Portable power banks that charge your phone are popular but wireless battery packs using Apple’s MagSafe technology offer a simpler and smarter solution for iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 users.
Phone batteries are prone to run dry just when you’re heading away from a power source, so having a portable charging source is one of today’s necessities. Annoyingly, most power banks require you to carry around a cable, too.
Wireless power banks do away with cables but come with their own major limitation – the inefficiency of wireless charging means you need a high-capacity power bank to fully charge a drained iPhone.
MagSafe is a technology that’s compatible with all iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models, from the mini to the Pro Max. It allows accessories to connect magnetically to the back of the iPhone.
The MagSafe connection is precise enough to make wireless charging more efficient as around 20% of Qi power loss is from poor placement of a phone and the wireless charging pad.
So while standard Qi wireless charging can lose as much as 50% of the portable battery’s power, MagSafe wireless charging loses ‘just’ 30%.
That still means that it’s not as efficient as using a cable to charge a phone, but MagSafe is a tech that brings true wireless charging a step closer to doing away with cables altogether.
We have tested the major MagSafe chargers to find which is the best for you and your iPhone.
Certified MagSafe or MagSafe compatible
Not all are officially certified MagSafe by Apple but we’ve included only those MagSafe-compatible battery packs that work as efficiently as the “Made for MagSafe” models. Official certification is more important for wired MagSafe chargers as the 15W charging power of MagSafe-certified chargers beats the 7.5W maximum for mere MagSafe-compatible accessories.
In comparison, the portable battery packs tested here can’t reach 15W, except those that can be charged simultaneously by wire and wireless, as the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack can.
We have listed the speeds at which each portable power bank can be charged itself (Input charger) and charge the iPhone (Output charger).
We’ve also included a few alternative non-magnetic options, including standard power banks and battery cases. MagSafe is cool but it isn’t always the best option.
After the list of our favorites, you’ll find more details on how MagSafe works and why you should be looking at a power bank’s capacity in Watt Hours rather than the mostly quoted Milliamp Hours.
Apple MagSafe Battery Pack – Smartest MagSafe battery
- Pros
- MagSafe
- Compact
- Smarter battery features than rivals
- Cable plus wireless charging
- Cons
- Underpowered compared to rivals
- White only
- 5W wireless charging
Capacity: 11.13Wh (1460mAh/2920mAh)
Input charger: Lightning (27W)
Output charger: Wireless (5W) & Lightning (15W combined)
MagSafe: Certified
Tested: Yes
Charged drained iPhone to: 60%
Weight: 114g
Dimensions: 96-x-64-11cm
Colors: White
Compatibility: iPhone 12/13 mini, iPhone 12/13, iPhone 12/13 Pro, iPhone 12/13 Pro Max
Compatible with all models of iPhone 12 and 13, the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack is an intelligent and convenient lightweight power pack that magnetically clamps to the iPhone.
While underpowered compared to the competition, it will charge a fading iPhone up to around 60%, which should be enough to get you through the day to when you have access to a power outlet.
Wireless charging isn’t the speediest at 5W, but unlike most other MagSafe chargers, the Apple Battery Pack can charge an iPhone at 15W using a wireless and a Lightning cable simultaneously.
Its Apple advantage is its smart features that show onscreen battery power icons and safety features that stop charging when too hot or before the phone’s internal battery could be compromised – meaning it’s good practice to stop charging a phone battery at 90% for long-term battery health.
Available in white only, the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack is smarter but more expensive compared to third-party alternatives.
Read our full Apple MagSafe Battery Pack review
Anker MagGo 622 Magnetic Battery – Best MagSafe battery pack with foldaway stand
- Pros
- Battery capacity
- Built-in stand
- Colors
- 7.5W charging
- Cons
- No simultaneous cable charging
- Incompatible with iPhone mini
Capacity: 19.13Wh (5000mAh)
Input charger: USB-C (12W)
Output charger: Wireless (7.5W)
MagSafe: Compatible
Tested: Yes
Charged drained iPhone to: 80%
Weight: 146g
Dimensions: 10.5-x-6.6-x-1.3cm
Colors: White, Gray, Purple, Green, Blue
Compatibility: All iPhone 12 & 13, except mini
The Anker MagGo 622 Magnetic Battery is cheaper than the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack, has a larger battery capacity and is available in multiple muted colours: white, purple, green, blue and gray.
