Mophie Powerstation XXL
Price: £89.95 from fave.co/2NGo7ob
Mophie’s Powerstation line of portable battery packs have been around for some time, and they’re generally solid (if somewhat expensive) products. Now, the company has versions made exclusively for the Apple Store. What sets these apart is that they recharge using a Lightning port, so you can use your standard iPhone or iPad power adaptor and cable to recharge the battery pack.
In other words, you don’t have to carry around a separate Micro-USB or USB-C cable (and maybe power adaptor) just to recharge your portable battery pack.
That’s convenient if you’re all-in on Apple hardware, but the fact that you can get higher-capacity batteries for less if you’re willing to lug around one more cable makes it hard to recommend.
More capacity, but no integrated Lightning cable
Mophie’s Powerstation Plus chargers include an integrated Lightning charging cable, and are a little smaller. If your priority is a pack that you’ll charge up at home but will take minimal space in your bag, while allowing you to recharge your phone a couple times, it’s a decent choice.
The non-Plus Powerstation packs have no cable included at all, and feature a larger aluminium body. But you get a lot more bang for the buck – this Powerstation XXL has the same £90 list price as the Powerstation Plus XL but features three USB-A ports instead of just one, and doubles capacity from 10,000- to 20,000mAh.
Two of those ports are 2.1A, and they charged up my phone just as fast as the 12W iPad power adaptor). The third is only a 1A port. While the Powerstation has enough output to charge devices over all three ports at once, that 1A port is going to be pretty slow. It’s a good candidate for your Apple Watch charger.
20,000mAh takes a long time to charge using a Lightning connector; you’ll want to plug it in and let it sit overnight. One of the three USB-A ports is chargethrough port, which will charge up a connected device before charging up the battery. It’s perfect for those overnight charges.
You can do better if you jump to USB-C
The Powerstation XXL does what it says it does. It’s got enough power to recharge your iPhone X six or seven times, or even the big 12.9in iPad Pro twice. But you’re paying a lot for that Lightning recharge port. Consider Anker’s PowerCore+ (£99 from fave.co/2NBKGdZ), which has a similar cost but nearly a third more capacity: 26,800mAh. Sure, you have to carry around a USB-C power adaptor and cable, but that makes the battery pack charge more quickly, and if you’re a MacBook user you’re probably lugging one around anyway. And the 30W USB-C port means it can charge your MacBook, too. Oh, and it comes with a 30W USB-C power adaptor.
What Mophie is offering in the Powerstation XXL is similar to so many of its other products. It’s solid, well-designed, well-built and reliable, but it also costs significantly more than some of its competitors. If you really value a battery pack that charges via Lightning port, its worth picking up, but only if you find it on sale. Jason Cross
Specifications
• Lightning, USB
• Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• 20x154.9x92mm/3.62 in.
• 470.6g