- [Michael] This video is sponsored by Ting.
If you've just gotten a new smart phone
and you're already getting a low battery warning,
I've handpicked seven products
to get that meter topped up again.
And don't worry, it's not the same brand name
as you always hear.
(upbeat music)
I'm gonna lead off with wireless charges
and end on my favorite battery pack of all time.
So if you're phone doesn't have wireless charging
or you you just have no interest in it,
skip forward to this time code
to get right to the batteries.
Qi charger number one might be familiar to you
if you follow me on Instagram.
It's the Twelve South HiRise Wireless,
and if you haven't seen it
you might be confused as to why it's among my top picks.
Well, because this.
Yeah, not only is it a weighty,
nice-looking desktop charger,
but the Qi puck actually pops out of the stand,
so you can take the important component with you
on road trips without lugging along that heavy base.
That makes it handy companion for life on the road
and at home.
As far as wireless chargers go,
it's pretty speedy at 10 watts.
It runs on USB-C, which I like,
and, because Twelve South doesn't trade in budget goods,
it's on the pricey side too, a penny shy of 80 bucks.
I'll link to this and all of these in the description.
Now if that puck is a little plain for you, this won't be.
Carved has been known for
its beautiful phone case designs for years,
and this wireless charger lives up to that legacy.
First of all, it's the smallest wireless charger
I've ever seen.
It's literally the size of a credit card.
Secondly, it's utterly gorgeous
with a custom wood and resin finish
that's unique to this model.
Seriously, unique.
If you want this one, you cannot have it.
I have it.
They were able to get it so thin
because most of the electronics
have been stuffed into the connector,
including a cleverly hidden status light,
which I don't really know why they bothered to hide.
You can barely see it.
Now I would expect that it would sacrifice charging speed
as a result, but this is as fast as wireless charging gets
in this video, 15 watts.
Price: 60 bucks.
This kind of beauty doesn't come cheap.
I hadn't heard of Curant before making this video,
but during the course of production
the Catch:1, Catch:2, and Catch:3 chargers
have become some instant favorites.
First of all, the balance of form and function is sublime
with a soft Italian leather top layer,
so you don't scratch up your phone,
with metallic trim, which looks nice,
and woven insulation on the cord
to keep it durable and classy-looking.
With the Catch:1 the story kind of ends there.
Aside from plaudits for 10 watts and USB-C,
there's not a lot more to say.
Frankly, 80 bucks for that is a bit rich.
It's with the Catch:2 that things get interesting.
Because it has five coils under here,
you can drop your phone anywhere on it
in any orientation, and it'll charge.
No dead zones even when you're
topping up two phones at once.
Each one will charge at 10 watts too.
Now the Catch:2 retails at $150,
but if I had to pick just one of these
I would drop an extra 25 bucks,
and move up to the Catch:3.
Now it's only got the single three-coil charging plate,
but for a guy who misses trains regularly
because he can't find his keys or wallet or phone,
having this door side accessory tray is a lifesaver.
I come in, drop my stuff in the bowl,
drop my phone on the pad, and I know where it is,
and at the end of the day I just do it all in reverse.
Because this one is so much bigger
you also get a USB-A port around back
for charging something non-wireless.
Yeah, 175 bucks is a lot of money,
but if style and reliability are top of mind for you,
it'll be money well spent.
Let's move on to portable power
starting with the most specialized.
The Adonit PhotoGrip Qi isn't gonna be for everyone.
It's not just battery pack, it's a camera grip
to make taking pictures more comfortable
while keeping you topped up at the same time.
It's the lowest capacity of the batteries
I'll be showing you, not even enough
to fully charge most phones from dead to full,
but it's also clever.
You can stand your phone up vertically
or use the included mini tripod,
whose reassuring wide stance helps
make up for that fact that it doesn't articulate.
You can also use a different tripod
thanks to the universal quarter-inch attachment,
and there's another cool addition here.
See the shutter button?
You can slide it off,
and use it as a Bluetooth remote for the camera.
It's a little wonky on Android phones.
It will just mess with the volume
unless your camera is open,
but still, this is handy.
Out in the field the PhotoGrip Pro is okay.
Now I used it to shoot that 5G video in Providence
a few weeks back, and rolling that much video on a phone
as big as the Galaxy Note 10 Plus,
that huge screen at full brightness,
the PhotoGrip Qi just couldn't keep up.
That's no surprise given it's meager 5 watts of output,
but what did surprise me was that I couldn't
charge the phone via the USB-C port either.
