Anker MagGo 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station review: travel-friendly Qi2 fast Apple charger

Macworld

At a glanceExpert's Rating
Pros15W Qi2 iPhone chargingFast charges Apple WatchCharges AirPodsCompact, light and portableOur VerdictThe first 3-in-1 device charger based on the fast Qi2 magnetic wireless charging tech, the Anker 15W MagGo 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station not only boosts wireless charging speeds that match Apple’s MagSafe but wraps up everything into a solid, foldable and compact yet flexible design.

A new army of wireless chargers is about to emerge: faster, more efficient, and, we hope, more affordable.

Based on the latest Qi2 (pronounced “chee too”) charging standard. These new magnetic wireless chargers promise 15W power transfer—twice as fast as many wireless chargers available today.

Power specialist Anker is one of the first companies to release Qi2-compatible chargers, and the foldable Anker MagGo 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station is a great example of what we can expect from the latest technology.

It charges the iPhone (iPhone 13 and later) at 15W, and is also certified by Apple to fast-charge the Apple Watch, as well as Qi charge AirPods in a wireless charging case.

As with all new technologies, you may be skeptical. Is Qi2 as good as MagSafe?

In one word, yes. To calm your nerves, here’s a short history and technical explanation of what Qi2 really is. Then we do some real-world testing to see how Qi2 really performs.

Qi2: faster than Qi and very similar to MagSafe

Qi (“chee”) wireless charging has been around since 2008, so it’s something of a slow technology when it comes to upgrades!

Apple didn’t get into Qi until 2014 with the launch of the Apple Watch, and lagged behind other phone makers by waiting until 2017’s iPhone 8 to add wireless charging.

Always happy to invent its own superior version of an existing technology, Apple came up with MagSafe for 2020’s iPhone 12.

MagSafe is a faster charging standard than Qi, in part because it magnetically clamps the device to the charger for a more efficient power transfer. Its MPP technology uses magnets to correctly align the wireless charging transmitter and receiver coils before wirelessly transferring power.

Qi could reach 15W speeds, but device manufacturers usually pegged the charge at 10W or 7.5W.

MagSafe was built for 15W charging but chargers had to be specially certified by Apple to reach this peak. Uncertified, merely MagSafe-compatible magnetic wireless chargers were throttled by Apple and could charge no faster than 7.5W.

The Apple certification process added cost to the MagSafe chargers, so even some premium charger makers stuck with 7.5W to keep costs down.

Sixteen years after Qi comes Qi2, which lets compatible chargers off the leash and is able to charge any iPhone from the 12 to the 15 at the full 15W. Apple kindly gave its MagSafe MPP specs to the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), so Qi2 and MagSafe can be considered effectively the same technology. The ring alignments are not identical, however, so the iPhone 12 isn’t Qi2 compatible while later iPhones are.

Chargers now have to be certified by the WPC but not by Apple. It is expected that this—and vast new non-iPhone Android markets—will significantly reduce the prices of future 15W wireless chargers.

Find out more in our explainer Is Qi2 better than MagSafe.

The folding Anker MagGo 3-in-1 Charging Station comes with a generous 40W charger and USB-C cable.Anker

Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station design

There are many 3-in-1 MagSafe and MagSafe-compatible chargers—we’ve reviewed our favorites in our roundup of the best MagSafe wireless chargers.

Some are inflexible stands, others can tilt and swivel, and some are small enough to carry around in your pocket.

The Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station is a travel-friendly 3-in-1 iPhone/Watch/AirPods charger that uses Qi2 for 15W iPhone charging and old-school Qi for 5W Watch and AirPods charging.

The Anker 3-in-1 Qi2 charger is compact, about the same size as a credit card, and only an inch deep.Foundry

It is super compact, measuring about the length and width of a credit card (3.5×2.36 inches; 8.9×6cm) and an inch (2.5cm) deep, weighing 6.9oz (195g).

The Qi2 pad raises to create a stand for your iPhone, in either portrait or landscape mode for StandBy mode. You can also charge an iPhone with the charger folded and the Qi2 pad on top. You need to unfold it only if you want to charge some AirPods or use the Qi2 pad as a stand.

Foundry

The 5W Watch-charging module is tucked away on the underside (see above) and can lie flat or sit up at an angle for Nightstand mode. We review some other 3-in-1 chargers in our best Apple Watch chargers roundup.

Talking of the base, this has four grippy corner feet to aid stability and is one of the best we’ve seen at this size.

Above the base is the Qi wireless charging pad that will 5W charge your AirPods when inside a wireless charging case.

The Charging Station is available in either white or black.

Anker

Wireless charging performance

The main point about Qi2 is that it offers faster charging speeds than Qi or merely MagSafe-compatible chargers, so our testing is all-important for discovering the value of the tech and devices such as the Anker Qi2-based 3-in-1.

We tested charging an iPhone 15 Pro using a USB-C cable, a certified MagSafe charger and this Qi2 charger.

Charging a phone via a cable (wired charging) is always faster than wireless charging. Connected via USB-C our test iPhone 15 Pro charged to 50% in 23 minutes, to 80% in 55 minutes, and 100% in 69 minutes.

Using the Anker Qi2 wireless charging, the iPhone reached 50% in 45 minutes—twice as long as it took through wired charging, but not a bad time by any means. It was up to 80% in 90 minutes, and fully charged in two hours.

How does that compare to fully certified MagSafe? We charged up the iPhone using Apple’s own MagSafe Charger. As Qi2 is based on MagSafe and both claim 15W power transfer, we expected Qi2 and MagSafe to be evenly matched. And, give or take 5 minutes either side, Qi2 matched MagSafe for charging speeds.

Therefore, we can safely recommend Qi2 chargers as charging at the same rate as certified MagSafe.

This Qi2 also showed the same initial charging screen that previously only official MagSafe could display.Foundry

Price

The Anker MagGo 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station costs $109.99/£99.99.

In comparison, our favorite 3-in-1 MagSafe charger, the Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe, costs $149.95. But a truer rival needs to be portable. There are certainly many cheaper 3-in-1 foldable chargers—for example, the $50 Kuxiu X55 3-In-1—but none at either 15W MagSafe or Qi2. You’ll also need to add a USB-C power supply to these cheaper 3-in-1 devices, while the Anker MagGo Charging Station ships with its own powerful 40W wall charger.

Anker’s own 15W 3-in-1 Cube is also portable, but much heavier (411g vs 195g) and a third more expensive ($149.95).

Another 3-in-1, the $89 OneAdaptr OneGo, is as compact as the Anker MagGo and goes one step further by also including a 10K mAh power bank. Again, however, it’s a 7.5W rather than 15W charger.

Verdict

The first 3-in-1 device charger based on the fast Qi2 magnetic wireless charging tech, the Anker 15W MagGo 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station not only boosts wireless charging speeds that match Apple’s MagSafe but wraps up everything into a solid, foldable and compact yet flexible design.

Accessories, Mobile Phone Accessories, Power