There’s something especially convenient about having a multi-device charging station on your nightstand. Or you could place at the edge of your desk or on a table by the front door. It’s a place you can charge your iPhone, AirPods charging case and Apple Watch all at once if need be.
Ugreen sent me its version to test out, the 3-in-1 MagSafe Wireless Charging Station. It’s a good charger for most people — especially because it’s MFi-certified for MagSafe. That means you get a full 15 watts for MagSafe iPhones and 5W apiece for an AirPods charging case and Apple Watch.
But the device isn’t without minor drawbacks.
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Ugreen 3-in-1 Magsafe Wireless Charging Station
Out of the box the Ugreen 3-in-1 MagSafe Wireless Charging Station looks good. The packaging is attractive and the provided written material is brief and clear. The device itself, all white and chrome, is compact but has a satisfying heft to it.
The 25W charger’s platform includes a metal arm with a MagSafe puck at the end for an iPhone in landscape (horizontal) or portrait (vertical) mode. So it’s pretty convenient to use the iPhone while it’s charging, if you want to watch a video or take a call.
The iPhone charger offers 15W of power for iPhone series 14/13/12 regardless of whether you have other devices charging at the same time. Qi chargers that aren’t certified only give you 7.5W.
Next to the iPhone charger a recession provides a spot to rest an AirPods charging case (or any Qi-enabled case, such as for other earbuds). There your Apple earbuds take 5W of charging power (some other chargers offer only 2.5W for earbuds cases and smart watches). An indicator light lets you know the item is charging.
On the right you find an Apple Watch charger that lays flush in the platform until you press a button on the back edge of the platform to let the watch charger pop up, offering 5W of power. That button-activated pop-up is kind of a cool little feature.
And it’s also great that you can change the angle of the iPhone charger and the watch charger. Both can swing from 20 degrees to 90 degrees, yet remain firmly fixed at whatever angle you choose under the weight of the device that’s charging.
Power for fast charging
Photo: Ugreen
With 15W available for the iPhone and 5W apiece available to the AirPods charging case and Apple Watch, the Ugreen chargers speed is noticeably faster than Qi-enabled magnetic 3-in-1 chargers that don’t merit the MFi certification.
The iPhone charger is about twice as fast as the Qi norm of 7.5W. And the 5W is about twice as fast as the 2.5W some chargers offer to small devices.
The Ugreen charger cranked up my Apple Watch 6 from 49% full to 100% full in 40 minutes. The platform seemed similar in its charging of my AirPods Pro 2 case, though perhaps a little slower. And my iPhone 13 Pro, in its MagSafe leather case, went from 49% to 77% in 30 minutes.
Minor drawbacks
So compared to an older multi-device charging stand I’ve tested, by Zens, the Ugreen charger is superior on several fronts — but not all. On the one hand, it’s a bit smaller, it provides more power for faster charging, and its iPhone and Apple Watch chargers are adjustable.
But on the other hand, the older Zens charger has a cool-looking matte-black finish, its watch charger is removable so you can stick it in a laptop’s USB-C port to charge your watch on the go, and — take note, this is the big one — it has a separate USB port on the side to charge a fourth device.
So the Zens is actually a 4-in-1. And that extra port is fairly common on this type of charger. Yet the Ugreen charger doesn’t have it. So let’s say you have an earbuds charging case that only works via USB-C cable. Find somewhere else to charge it.
And finally, one more minor drawback: The charger doesn’t come with a power adapter for its USB-C cord. You have to buy a 30W adapter separately (or use one you have). But that’s pretty common these days.
Rest assured, like most chargers, this device’s multi-functional intelligent protection technology defends against over-current, over-voltage and over-heating, as well as short circuits.
Specifications from Ugreen:
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac
- 3-in-1 wireless charging station / fast charging dock
- MagSafe compatible, MFi-certified, 25W wireless charger
- Compatible with smartphones, earbud charging cases and smart watches
- Compatible phone models: iPhone series 14/13/12/11/XS/X/XR/8 Plus/8, Huawei P30 Pro, Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20 RS, Galaxy S22/S21/S20
- Compatible with AirPods Pro 2/1, AirPods 3/2, and other Qi-enabled wireless earphones.
- Power: 15W for iPhone 12/13 series, 5W for all Apple Watch series, 5W for all AirPods series
- Connectivity: USB-C (to connect to power), MagSafe
- Weight: 447 grams
- Dimensions 6.69 x 3.43 x 3.94 inches
All in all, the Ugreen 3-in-1 MagSafe Wireless Charging Station is a fine multi-device charger. It’s price of $129.99 at Ugreen or Amazon isn’t a blazing deal, but it’s on the affordable side ($20 less than Belkin’s MFi-certified 3-in-1). And at Amazon you can apply a $20 coupon to bring the Ugreen charger’s price down to $109.99.
Where to buy: Amazon or Ugreen
Ugreen provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out other in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.
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