There's a lot of talk about 'foldables', and they are cool (and nostalgic); but, folding can also happen in our accessories, which can help make them more portable.
For me, my favourite accessories focus on charging. And I have to admit, I'm loving magnetic assistance for it - credit, where credit is due - the folks at Apple did have to make it easy for their flock, and MagSafe is handy. Thankfully, we can take advantage of it too.
Not that MagSafe is needed for this charging accessory from Scosche I've got today, but again, it just makes it that much easier to use.
Today it's the MagicMount Travel ($79.99) a dual Qi charging pad armed with magnets and a softer plastic which allows it to fold.
Opening it up you'll see the pad all folded up and it comes with a nice braided USB-C to USB-C cable with a right angle plug.
The cord is there to help plug into a charger (not supplied - it'll need a minimum of 20W, but Scosche also supplies a good portable wall plug) to power up the device. Not including it feels like a bit of a miss on this, but the emphasis here is to have something for travel and compactness. I get it, but as it is, there's limited USB-C plug ins to use out there at airports, and even USB-A->C cords if you find a port is probably at 2.5W, so not enough. With this, you'll definitely need to bring your own wall plug (which you're probably travelling with anyways) or a portable battery that can put out that required wattage.
Power sorted, you can plug it in and then we have 2 spots on the pad to charge. One with a strong MagSafe magnet meant for your phone (10W Qi), and then on the other end of the 3 pieces a slightly weaker magnet meant for Airpods (5W Qi).
You can leave the pad in one of 3 configurations
Triangle - fold out the MagSafe end to be at an angle, have a base, and the smaller charger is the back 'brace'. You'll definitely need MagSafe here to help keep items like the phone and Airpod attached.
 |
| allows for 2 levels / angles for the stand |
All laid out - leave it all laid out flat, great if you don't have MagSafe to keep things stuck (like my Pixel Buds Pro)
'Brick' - fold it into itself so just the main MagSafe pad is available (or the smaller one on the underside).
Obviously, the 'triangle' is going to be the preferred as you can then have it up like a stand and can watch your videos. But, if you don't have the magnets, it's not going to stick, so you may opt to have it all laid out (or folded).
It's surprisingly compact for a nice Qi charger, and the flexible folding helps make it feel even moreso. All folded up it only feels slightly thicker than a phone - paired up with a good portable battery is also a good way to travel with minimal 'bump'.
It's handy, it's chic (in my mind), but also a little pricy at the $80, and you'll still need some other power source - so you have to weight that against it. You could just stick with a power battery (I do like the GoBat), but that would eventually run out, and with the right power source this will last you that full plane flight and act as an easy stand.
Overall, I like it and I think the price can be easy to swallow after that first trip where it came in handy, which is where I think I am waiting for that 'use case' myself. I have chargers everywhere so it's not seen as 'needed' at this moment, but I can imagine that plane seat with the fold down tray, needing to set the phone up as a stand to watch a show - couldn't do that with just a battery pack or power plug.
Source: https://www.scosche.com/msqfg2n1wt-mm-travel-folding-2-in-1-wireless-charger-white
Comments
Post a Comment