom line

It's hard to recommend paying as much for a 10,000 mAh charger just because it has a Lightning input port. If you are ready to carry a USB-C or micro-USB cable to charge the battery with, you can get a lot more for the money.

Yet, Mophie's Powerstation Plus XL is compact, reliable, well built, and does what he says he's going to do. This is not a good value unless you fall on a big sale, and I can not understand why it's a wireless power receiver instead of a charger.