Mophie released a pair of new battery packs today, and the company is finally embracing the USB-C PD specification for fast charging. The new PD pack comes in two sizes: the $59.95 Powerstation PD, which offers 6,700mAh of charge, and the larger $79.95 Powerstation PD XL, which has 10,050mAh of battery capacity.
Cleverly, Mophie is taking advantage of the dual nature of USB-C, and each pack only offers two ports: a single USB-C port, which can be used to charge devices plugged into the Powerstation PD (at up to 18W) as well as recharge the pack from a wall brick (at up to 15W). There’s also a legacy USB Type-A port, which can power devices at up to 12W.
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The two chargers look nice enough, but as is almost always the case with Mophie’s products, you’re paying a huge premium for the company’s brand and design. It’s justifiable for things like the company’s battery cases where aesthetics play a bigger role, but it’s less so for a featureless battery brick.
The unavoidable fact is that for less than the price of Mophie’s $59.95, 6,700mAh Powerstation PD pack, you can pick up RAVPower’s 26,800mAh USB-C PD battery pack, which offers more ports, a higher 30W power output, and dramatically more charge capacity. Mophie is late to the party when it comes to supporting USB-C PD, and no amount of slick marketing pages explaining the tech will change the fact that it’s a universal specification that you can get for less money elsewhere.
Still, a point in the Mophie packs’ favor is that there aren’t many USB-C PD power packs in the smaller physical sizes and capacities that Mophie offers. So if size and bag space are truly at a premium for you, and you don’t mind the extra price, they could be worth consideration. Otherwise, you can probably get more bang for your buck elsewhere.
This article is from The Verge
