Mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe review
Modern travel involves a nest of cables and chargers coming along with you to keep your devices topped up during your trip, so the thought of a single charger and cable doing it all sounds like the stuff of dreams. Enter the Mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe.
Despite its cumbersome name, for Apple fans, it can dramatically reduce your packing drama with everything you need fitting in the included felt travel bag with spaces for the also included 30W power adapter that Apple never gave you, the USB-C to USB-C cable, and of course, the diminutive tri-fold charger itself. What’s the catch? The $149 price tag.
It’s not a bad value when you factor in what you are getting, but it’s hard not to have a little sticker shock. Read on and see if the convenience and build quality of the Mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe can win you over.
Mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe pricing and availability
Pricing is the toughest pill to swallow when considering the Mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe — $149 seems steep. However, for that price, you are getting a device that wirelessly charges your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods, and includes a 30W USB-C PD wall adapter, a USB-C to USB-C cable, and a travel case to hold it all.
When you compare it to Apple’s own $130 MagSafe Duo, which only charges your Apple Watch and one other Apple device (and doesn’t come with a power adapter), Mophies’ option starts to sound more affordable.
It would be great if it were less expensive, but relative to other options on the market, the Mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe is reasonably priced. And what you are paying for is convenience and reliability as Mophie is using genuine Apple parts for the MagSafe charger for the iPhone and the Apple Watch, ensuring fast charging speeds.
I’ll get to the nifty tri-fold design of the 3-in-1 travel charger itself in a moment, but when you first open the package, you’re greeted with a couple of extra goodies. It feels like a treat in the modern era of minimal packaging that typically just contains your device and a cable.
The first of these is a felt travel pouch in Mophie’s traditional heathered grey that is held shut with an elastic band that snaps around a button. A small stitched faux leather patch with the Mophie logo is the only other detail on the simple pouch. Flipping it open reveals two dividers that create dedicated spots for the cable, power adapter and travel charger. It’s nothing fancy, but it has a nice clean look and makes it easy to keep track of everything you need to keep your Apple devices topped up on a trip.
We’ll look at the charging speeds delivered by the nondescript black 30W USB-C power adapter in the next section, but if you haven’t picked up a fast charger for your iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 yet, this is an added bonus for you as it can deliver full fast charging with their included USB-C to lightning cable.
The final “bonus” item is the 1m (~3ft.) USB-C to USB-C cable. Again it’s nothing notable with just the Mophie logo on the ends to identify it. A braided cable would give it more of a premium feel, but I’ve yet to have a Mophie cable fail me, so despite the basic look, it should hold up well.
Mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe design
Now for the main event; the 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe is remarkably small on its own, roughly 3.1 x 3.1 x 0.9 inches. Mophie’s aesthetic is consistent with a heathered grey finish to the fabric exterior, although it’s slightly lighter than the travel case — and has the dimpled texture common to fabric-wrapped devices. If you’re already a Mophie fan, you’re likely familiar with the understated look. It would be nice to have at least one colorful option available, but that’s just not in the cards with Mophie.
The tri-fold charger is held shut with magnets and you pop it open by pulling on the faux leather tab with the Mophie logo. Unfurled, it’s 11.7 x 3.1 x 0.5 inches, so it should easily fit on even the smallest of bedside tables. The inside is a bit of a disappointment compared to that stylish exterior with plain-black plastic dominating most of it, including the indented charger for your AirPods. The MagSafe charger for the iPhone in the middle and the magnetic charger for the Apple Watch are the traditional white. It all seems durable enough, and it doesn’t feel like terrible cheap plastic, but laid out this way, it doesn’t look like a $150 product either.
Once you get your devices on it, things look up; the official Apple MagSafe charger will grab ahold of your iPhone and make sure it doesn’t slip off. The Apple Watch charger flips up for Nightstand Mode, allowing you to easily glance at the time. While the assumption is that you will have AirPods or AirPods Pro, the final spot is a basic Qi charger, so it will work with almost any wireless earbuds that support wireless charging.
While things get a little utilitarian on the inside, overall I like the design of the Mophie 3-in-1 travel charger. It folds down to an easily packable size and it looks good when you’re traveling with it. Once all of your devices are on it, just go ahead and flip it shut when you aren’t using it and you’ll never really face that plastic interior.
Mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe performance
As I already mentioned, Mophie is using genuine Apple parts for the MagSafe charger and the Apple Watch charger, this is also why they are white rather than black like the rest of the interior. The upside of this is that you get the full 15W fast wireless charging for your iPhone (12W for iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini) instead of the 10W many non-Apple Qi chargers deliver.
The Apple Watch and AirPods charging is limited to 5W, but given the smaller batteries in those devices, it still tops them up pretty quickly.
All three devices are able to charge simultaneously, so you just need to plug in the 30W adapter to the USB-C port that is housed in the section for the Apple Watch charger and you are all set.
Bottom line
While there are more affordable 3-in-1 wireless chargers for use in your home, I haven’t seen anything that challenges the Mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe when it comes to charging all of your mobile Apple devices on a trip. The $149 price tag is justified with its durable build, stylish exterior, and most importantly, pares down your effects to a single charger and cable when you pack.
If you are all in on the Apple mobile ecosystem with an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods, this is the best solution out there right now to keep them all charged up when you travel.
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