Mophie shaves prices on new Powerstation chargers, adds portable wireless charging
With its new line of universal charging batteries, Mophie's not only serving up more charging solutions but more competitive pricing.
- Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
Mophie makes some nice external batteries for charging devices, with sleek aluminum housings, but the knock against them has been that they're expensive.
Well, the company got the message and has priced its new models more competitively. It's also adding even more charging options, including an updated Powerstation Plus line with an integrated switch-tip Lightning to Micro-USB cable that charges both iOS and Android devices, a Powerstation USB-C, and a Charge Force Powerstation for Qi wireless charging-enabled devices. Prices start at $30.
The Mophie PowerStation Plus starts at $60 and has an integrated Lightning cable with a Micro-USB adapter.
Mophie prides itself on making quality, reliable charging solutions, but it was clearly under pressure from more generic battery brands like Anker that have been selling more affordable gear for the same battery capacities.
To trim prices, Mophie's designers had to reduce production costs, which meant modifying the designs of the battery casings (they aren't made of one single seamless piece of aluminum, for example). But the new products are still quite attractive -- for external batteries anyway.
Here's a look at the new Powerstation line:
Powerstation (Starts at $30): Comes in a range of colors and capacities (3,000 mAh, 6,000 mAh, 10,000 mAh, and 20,000 mAh) and has a top and bottom aluminum plate design. With no integrated cable these are just charging bricks. The $30 Powerstation Mini (3,000 mAh) is the smallest and the Powerstation XXL (20,000 mAh) is the largest capacity universal battery from Mophie to date, and and has three USB charging ports.
Powerstation Plus (starts at $60): The redesigned Powerstation Plus line has a switch-tip version of its built-in cable for charging both iOS and Android devices. It comes in three color options (space gray, gold, rose gold) and three capacities: Powerstation Mini at 4,000 mAh, Powerstation Plus at 6,000 mAh and Powerstation Plus XL at 12,000 mAh.
Charge Force Powerstation ($100): More than five times extra battery life for most phones (10,000 mAh), this portable wireless charging battery is compatible with all Charge Force Juice Pack Cases for the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S series, as well as other Qi wireless charging-enabled devices. A built-in USB port allows for charging a second device simultaneously.
Powerstation USB-C ($100): This high-capacity (10,000 mAh) aluminum charger features USB-C and USB-A charge ports, with USB-A and USB-C charging cables included.
All the new Powerstations are available now at mophie.com -- go there for more info on the specific batteries.