REVIEW – Charging on the go while traveling, at the office, or even at a coffee shop can be a real pain. You need separate chargers, multiple types of cables, and finding enough power outlets can be a problem, too. Chargers with multiple USB-A and USB-C outlets are nice, but you still need to keep a variety of cables on hand. With the mophie snap+ multi-device travel charger, you can leave some of those cables behind and charge multiple devices, including two of them wirelessly, with a kit that includes everything you need to get started.
mophie’s snap+ multi-device travel charger (I’ll call it the snap+ from now on) is a portable, folding charging kit that includes a Qi pad for a compatible phone, a Qi pad for compatible Bluetooth headphones, and a USB-A and USB-C output, along with a charging brick, a USB-C cable, and a pouch to carry it all in. Charger Fast Charging
The mophie snap+ multi-device travel charger is made up of three black plastic charging squares, two of which are Qi-compatible wireless charging pads, the third has the USB-C input on one side and a USB-C and USB-A output on the other. The three squares are connected to each other by a soft, flexible plastic and the whole thing folds up into a compact size for traveling. There are magnets in the small flap at the end which help keep the charger closed when folded. Also included in the package is a 30W USB-C charging block and a USB-C to USB-C cable, both in black. The whole kit packs into a nice thick, gray, felt travel case, which has an elastic loop that hooks over a button on the flap to keep it closed.
The charger can support up to four devices at one time, two of them being wireless and two wired. The wireless pads can support iPhones or Android phones on one side and AirPods or other Qi-compatible Bluetooth earbuds on the other. The USB-C port can output up to 20W and the USB-A port can supply up to 12W.
All that needs to be done for the mophie snap+ multi-device travel charger to be ready to go is to plug the USB-C cable into the charging pad and the charging block, and then plug the charging block into the wall. Once that’s done simply place your device on one of the Qi pads or plug a USB-A or USB-C cable into the center charging square.
The larger Qi pad is MagSafe compatible so it magnetically holds onto iPhones, although it only outputs 7.5W for iPhones, it will also charge Qi-compatible Android phones at up to 15W. My Pixel 6 easily charged on it, and even magnetically attached to the pad, but the alignment was a little tricky to get right. mophie included a small magnetic ring that they call the snap adapter, which can be stuck to the back of a phone to aid in charging alignment. mophie includes an alignment guide to aid in placing the adapter on the back of the phone. I temporarily placed the adapter on the back of my Pixel 6 and placed the case back on the phone and the charging rate went up noticeably (as measured in the Ampere Android app).
The mophie snap+ multi-device travel charger is convenient for traveling or anywhere you need a multi-device charger to help reduce some of the clutter from cables and charging blocks plugged into what usually ends up being too few outlets. On a recent trip, I used the snap+ to charge my iPhone 13 Pro Max, my Series 4 Apple Watch, and a pair of Bluetooth earbuds, which unfortunately don’t support Qi charging. I used the larger Qi pad for the iPhone, the USB-A output for my Apple Watch charging puck, and the USB-C output for the Bluetooth earbuds. Because I was charging these devices overnight I didn’t have to worry about the slower charging speeds while charging multiple devices. I would say this charger is better for overnight charging if you have multiple devices because you don’t get the full amount of wattage out of each output when charging more than one device at once.
I also tested several scenarios with my two phones, a TCL Android tablet, a different pair of Bluetooth earbuds that are Qi compatible, and a rechargeable flashlight. All four devices charged simultaneously, although when I plugged in the TCL tablet it limited the main Qi pad output and the Pixel phone had trouble staying in charging mode. The charging indicator at the top of the screen next to the clock stayed on but the Ampere app kept telling me “Not charging,” and “measuring.” I assume it was getting confused because there wasn’t much current coming into the phone. I let it charge for five minutes this way and the phone’s charge percentage didn’t go up. I tried the same thing with the iPhone, which also indicated that it was charging, but after five minutes its charge percentage hadn’t gone up, either. I’m sure that given more time it would have charged a little bit but much more slowly than the fastest speed available.
The TCL tablet also slowed its charging rate with multiple devices attached, charging at a rate of about half the speed as when it was on its own. I did notice one interesting thing when charging this tablet. I initially tested the charger with my iPad Pro and I used the USB-C cable that came with the iPad. I used the same cable with the TCL tablet and noticed it seemed to be charging pretty slowly. I switched to another USB-C cable and the charging speed more than doubled. I guess the Apple cable isn’t rated for the higher speeds available with PD charging of an Android tablet. This is interesting proof that not all USB-C cables are created equally.
I didn’t notice the charging block or the charging pads getting hot while charging although I’m sure they’ll warm up with extended charging time.
I find that I rarely use single-device chargers anymore. Most of my chargers can charge at least two devices at once, although several can do more. The mophie snap+ multi-device travel charger fits right in as a perfect solution for the times when I want to keep multiple devices charged up without carrying so many different chargers wherever I go.
Price: $99.95 Where to buy: zagg.com or amazon.com Source: The sample for this review was provided by mophie. For more information visit their site.
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