It works with MagSafe iPhone from the iPhone 12, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max., but sits a little over the smaller iPhone mini when magnetically attached.
We love that the Anker 622 comes with its own built-in fold-out stand, which with MagSafe’s pulling power will hold your iPhone securely in either portrait/vertical or landscape/horizontal mode.
The stand folds away so that it can be popped in a pocket to be magnetically clamped to the phone when you need it most – and operates just like the Apple battery pack.
In our battery tests, the 622 managed to charge a drained iPhone to 80% of full power, which is a significant jump on Apple’s MagSafe Battery Case that powered the iPhone to just 60%.
The Anker battery is rated at 19.13Wh (5,000mAh) but, like all the other wireless chargers loses a decent chunk of that power to environmental factors. As its battery is larger than Apple’s, it actually loses a little more but has plenty in reserve to make up for this.
The Anker battery charges wirelessly at 7.5W – faster than Apple’s 5W charge, although the Apple battery can use the wireless Qi and cabled USB-C power simultaneously to speed charging at up to 15W.
It ships with a 60cm USB-C cable.
Read our full Anker MagGo 622 Magnetic Battery review
Anker MagGo 633 Magnetic Wireless Charger – Best multi-function MagSafe charger
- Pros
- Battery capacity
- Dual-device adjustable charging stand
- Colors
- 7.5W charging
- Cons
- No simultaneous cable charging
Capacity: 19.13Wh (5000mAh)
Input charger: USB-C (25W)
Output charger: Wireless (7.5W)
MagSafe: Compatible
Tested: Yes
Charged drained iPhone to: 84%
Weight: 132g
Dimensions: 10.6-x-6.6-x-1.2cm
Colors: White, Blue, Gray
Compatibility: All iPhone 12 & 13, except mini
The Anker MacGo 633 Wireless Charger is more than just a MagSafe charger. It’s also an adjustable stand that charges the iPhone when in place, and also keeps the 633 battery charged for when you need to slip it out of its holster for portable use.
And the base of the stand is also Qi-enabled so can wirelessly charge an AirPods case or similarly sized Qi-ready device.
As a portable battery charger that magnetically attaches to the iPhone it is similar to its non-charge-stand sibling, the Anker MagGo 622. And it has the same 19.13Wh (5000mAh) battery that offers a greater charge potential than Apple’s own MagSafe Battery Pack.
In our tests, it charged an empty iPhone 13 Pro up to 84%, beating the 622’s 80% and Apple’s 60%.
It charges the iPhone at a decent 7.5W – the same as the 622 and 1.5x better than the Apple – and comes with a 25W wall charger and 1.5m USB-C cable.
The Anker MagGo 633 is great value as it offers so many functions: desktop charger, portable power bank, AirPods charger, and adjustable viewing stand, and is doesn’t compromise on any of those roles.
Read our full Anker MagGo 633 Magnetic Wireless Charger review
Belkin Magnetic Portable Wireless Charger 10K – Highest capacity MagSafe battery pack
Capacity: 38Wh (10000mAh)
Input charger: USB-C (18W)
Output charger: Wireless (7.5W)
MagSafe: Compatible
Tested: No
Weight: 300g
Dimensions: 14.3-x-7.1-x-2.1cm
Compatibility: All iPhone 12 & 13
Larger and weightier (2x the nearest rival) than alternatives, the Belkin Magnetic Portable Wireless Charger 10K is more of a wireless charging pad that can also be carried around as a power bank.
This isn’t a bad thing as many users will have a less frequent need of it as a power bank and will charge their phone at their bedside or on their desk while working.
But when you do need it, the Belkin 10K really delivers with a massive 38Wh (10,000mAh) battery capacity. Its 7.5W charging speed is also impressive.
It’s available in old-school black and white models.
(We haven’t tested this product yet and will update here with its battery score as soon as we have.)
