You won't be out of options if you browse the web for wireless power banks. However, many of us are waiting for Qi2 chargers to appear, which will offer additional features such as magnetic locking and faster charging speeds. And while they haven't arrived as power banks in India yet, many who need the wireless convenience of on-the-go charging will have to go with standard Qi chargers (and their limitations). I recently received a wireless charger made by Urbn for review. What makes it interesting is its small form factor, which is barely visible even behind a standard-sized iPhone model. However, after a few weeks of use, I discovered a number of limitations that make it difficult to recommend this model compared to other offerings available in India.
Urbn 5,000mAh Compact MagTag Wireless Power Bank Review: Design and Specs
The Urbn 5000mAh Compact MagTag Wireless Power Bank, henceforth known as the Urbn MagTag Charger, comes with some cool features. Key among them is its small, well-rounded pebble-like design, which has a very small footprint of just 9cm x 6.3cm, with a thickness of 1.6cm. It is also very light at only 121 grams. Although its outer casing is made of plastic, its outer surface is coated with a rubber-like texture, which offers a good grip and feels solid without unwanted gaps. However, I noticed that the charging pad area is a proper dust magnet and gets quite messy after a bit of use.
Battery charge LED indicators only show an estimate of battery life
The power bank has just one button on the back which is flanked by two LED indicators to show how much charging power is left in the batteries. Unlike most other wireless power banks I've used, the charging process isn't activated by placing a smartphone on the charging pad, but only by pressing the button.
While it was something I had to remember to do, it does have its advantages in that you can have the power bank stuck to the back of your iPhone all day, but you can activate wireless charging only when press a button.
Although the LEDs are a useful indicator of the current capacity of the internal battery, you should keep in mind that it is only an estimate. The power bank showing a single LED (instead of all four) indicates that it could hold between 25 and 10 percent of its charge capacity. So a bright LED doesn't mean it currently has 25 percent of the battery pack's charge capacity. Honestly, I'd prefer a digital battery monitor screen on the back, which would give users a more accurate idea of the charge left instead of these estimates.
The Urbn MagTag rarely aligns perfectly due to its weaker bottom magnet
I tested this power bank only with an iPhone as they have smaller batteries. The manufacturer claims both on the box and on their website that it is MagSafe compatible, but I have my doubts about that. The magnetic ring and the dash underneath were not strong enough to hold my iPhone 14 Pro firmly in place. The circular surface had a better hold and so quite often the power bank kept spinning as the magnet underneath never stuck to the phone properly.
As its product name suggests, the power bank offers a 5000mAh backup. However, Urbn also sells another model with a higher capacity of 10,000 mAh. Urbn claims to offer a maximum wireless charging output of 15W with 10W input via a USB-C port.
Urbn 5,000mAh Compact MagTag Wireless Power Bank Review: Performance
While the design of the power bank seemed to check all the boxes for a budget charger, it falls short of the mark and meets expectations when it comes to the actual charging process.
Since this is a “MagSafe compatible” charger, it's not really capable of achieving the advertised “max 15W” when charging an iPhone wirelessly, but it's obviously limited to 7.5W. Then, too take into account the expected power loss, which occurs when charging wireless devices.
Considering the above two factors, the Urbn MagTag couldn't even provide a full charge for the iPhone 14 Pro's 3,200mAh battery. It got a 23 percent charge in 30 minutes and then went on to charge the phone to 46 percent in 1 hour. 2 hours later, the power bank finally gave up and stopped charging the phone at 80 percent, with a glowing LED indicating an estimated 25 percent charge left in the tank.
The Urbn MagTag's 5,000mAh battery can't fully wirelessly charge an iPhone 14 Pro's 3,200mAh battery
Very disappointed, I decided to try charging the iPhone 14 Pro with its official cable connected to the USB-C port of the power bank. This gave better results. I fully charged the phone in 2 hours and 3 minutes, with barely enough juice left for another charge.
Once drained, the Urbn MagTag takes about two hours and 25 minutes to fully charge.
Urbn 5,000mAh Compact MagTag Wireless Power Bank Review: Verdict
Overall, the Urbn MagTag in its 5,000mAh flavor (priced at Rs 2,499) can't be used to fully wirelessly charge an iPhone and clearly won't do justice to premium Android devices that already pack in batteries of 5,000 mAh (for various reasons). Its usefulness as a wireless charger is basically limited to short recharges when placed in your pocket (thanks to its compact size), but I'm not sure if that will work out well, given its slightly larger magnets weak The power bank also supports pass-through charging, which charges both smartphones (wirelessly) while charging the batteries inside your power bank, so it can be used as a desktop charger when connects to a power cord and adapter.
In fact, it makes more sense to go for the larger (and thicker) 10,000mAh model (at an odd price of Rs 2,199) as it has a larger capacity, which in theory should be able to deliver a full charge for a normal load. -iPhone size While the market is full of options, I would recommend the Daily Objects Surge MagSafe Magnetic Battery Pack as it offers a lot of features (and a better design) at a slightly higher price of Rs. 5,999.
Price: Rs. 2,499
Advantages:
- Small and compact design
- USB-C port
- On/off button
- It works as a desktop loader
Cons:
- LED indicators show estimated charge remaining
- The magnets are a bit weak
- A full load cannot be delivered
