OtterBox’s New MagSafe Batteries Are the First That Actually Charge on a MagSafe Pad

When we put the main MagSafe battery choices to the take a look at final yr, one function was oddly lacking: None in all them may truly be charged utilizing a MagSafe charging pad—solely wires. It’s a seemingly apparent function that’s solely now being introduced by OtterBox with its new 5K Wireless Power Bank for MagSafe.

In our MagSafe battery Face-Off, the one choice that got here remotely near what OtterBox’s new battery can do was the $80 Zens Magnetic Dual Powerbank with stand that featured a further Qi charging coil on the again. So whereas magnetically connected to and charging an iPhone on one aspect, it may wirelessly cost one other gadget, like a pair of wi-fi earbuds, on the opposite—though with out the comfort of MagSafe. But the entire choices we examined, together with Apple’s personal $99 MagSafe Battery Pack, required a cable of some type to cost them again up.

That’s what units the brand new OtterBox Wireless Power Bank for MagSafe aside from the competitors. It options MagSafe compatibility on each side, and two units of Qi coils, in order that whereas it’s nonetheless magnetically connected to a MagSafe-compatible iPhone, it may be plopped down and charged on a MagSafe charging pad as nicely. Both the battery’s 5,000 mAh capability and seven.5-watt charging speeds are par for the course for MagSafe equipment, nevertheless it does embody a bi-directional USB-C port on the underside that can be utilized to cost different gadgets or itself with a USB cable at 20W speeds as an alternative.

The additional Qi coil and MagSafe magnets do imply that OtterBox’s new battery measures in at 0.61-inches thick, which could make it tougher to slide a cellphone right into a pocket with the accent connected, however the added performance and comfort of with the ability to as soon as once more drop your iPhone onto a MagSafe pad appears to greater than compensate for that.

The OtterBox Wireless Power Bank for MagSafe is available now for $70 in both a black or white end.