The Mophie Powerstation AC Charges Phones and Laptops

Mophie, the prolific battery-packs company, has introduced a new model called Powerstation AC. As you can guess by its name, the electric output is powerful enough to charge a laptop and more!

With a maximum AC output of 110V and 100W (at 60Hz), the things you can power with it is not limited to phones and laptops, but we expect these two categories of products to be the primary target for a mobile charging session.

The battery capacity is 82.536 Wh (Watt-hours) or 22,000 mAh if using phone-level voltage. This is comparable to the best laptop batteries for 14 or 15 models, so this will give you an idea of what kind of energy storage capacity we are dealing with.

Of course, you can plug an AC adapter directly into it, but it is also possible to charge laptops via USB-C directly since the standard supports output of up to 20V at 1.5A (30W). The complete list is at the end of the article.

Smartphones and tablet can be charged with a maximum output of 5V at 3A (15W) / 9V to 3A (27W) over USB-C. I didn’t spot a combability with Qualcomm QuickCharge and other prioprietary fast-charging protocols, so the OEM power adapter  may charge a bit faster. However, Mophie has stuck as close as possible with the USB standards and will be compatible with an extremely large number of devices for fast charging.

With a size of 7.5 x 4.5 x 1.1 inches and 1.66 lbs (756g), this is not a pocketable battery, but more like something you keep in your backpack. However, it will store enough energy to keep you powered for a very long while. It can double the battery life of a high-end 13” think and light and has about 7X the charge of high-end phones with 3000 mAh batteries.

Last, but not least: if you happen to use a device connected to the battery which itself connected to a power source, the battery will prioritize the device you are using in case there’s not enough power for both the device and the Powerstation charging.

At ~$200, the Mophie Powerstation does not exhibit a cheap $/Wh ratio, but it does provide a somewhat rare service, especially for professionals, which can justify its pricing. At the end of the day, the competition will show up quickly if there’s a market that is large enough for this use case.

• USB-C Input: 5V at 3A (15W) / 9V at 3A (27W) / 15V at 2A (30W) / 20V at 1.5A (30W)
• USB-C Output: 5V at 3A (15W) / 9V to 3A (27W) / 15V at 2A (30W) / 20V at 1.5A (30W)
• USB-A Ouput: 5V at 2.4A (12W)
• AC Output: 110V a.c. 60Hz, 100W max

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: Cellphones, Computers
Tags: CES, CES 2018, chargers, Fast Charging, mophie