At its heart is a 6000mAh lithium-ion battery, but in reality the Pod Pro is everything you need in a single package to venture away from home for a few days and power your Apple Watch and iPhone.
What is the Pod Pro?
The Pod Pro by Nomad is a stylized battery and charging device for your Apple Watch that has its own internal battery. You supply the Pod Pro with the charging puck/cable that came with your Apple Watch, and it supplies the compact anodized aluminum enclosure and the battery capacity. To set up the Pod Pro you just wrap your Apple Watch charging cable around the internals of the Pod Pro and plug the end of your charging cable into the Pod Pro internal USB port.
The top enclosure of the Pod Pro is then secured to the pod base with strong magnets, and you now have a fully assembled Apple Watch charger without the wires. Ok, there is one wire, and this one is what makes the Pod Pro “Pro.” You see, Nomad also makes “The Pod,” in fact, I reviewed it a while back here on GeekDad:
The Pod Pro brings two extra things to the table that the original Pod didn’t have–extra battery capacity (6000mAh vs 1800mAh) and an integrated lightning cable so you can charge your iPhone (or any iOS device) while you also charge your Apple Watch. The lightning cable is Mfi approved, which is important for me since everyone seems to be selling iPhone charging cables these days but not everyone makes quality cables you can trust.
With the additional battery capacity and the built-in lightning cable, the Pod Pro is designed to be taken on the road and traveled with. The Pod Pro has enough battery capacity to charge an iPhone 8 and your Apple Watch twice. No more searching for an open outlet at the airport or plugging in your iPhone on the hotel room floor because they don’t have an outlet near the nightstand.
Verdict
I cut the cord with respect to charging my Apple Watch and iPhone quite a while ago when I received the original Pod from Nomad. No more having to walk into the other room where my Apple Watch charging puck was permanently plugged into the wall just to charge my watch. The Pod (and now the Pod Pro) goes with me, whether that be in the bedroom while reading a comic book or two at night or into the living room while getting a bit of early morning work done before actually heading into the office. Most importantly, the Pod Pro goes with me on travel and it means it is just one less thing I have to worry about while on the road. Sure, on longer trips I may need to re-charge the Pod Pro, but most of my trips are only a few days and a fully charged Pod Pro gives my Apple Watch and iPhone all the power they need without needing to find a power outlet.
If there is one negative about the Pod Pro it is that it needs the Apple Watch charging cable you already own. Ok, so it’s not a bargain buy from that perspective. But the Pod Pro isn’t meant to be a cheap Apple Watch charger. It is for people who don’t mind paying a little extra to get rid of the ugly-looking charging cables and trade it in for nice looking, compact device that gets you the power you need where its convenient for you instead of 6-feet from an outlet. Cut the cord(s) like I did and take the Pod Pro along on your next adventure (even if that destination is just your nightstand in your bedroom that is inexplicably too far away from an outlet).
The Pod Pro is available for purchase on Amazon.com and at Nomad.com for just under $50.
Disclaimer: Nomad sent me a Pod Pro for the purposes of this review
