Mophie Powerstation USB-C 3XL review

Announced last month, the Mophie Powerstation USB-C 3XL is the newest portable battery pack in Mophie's lineup. While the company sells a variety of mobile accessories, including belt clips and charging cables, it's perhaps best known for its battery packs and battery pack cases, and the Powerstation USB-C 3XL is Mophie's latest such offering.

Design

The Mophie Powerstation USB-C 3XL includes a 26,000mAh battery that's packed into a body measuring 3.7 in x 6.6 in x .91 in (99 mm x 168 mm x 23 mm). Most of that body is wrapped is a dark gray fabric that helps to give it a premium look and feel. 

As the name suggests, there's a USB-C port on the side of the Powerstation USB-C 3XL that you can use to rapidly charge devices that support that feature. The port can output power at up to 45W, letting you charge a MacBook at a rapid pace. There's a USB-A port on the side, too, that can output power at 12W, allowing you to charge two devices simultaneously. Finally, there's another USB-C port for charging the battery pack itself.

One other detail worth noting is the status indicator. There's a status button on the Mophie Powerstation USB-C 3XL that you can press at any time to see approximately how much of your battery pack has left in the tank using four LEDs.

Features

Because its USB-C port supports the USB-PD (Power Delivery) spec, you can use it to quickly charge devices that are capable of that feature. This includes Apple's recent MacBook models; Mophie touts a 2017 MacBook can get up to 18 hours of extra battery life thanks to the Powerstation USB-C 3XL. Smartphones that support fast charging can take advantage of this speedy USB-C port, too. When charging an iPhone and a USB-C to Lightning cable, you can charge up to 2.5 times faster than the 5W charger that Apple includes with its iPhones.

When testing the iPhone XS, its 2658mAh battery was able to charge from 0 to 25 percent in 11 minutes using the Powerstation USB-C 3XL and an Apple USB-C to Lightning cable. Charging to 50 percent took 25 minutes, getting it to 75 percent to 42 minutes, and charging all the way to 100 percent took 1 hour and 53 minutes.

Timing was similar with the iPhone XS Max and its 3,174mAh battery. It went from a 0 percent charge to 25 percent in 13 minutes using a USB-C to Lightning cable, and it reached a 50 percent charge in 28 minutes. After one hour and 45 minutes of fast charging, the iPhone XS Max's battery reached 100 percent.

Of course, smartphones aren't the only devices that can charge with the Powerstation USB-C XL. It'll work with your Android smartphones, too, and Mophie's Powerstation USB-C 3XL also outputs enough power to charge a Nintendo Switch while you're playing a game.

Another feature of the Mophie Powerstation USB-C 3XL is Priority+ charging. With it, you can plug the battery pack into power and then plug a device like a phone into the battery pack, and the Powerstation USB-C 3XL will provide power to your other device first before it starts to recharge itself.

Included with every Mophie Powerstation USB-C 3XL is a USB-C-to-USB-C cable and a USB-C-to-USB-A cable.

Conclusion

After spending about a week and a half with the Powerstation USB-C 3XL and charging all the things, I came away impressed. The Mophie Powerstation USB-C 3XL is a good-looking, high-capacity battery pack that can give your MacBook lots of extra power on the go or charge your smartphone several times over.

The 45W Power Delivery support is a highlight feature of the Powerstation USB-C 3XL, as similar battery packs from companies like Anker and RAVPower output at 30W. Mophie's battery pack does only have a single USB-A port, though, while those competitors have two in addition to the USB-C port.

One other important aspect of the Mophie Powerstation USB-C 3XL is its price. At $199.99, it's not cheap. However, the combination of the fabric cover and 45W USB-C charging help to make the Powerstation USB-C 3XL a solid choice if you're in the market for a high-capacity, fast-charging battery pack. And if you act before November 28th, you can get the Powerstation USB-C 3XL at the reduced price of $139.95 through Mophie's Black Friday sale.

Disqus Comments