In the last couple of years, living in Northern California has also meant living under the threat of power outages during the summer and fall because of heat and fire danger. As such, I’ve picked up a few different power banks to keep my iPhone and iPad powered for those times.
Now myCharge has introduced the Mag-Lock Wireless Magnetic Charger, a power bank designed to be used with iPhones and MagSafe-compatible cases. There are 3 sizes of the Mag-Lock, each providing a different amount of charge. The Mag-Lock is also available in a variety of different colors for purchase, and range in price between $49.99 and $69.99. myCharge sent me the middle model, the 6000mAh charger which provides up to 32 hours of battery life, in a graphite case and retailing for $59.99.
As you can see from the Mag-Lock box, the charger is for iPhone 12 and newer models like the just-released iPhone 13. I myself have the iPhone 12 Pro Max, one of the compatible phones.
The box that the charger came in is surprisingly large. Opening it up, I found a much smaller box nestled inside, with the surrounding packaging describing the features of the Mag-Lock.
My assumption is that the smaller box is what you’ll actually find in stores; especially as it’s designed to demo right through the box as pictured above.
The Mag-Lock Wireless Magnetic Charger
Opening up the smaller box, there were just two items inside: the charger itself, and a cable used to charge up the power bank. The Mag-Lock does come partially charged, but it’s always good practice to fully charge your devices before use.
The Mag-Lock model I received is about the size of a playing card box, but slightly thinner and longer and weighs just a bit more. I was disappointed with the included USB-C cable. It works fine, but the short length of the cable necessitates having a USB port on or very near a flat surface so that you can safely rest the power bank while charging.
Using the Mag-Lock is simplicity itself. You basically magnetically clamp the power bank to the back of your iPhone, and it starts to charge the phone. There is also an audible tone that sounds to let you know that charging has begun.
The Mag-Lock Wireless Magnetic Charger: Final Thoughts
The Mag-Lock is listed as compatible with all MagSafe cases. As I don’t have one of those cases, so I attached the charger directly to the back of my iPhone. The magnet is nice and strong, and I was able to hold my phone upside down from the charger, and never felt worried about my phone dropping off the Mag-Lock.
The raised coil design on the Mag-Lock did seem to work as advertised and minimize heat buildup between the power bank and my iPhone. However, while the magnetic connection was secure between the two devices, I found that there was a slight wobble between the phone and the Mag-Lock.
Charging my iPhone with the Mag-Lock went noticeably slower than when I plug in my phone to charge using the lightning cable. In general use this shouldn’t be an issue, as like with other power banks, you can continue to use your phone while charging.
If you have a compatible iPhone and, like me, need to have a way to charge your phone when you don’t have access to an electrical outlet, you should take a look at the Mag-Lock Wireless Magnetic Charger. While you’ll still need a wire to charge up the Mag-Lock itself, it’s very liberating to have a compact device that attaches right to your phone and starts charging it, with no pressing of buttons and no messy wires running between it and your iPhone.
If you’re interested in the Mag-Lock Wireless Magnetic Charger, you can purchase one from Amazon or directly from the myCharge website. As of this writing, there is also a clippable $10 discount off the retail price of all models on Amazon.
myCharge sent a unit of the Mag-Lock to evaluate, but had no input into this review.