In fact, the phone tries to do the opposite.
It tries to charge the battery pack.
Adonit says it made those decisions to keep heat down
in the confined internal space.
If you're using a smaller phone with a smaller battery
then for a penny shy of 60 bucks, yeah,
this is a good value.
Just make sure you're planning to shoot enough photos
or video to justify this very specific form factor.
If you're looking for something a little less specialized
each of these will do the trick.
The Fonesalesman QiStone 2 might look familiar
because it's the rare case of a sequel to a battery pack.
You get the same shark skin-like feel with the coating,
the same rounded river stone build as the last generation,
but the QiStone 2 has double the capacity
of the first one with 8000 milli Ampere hours.
That's about three to four times more
than an average phone battery.
As you might've gathered from the name,
it offers Qi wireless charging,
but at a slow five watts again,
so, fortunately, there's USB-C as well
if you're in a hurry.
Yes, you can charge two devices at once too.
A neat feature the last generation
had removed from this one:
wireless charging on both sides,
but then again, at only five watts
maybe that's for the best.
Price on this one is normally 80 bucks,
but US buyers can apply a coupon to make it $40 on Amazon.
That makes the QiStone 2 a better deal
than the Universal from the hilariously name [Fuse]Chicken,
but this is clever too.
It looks an awful lot like a MacBook charging brick,
and it even comes with the same detachable corner
for different wall plugs.
When it comes to recharge the brick
you just plug it into the wall,
which is very handy.
Globe trotters will appreciate
that plugs for several regions are included in the box
while Qi appreciators will enjoy
the 10 watt wireless charging.
Again, you can use both wired and wireless charging at once.
The capacity is lower than the QiStone 2
because it's physically smaller,
and it's a little weird that this same exact design
is offered by Adonit for $35 less,
but it's worked well in my experience.
And the [Fuse]Chicken CEO is the kinda guy
who puts his own email address on his website,
so I figure if you have a problem
with this $85 battery pack at least you can
be pretty confident it'll get taken care of.
My favorite accessory in the whole line up
and my new battery pack daily driver
after a quick word from my sponsor
about saving you money.
You folks know I'm all about staying mobile,
but most people spend most of their time
between home and work,
and that means they're usually connected to WiFi.
So why pay for a pricey data plan every month?
This video is sponsored by Ting,
and to be clear, it's not just WiFi.
In fact, it offers nationwide LTE coverage on two networks,
so the phone you already have will probably work.
The beauty of it is you're only charged
for the talk, text, and data you actually use.
So the average cost for a Ting subscriber
is just $23 a month.
There's no contract, you can bring your own number,
and you can get a $25 credit using mrmobile.ting.com.
Click that link in the description below,
and thanks to Ting for sponsoring this video.
Folks there's a reason you didn't see
my usual call-outs of industry titans
like Anchor and RAVpower in this video,
and that's because for the past year
I've had a new best battery buddy.
The Sherpa 100 AC is a big battery pack from GoalZero,
and at 300 bucks, got a big price tag too.
Well it turns out that a lot of that size and cost
was devoted to this AC inverter,
which I used exactly once over the year its been in my bag.
So GoalZero shaved it off.
This is the Sherpa 100PD,
and it's got exactly the same capacity as the 100 AC
in about half the size.
It also loses one of the USB-C ports,
but the one remaining still kicks out 60 watts of power,
plenty to charge my MacBook Pro
even when I'm editing video.
For other devices you've got a duo of USB-A ports
topping out at 3.4 amps a piece,
and the wireless charging plate is still up top too,
though it's the one sad face
because despite how beefy the battery is,
the Qi coil tops out at five watts.
Still, that compromise is livable
for a battery pack with this combination
of capacity and utility,
a pack that can recharge your computer,
two accessories, and a phone all at the same,
all in almost the same footprint
of less capable battery packs.
I say $169 is a fair price for that much versatility.
If saving money is paramount to you,
check out my earlier charger and battery videos here
featuring several less expensive solutions,
and Android Central just updated its article
on the best battery packs.
They've been much more selective based on price.
Check it out at the link in the description below.
Disclaimer folks: this video's made possible
by review samples sent by each manufacturer mentioned.
The affiliate links below will generate a commission
for Mobile Nations if they're used.
No manufacturer paid for its inclusion in this list
nor was any company given copy approval rights
prior to publication.
These are my honest opinions.
Please subscribe if that's the kind of video
you'd like to see more of.
Until next time, thanks for watching,
and stay mobile, my friends.
(upbeat music)