The 2023 version of the mophie powerstation packs in 10,000 mAh and a trio of USB ports to charge your Apple or Android devices. It can keep an iPhone 14 going for a weekend, or give a boost to a MacBook or iPad.
I put the external battery to through testing to see how well it stands up to real-world use.
mophie powerstation (2023) review
It’s hard to imagine getting by without an iPhone. I need mine for texts, driving directions, ebooks, games… heck, it’s mostly how I keep in touch with the world. But all that comes to an end when the battery runs out.
Sure, you can get a cute little emergency battery and add an hour or two to your iPhone battery life. Or you can go hardcore with the mophie powerstation. It can keep your precious handset going for days, not just hours.
The powerstation line has been on the market for years, with mophie periodically introducing new versions. The basic 10,000 mAh model of the 2023 line is called simply “powerstation” — don’t confuse it with other variants from previous years or with larger capacities.
- Lots of power takes a largish battery
- Relatively speedy iPhone charges
- 1 or 2 extra days of iPhone use
- mophie powerstation (2023) final thoughts
- Pricing
Lots of power takes a largish battery
Battery technology hasn’t reached the point where a 10,000 mAh power bank can be slim and sleek. A certain amount of bulk is inescapable.
That’s why the mophie powerstation (2023) measures 5.9 inches by 2.75 inches by 0.65 inches, and weighs 0.6 pounds. It’s barely pocketable but really rides better in a backpack or maybe a purse.
You can certainly find smaller and lighter externals iPhone batteries. But these will have, at best, maybe half the storage capacity of this one from mophie.
Plus, the size makes room for a USB-C port and two USB-A ports so you can charge three devices at once. That can be iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods, as long as you have the necessary connecting cables.
The powerstation (2023) comes with a USB-C cable so you can charge the battery, but no wall power adapter.
You can also use this same USB-C cable to charge an iPad or even a MacBook, but the choice of USB-A for the two other ports is a bit odd in 2023. Apple provides USB-C cables for its devices, and is really trying to phase out USB-A, so you might need to provide your own USB-A cables.
Relatively speedy iPhone charges
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The central USB-C PD port on the mophie powerstation (2023) puts out up to 20 watts.
I put this to the test, of course. My USB-C multimeter from Plugable shows that the battery topped out at 18.5W when sending power to my iPad Pro. It was able to send roughly 16.5W to my iPhone 14 Plus.
Either of the two USB-A ports send 4.6W to my tablet or my iPhone.
When juicing up multiple devices, the USB-C port gets less. For example, when also charging an iPhone and a wireless mouse, the iPad was getting 13W.
When using the USB-C port, that’s a good charging speed for an iPhone and acceptable for an iPad. There are power banks that provide much faster rates, but not at the relatively low price of this one from mophie.
1 or 2 extra days of iPhone use
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
mophie built 10,000 mAh of power on the powerstation (2023). I tested to see what that means in real-world use.
Over multiple charging cycles, the external battery was able to raise the battery level on my iPhone 14 Plus by 142%. For me, that’s about 16 hours of additional use.
At 4,325 mAh, the iPhone 14 Plus has the largest battery in any recent Apple handset. Devices with smaller ones like the 14 Pro will see their battery percentages go up even more.
mophie powerstation (2023) final thoughts
mophie’s new external battery can add hours or even days of use to your devices. It’s bulky when compared to low-capacity models, but adds vastly more to your iPhone’s battery life than some dinky little power bank.
The product is intended for consumers and doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles of professional-grade power banks, but it costs quite a bit less than they do.
★★★★☆
Charging speeds are adequate and there’s only one USB-C port, but these aren’t fatal flaws in a consumer-oriented model like this one.
Pricing
The mophie powerstation (2023) sells for $49.95. But it’s currently available from Amazon at 29% off, lowering the cost to $35.70.
Buy it from: Zagg
Buy it from: Amazon
Need a lot more capacity? The mophie powerstation XL stores twice as much. And there’s the powerstation pro AC, which has even more capacity and includes a three-prong power socket.
Zagg provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out more in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.
