Ultimate Compact Power Solution Reviewed: Affordable Apple Road Warrior Essentials with the Mophie Multi-Charger

Key Takeaways

• Mophie’s 3-in-1 Travel Charger combines spots to charge iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods but is less sleek than Apple’s MagSafe Duo.
• The charger has a compact design, fast charges an Apple Watch, and uses a USB-C port for power, but attracts debris and has a flap that doesn’t lay flat.
• While the charger is convenient for frequent travelers, its $149 price tag is expensive compared to cheaper alternatives for occasional travelers.

Instead of keeping track of three different cables and power adapters when you travel, the Mophie 3-in-1 Travel Charger combines multiple spots to boost iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods batteries. The charger folds up neatly and will power devices at their top speeds. It’s convenient but less sleek than Apple’s previous MagSafe Duo.

mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe

7/ 10

The 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe has dedicated charging spots for all your main Apple devices. You’ll stay charged on vacation or during a business trip. And when you’re ready to head back home, it all packs up neatly in a convenient carrying case.

Speed

15W

Dimensions

0.38 x 11.73 x 3.13in (9.97 x 29.8 x 7.95cm)

Weight

0.7lbs (11.2oz)

Adapter included

30W

Includes adapter

Yes

Input

Apple Watch, iPhone, AirPods

Pros

• Charges devices at their top speeds
• Charger itself is compact with a magnetic closure
• Pouch and 30W adapter included

Cons

• Fabric backing picks up dust/debris
• All the pieces together still take up some room

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$149.95 at Zagg $149.95 at Apple

A Foldable Design Full of Magnets

Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek

I love a tidy, well-organized tech pouch with the essential cables and dongles I need when I travel. Despite my irregular traveling schedule, I’ve spent a lot of time getting that pouch to be as small as possible. That’s why I glammed onto Apple’s 2-in-1 MagSafe Duo pretty soon after it was released at the end of 2020. It was a vibe.

Unfortunately, Apple’s solution uses a Lightning cable and doesn’t fast-charge an Apple Watch, despite charging an iPhone at 15W. The Duo has been discontinued and was getting long in the tooth even before that. That’s why this 3-in-1 Travel Charger from Mophie is tempting.

Mophie’s travel charger is thicker than the MagSafe Duo but is more modern in every other case. It will fast charge an Apple Watch—the (2023) distinction—and uses a USB-C port for power. Its MagSafe charger accommodates iPhone camera bumps, for another thing.

At a superficial level, Mophie’s charger is compact enough and doesn’t have any significant flaws. But in use, there are several things to nitpick.

For example, the exterior fabric of the Mophie Travel Charger is soft to the touch, which is nice, but also attracts debris. After laying it down on a seemingly clean nightstand, I noticed pieces of dust stuck to it when I rolled it back up. It wasn’t super easy to brush clean, either.

I could imagine setting the charger down on a hotel nightstand and worse items than dust being attached to the back of it. I wonder about the long-term viability of the fabric backing material.

When folded, the charger stays put with strategically placed magnets. It’s how these types of products roll. For detail-oriented people, be aware that the little end flap sticks up and flops around. I couldn’t get it to lay flat. It didn’t impair functionality, but it somehow drew my attention every time I looked at the product, which I found annoying.

Does the Mophie 3-in-1 Travel Charger Work Well?

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Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek

The point of this device is for travel. It’s right there in the name. So it’s nice that the charger comes with a small pouch it tucks into, along with the USB-C cable and 30W power adapter. There’s even room for an AirTag and an extra cable or two, so if you’re a minimalist, this Mophie pouch could be the only bag of accessories you might need. I’m thinking of my wife here, who only brings a watch charger, Lightning cable, and a two-port power adapter.

For me, however, the charger’s case is just a little too small to pack all the other items into. The pouch is also too big to fit in the Aer Slim Pouch I use for my cables and adapter. That’s fine because I also didn’t care for the felt-like material the Mophie case is made out of. It seems destined to be destroyed by some medium to heavy travel eventually.

Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek

The Mophie 3-in-1 Travel Charger itself did fit into my Aer case just fine and was able to take the place of the MagSafe Duo without skipping a beat.

The three charging spots are only meant to lay flat on a table. I did find that it could be bent and propped up in a way that could display StandBy mode if you really want it.

My biggest gripe with the unit is that it’s a little too much in most ways. What I mean is that the Qi spot, meant for AirPods, went unused most of the time. A third of the surface area could have been eliminated. My best guess is that the capability was only there to differentiate from Apple’s official travel charger. If the Qi spot wasn’t there, the unit could also have been less expensive, presumably.

If you need all three spots at once, they work great. I’m just not sure all three are really critical to most people’s needs, though.

Price and Availability

The Mophie 3-in-1 Travel Charger (2023) is available from Apple directly, among its other retail locations.

A previous version of this charger had intermittent charging problems in June 2023, which needed to be resolved with a firmware update kit from the company. That appears to have fixed the problem for existing owners, but I would be wary of purchasing an older version of this product.

I didn’t notice any charging issues, but any intermittent issues will be hard to detect without prolonged use.

Should You Buy Mophie 3-in-1 Travel Charger (2023)?

Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek

I like the form factor here for a travel charger. The Mophie 3-in-1 Travel Charger is relatively compact for a backpack or accessory pouch. It takes the problem of too many unwieldy cables and adapters and melds them together.

The solution, however, is an expensive one. No name-brand solutions on Amazon solve this same issue for well under $100. Apple’s solution retailed for $129 when new. Mophie’s $149 price tag pushes the envelope for how much value this product ultimately delivers.

For anyone on the road frequently, I do think it will be a time saver and eliminate charging-related headaches. For someone only making occasional trips, cheaper options are probably worth considering first.

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mophie 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe

7/ 10

The 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe has dedicated charging spots for all your main Apple devices. You’ll stay charged on vacation or during a business trip. And when you’re ready to head back home, it all packs up neatly in a convenient carrying case.

Speed

15W

Dimensions

0.38 x 11.73 x 3.13in (9.97 x 29.8 x 7.95cm)

Weight

0.7lbs (11.2oz)

Adapter included

30W

Includes adapter

Yes

Input

Apple Watch, iPhone, AirPods

Expand

$149.95 at Zagg $149.95 at Apple

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