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Ewan Spence ,  

 CONTRIBUTOR

I look at the impact of  mobile technology and online media.  

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Another season of smartphones means an updated range of cases, peripherals, and batteries hitting the market. It means that new technology, designs, and ideas are being packaged up in the hope of catching your eye in a retail store or on a web page, and there’s the hope that existing users will decide this is the year to upgrade to a better peripheral.

Into that mix, power specialists Mophie has let me spend some time with its range of Powerstation rechargeable batteries. The principle on how these all work is well-known – a portable battery that you charge over USB, which can then be used to charge devices without needing access to mains power.

Like many manufacturers, Mophie’s packs have a number of styles and capacities to choose from in its range. Thanks to years in the business and a dependable product, Mophie’s brand name is strong with a lot of supporters… all of which have battery packs that are still working. That means Mophie has to put much more focus on attracting new users consumers as well as delighting existing fans to continue growing.

Mophie Powerstation Range For 2016 (photo: Ewan Spence)

New to the range this year is the inclusion of a USB-C enabled Powerstation, although this is only available in the largest of Mophie’s three generic sizes, and the Charge Force Powerstation, which has a Qi wireless charging circuit on the top of the battery so you can dispense with a connecting cable (although there is a USB out cable for wired charging if you need it).

If I’m picking out one of the units that feels the most practical for my life, it would be the Powerstation Plus. This is the middle size tier, providing a hefty enough kick from its 6000 mAh battery. This is enough to deliver a full charge to any smartphone, and still have enough left over for a second top-up if required.

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2016′s aesthetic redesign includes more curves on the edge of the device and a soft feel plastic coating on five of the surfaces. The top plate is metallic, with various color options that are matched to Apple’s iPhone palette. The practical side of the design includes a microUSB port to recharge the battery, and a regular USB port you can plug a cable into to recharge your devices. Lurking at the other end of the device is a built-in microUSB cable (and a ‘microUSB to lightning’ adaptor) that sits flush with the device’s short edge. Pop this out, press the Mophie button on the side, and you’ll start to charge your device.

Mophie Powerstation (photo: Ewan Spence)

As long as I have this Mophie battery in my bag, I know I don’t need to worry about carrying a lightning or microUSB cable. The peace-of-mind on offer because of this addition is hard to underestimate. If I do decide to carry a cable, then the Powerstation will charge two devices at the same time – one through the built-in cable and one through the USB port.

I think I would have liked a slightly longer built-in cable. The Powerstation is a similar size to an average smartphone, but with smartphone charging ports usually in the centre of a short edge you can’t comfortably stack a charging smartphone on top of the Mophie and carry it in your hand. Another inch of cable would have solved that problem.

Mophie Powerstation (photo: Ewan Spence)

That might be a deal breaker for some, but the inclusion of the built-in cable with the choice of connectors makes this far more practical than a battery block with just the USB out that forces me to carry a cable. For day trips there’s no need to carry that second cable – but on longer trips being able to charge two devices at a time increases the utility of the Powerstation Plus. It also means that any changes in form factors in smartphones, or even if you switch to a new device, should not stop you using the Powerstation – as much as possible forward (and backwards) compatibility is assured.

I’ve put a couple of cycles through the battery and it’s holding up as well as previous batteries from Mophie. I’ve not been able to put the equivalent of a year of charging and discharging through the Powerstation Plus, but this is where Mophie’s reputation kicks in. It’s mimicking the early life of other Mophie packs and that gives me the confidence that it will have the same long life and retain as much capacity as possible.

With smartphone design continuing to push a narrative of thin handsets, battery life will always be at a premium. That means portable batteries and chargers will continue to be seen as ‘must have’ purchases by the vast majority of users. For me, Mophie’s Powerstation Plus balances the issues of size, utility and connectivity to offer a compelling package for smartphone users.

Disclaimer: Mophie supplied a number of Powerstation battery packs, including the Powerstation Plus, for review purposes.

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