Mophie powerstation pro review: the ultimate 20,000mAh dual USB-C power bank
Mophie powerstation pro review: the ultimate 20,000mAh dual USB-C power bank
Weighing 0.8lbs, the mophie powerstation pro has enough juice to add up to 72 hours to your iPhone or 8 hours to your MacBook
Update: Our in-depth mophie powerstation pro review has been updated, as we’ve gotten more time with the excellent 20,000mAh battery bank.
I have reviewed and tested over 100 different power banks, and I keep coming back to the original external battery brand, mophie, for three reasons: reliability, durability, and design ethos. The company’s latest charger that I’ve tested, the mophie powerstation pro, offers a long, but slim 20,000mAh portable battery that’s under one pound (0.8lbs) with 45W of shared charging and the convenience of two input/output ports. It’s become my go-to portable battery and most crucial accessory on trips.
Right now, the Apple Store has it for $20 off compared to Zagg’s own site, charging $129.95 vs the MSRP of $149.95. It’s compatible with all sorts of devices, not just Apple tech, but for my testing purposes, I was able to add 72 hours of battery life to an iPhone, and 8 hours to a MacBook while traveling. I even tested it on the Apple Vision Pro over the last month. It was able to keep me powered on a long-haul international flight instead of the headset cutting out after a mere two hours.
Moreover, this dual USB-C PD power bank is easy to toss in a bag, or as I like to, slip it into the side pocket of my backpack for easy access. I love the outer fabric – part of the mophie design ethos for the last decade – that ensures it doesn’t rub up and scratch against my other gadgets. I also found the LED power indicators to be accurate. It’s this mix of raw power on the inside and gentle design touches on the outside that makes this mophie power bank my preferred portable charger over all others in 2024.
Pros
✅ 💪 Powerful 20,000mAh battery can charge even a MacBook
✅ 🐑 Soft-to-the-touch textured fabric design won’t scratch your gadgets
✅ ⚡ 45W dual USB-C PD fast charging offers top speed for most tech
✅ 🛡️ More reliable than most chargers and has a two-year warranty
✅ ⚖️ At just 0.8lbs, it’s lighter than many older 20,000mAh batteries
Cons
❌ 🔌 No built-in wall plug, AC outlet, hide-away cable, or wireless charging extras
❌ 🪢 Included USB-C cable is short (bring your own cable for extra reach)
❌ ⛓️💥 Some of my other USB-C cables don’t stay plugged in, slip out easily
❌ ⚡ Two devices will split the shared 45W power into 25W/20W
🏆 Review score: 4.5 out of 5
🏅 Editor’s Choice Award
⚡ Massive 20,000mAh power bank. Take it from me, 20,000mAh isn’t too much power in 2024. Newer gadgets have almost necessitated doubling the power of my external battery needs in the last five years. This power bank adds up to 72 hours to an iPhone, and even with two devices plugged in at once, the 25W of split power rapidly fast charged my iPhone 15 Pro Max.
💻 MacBook charging tests. At its maximum 45W power, I was able to keep my MacBook Pro charged on a flight when *gasp* there was no AC outlet in the airplane seatback. The mophie powerstation pro became my power source and my lifesaver. The new MacBook Air M3 14-inch default charger is 35W and maxes out at 70W for fast charging, while the default is 70W and maxes out at 96W. mophie’s 45W charger falls in the middle, so while I wasn’t charging at maximum speeds,I was able to survive a power-deficient flight and get several hours of work done in the air.
🤝 USB-C PD fast charges all of your devices. Not all power banks are built the same. The PD in USB-C PD stands for power delivery, and it means this battery can fast charge a wide variety of gadgets. I tested on my MacBook Pro 14-inch, iPad Pro 11-inch, iPhone 15 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Apple Watch Ultra, Google Pixel Pro 8, and even my Apple Vision Pro. My go-to travel camera, the new Canon EOS R8, necessitates USB-C PD charging, so this is a requirement for some gadgets. In other words, don’t buy a cheap power bank without PD.
🔌 USB-C is the future. The mophie powerstation pro caters to the future with two USB-C PD input/output ports (meaning you can charge via one of the ports). There are no archaic ports here like USB-A and micro USB. If you’ve left those ports in the dustbin of history like me, you’ll appreciate the simplistically here.
🪢 Short USB-C cable, short on extras. It does come with a short USB-C-to-USB-C cable, and I found it fine for clutching my iPhone 15 Pro Max and the power bank back-to-back. But you may want to carry a longer cable if you need more reach. There’s also no extra features like a built-in wall plug (popular among some cheaper power banks I’ve tested), AC outlet (available on the mophie powerstation pro AC), hide-away cable (like on the mophie power station plus) or wireless charging (like the mophie snap+ juice pack mini). This version is all about raw power from the dual 45W USB-C ports.
⛓️💥 Some USB-C cable slip out. The included USB-C cable stays in place when plugged in, but I experience other cables, including those made by Apple, slip out of the two USB-C ports when plugged into the power bank. It’s not always secure for some reason. That’s made me have to closely evaluate which cables I use with the mophie power bank pro, just in case if falls out and stops charging my devices.
🪶 Slim, lightweight for 20,000mAh. A few years ago, this power bank would have been bigger and almost double its current weight. mophie was able to slim down the powerstation pro in size (it’s 7.7 x 2.7 x 0.9 inches) and weight (it’s 0.8lbs). It’s still long (a bit taller than my iPhone 15 Pro Max with a case on), but manageable.
🛟 A battery pack lifesaver. Before my in-depth Rabbit R1 review, I unboxed it only to find it had a dead battery at the launch event. It was all downhill from there for the hamstrung AI gadget, but if I hadn’t brought my mophie powerstation pro with me, I wouldn’t have been able to test the new AI device right away.
🐑 Soft fabric design language. The fabric design of the mophie’s powerstation pro is why I keep coming back to the brand. It eschews the plastic and metal exteriors of many of its rivals for a soft-to-the-touch outer layer that won’t scratch your other devices when you carelessly toss everything into your backpack. In other words, the powerstation pro will play nicely with your other gadgets.
🗺️ Great for travel. As mentioned in our mophie 3-in-1 travel charger review, this power bank is part of my travel kit every time I’m out the door. It’s enough juice that I never need to worry about recharging it until the end of a full day, and slim enough to stow in my backpack’s side pocket next to a water bottle. At 20,000mAh, it’s also under the 27,000mAh maximum battery capacity of most airlines.
Should I buy the mophie powerstation pro 20K?
Yes, if…
✅ 🔋 You crave nearly unlimited power on the go (20,000mAh will tide you over)
✅ 🤝 You want the wide compatibility via the dual 45W USB-C PD ports
✅ 🐑 You appreciate the soft fabric exterior that won’t scratch other gadgets
✅ 🛡️ You love the safety of a reliable external battery pack backed by a two-year warranty
No, if…
❌ 🔌 You want a built-in AC outlet (buy the mophie powerstation AC)
❌ ⚡ You want it to double as a wireless charger (buy mophie snap+ juice pack mini)
❌ 🪢 You want a hide-away cable in the power bank (buy mophie power station plus)
❌ 👴 You’re behind on the time and need micro USB or USB-A still (get with the program, pops)