Charmast 10,400mAh Power Bank – Not MagSafe but excellent power bank
- Pros
- Giant battery capacity
- Large LCD info screen
- Cons
- Not MagSafe
- Requires cable connection
Capacity: 38.48Wh (10400mAh)
Input charger: USB-C (15W), microUSB (10W)
Output charger: Cable (15W)
MagSafe: No
Tested: No
Weight: 228g
Dimensions: 14.4-x-6.7-x-1.5cm
Compatibility: Universal
We’ve included a non-MagSafe portable power bank as an alternative to consider.
MagSafe technology helps wireless chargers lose less power through imprecise placement, but you don’t have that or any other wireless limitation when connecting a phone to a charger via cable.
The 38.48Wh (10,400mAh) battery is larger than any of the MagSafe chargers and so should offer well over 100% recharge potential for a fading iPhone (12, 13 or any Lightning iPhone for that matter).
Its LCD screen spells out exactly how much power remains inside the bank, which is a lot more informative than the row of tiny LEDs you get with the other portable power banks, and much better than the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack that has just one LED that only lights up when connected to power.
As handy as the battery capacity and LED is, it’s still not as convenient or compact as a proper MagSafe portable battery charger that can be magnetically connected to your compatible iPhone.
Newdery Battery Case – Best battery case for iPhone 13
- Pros
- Protective case
- near 100% battery charge
- Cons
Capacity: 17.78Wh (4800mAh)
Input charger: Lightning and Qi (7.5W)
Output charger: Lightning for iPhone (5W)
MagSafe: No
Tested: Yes
Compatibility: iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro
A battery case offers both robust protection and the opportunity to recharge a fading iPhone battery on the go. We loved the old Apple Smart Battery Case for iPhone but there isn’t a version for iPhone 12 or 13, with Apple going down the MagSafe-only route.
The Newdery Battery Case offers full protection and nearly a full battery recharge, and this dual function makes it a cheaper alternative to a MagSafe case and MagSafe battery pack. However, some may find the bulky design too chunky, although the case itself weighs just 134g.
The Newdery Battery Case scored 96% in our test, showing that it will supply very close to a 100% recharge – better than any MagSafe power bank that we have tested so far.
It charges like an iPhone via a Lightning cable (not included), but it is also wireless compatible so can be charged itself on most Qi charging pads.
If you desire protection as well as longer battery life, the Newdery Battery Case offers both in an affordable package.
There are also versions for the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro on Amazon.com and Amazon UK, and the 12 Pro Max (US and UK), but nothing yet for the 13 Pro Max. There is one model that works for both the iPhone 12 mini and 13 mini.
And there is also a basic version without wireless charging.
Read our full Newdery Battery Case for iPhone 13 review
How we tested
MagSafe charger testing was conducted using an iPhone 13 Pro, subscribed to a 5G network and WiFi, with screen off and all default settings.
Our test is a simple battery recharge shootout. We let our test-unit iPhone 13 Pro (3,095mAh battery capacity) drain to just 5% and then set the Battery Pack to work recharging the phone.
We then assigned the charger a score of whatever percentage it managed to charge the iPhone to and subtract the 5%; we test each model at least twice.
It’s not a real-world test of day-to-day use where you’ll likely be using your phone for various tasks (of varying battery usage) and in different environmental conditions and network configurations.
But it does give us a common score format that we can use to compare different battery-pack models.
Why comparing Watt Hours are better than Milliamp Hours
Phone batteries are generally rated in Milliamp Hours (mAh) but this is a measure of electrical charge, while a Watt Hour is equal to one watt of energy consumed for one hour of time.
When comparing battery capacities and how much a power pack will boost a phone’s internal battery, energy is more important than electrical charge.
And mAh ignores a battery voltage, which determines the wattage (power) of a battery.
If the mAh is the same, the higher the voltage, the greater the actual stored power.
For example, Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack is rated at just 1,460mAh but it has a higher voltage potential (7.62V) than the iPhone (3.81V) or other battery packs, meaning that it can provide more power to an iPhone than its mAh suggests; in fact, it is actually 2,920mAh.
To go into further depth about this read our feature iPhone battery capacities compared that also lists all iPhones battery life in mAh and Wh.
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