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The Mophie Charge Stream Powerstation Wireless XL is a mouthful description for the 10000mAh power bank.

In the next few weeks we’ll be reviewing quite a few power banks with that 10k capacity so it will be interesting how they all compare. However, each product gets reviewed on its own merits.

How It Looks

The Mophie is rather compact (69x128mm) but has to compensate for that in thickness. (20mm).
The unit is covered in velvety rubberised TPU material which feels great in the hand and doesn’t scratch any furniture. It does attract dust though which is hard to remove.

It is an extremely simple design: the embossed logo is small and only readable at close distance. One small power button next to the tiny LED lights. A 3 second press to switch it on or a quick press to see how much power is left. Two ports only: USB-A and a USB-C /Lightning port.

Overall a good solid built but hardly photogenic in all its blackness.

How it Works

Charging for the first time means figuring out whether the unit is actually charging or not: the 4 LEDs light up momentarily but then switch off…
You wonder why just having them continually blinking during the charging would not be more helpful. Most other batteries work like that and you can see straightaway what the level of charge is as well. There is a charge light on the bottom side that tells whether it’s charging but not the progress.

The main attraction is the Qi wireless charging, compatible with all the top units of the big brands.
Charging a Samsung Galaxy S8 from 15% to full took around 3:40 hours. Not exactly fast. With 2 LEDs lit there should be another charge like that in there. So we took it again from 15% and managed to get up to 90%. So, depending on how big your phone’s battery is, you may get up to 48 hours extra before you need to come back to civilisation to recharge your Mophie…

If you have a phone with a case wireless charging will still work if the case is not more than 3mm thick. “Case” in point: my original Samsung flip cover case works just beautifully with any wireless charger.

If time is not an issue you can charge two devices concurrently: one wired and one wireless. Great for overnight juicing up. The USB-A port is 10W, sufficient for tablet charging.

The other neat feature is Priority + Charging. If you’re charging up the Mophie unit and you’re wirelessly charging your phone on it, guess who gets the electrons first? Right: your phone. Just as it should.

 

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Conclusion

The Mophie Charge Stream Powerstation Wireless XL does exactly what it is advertised as: a high quality (read safe!) power bank that will allow you to use your phone about three times longer than without the top-ups.

Aussie price is around 129 bucks. And just a nickel shy of USD100 for our overseas friends…

One of the best places to buy this and other Mophie products in Oz is JB Hi-Fi.

More info here. http://www.mophie.com/shop/powerstation-wireless-xl

A note on quality: there are plenty of Chinese knockoffs that are a lot cheaper but haven’t undergone the stringent testing and the superb design of the Mophie products. The Mophie power banks have inbuilt circuitry to get the right amount of juice to every device that’s being charged and preventing overheating. They’ve built up a good reputation over the last decade or so with their innovative gear.

Highly recommended.