Urban MagTag 5,000mAh Wireless Power Bank Review

If you browse the web for wireless power banks you will have no shortage of options. However, many of us are waiting for the arrival of the Qi2 charger, which will bring additional features like magnetic locking and faster charging speeds. And while they haven’t arrived in India as power banks yet, many people who need the wire-free convenience of on-the-go charging will have to go with standard Qi chargers (and their limitations). I recently received a wireless charger made by Urbn for review. What makes it interesting is its small size, barely visible on the back of even a standard-sized iPhone model. However, after a few weeks of use, I discovered several limitations, making it hard to recommend this model compared to other offerings available in India.

Urban 5,000mAh Compact MagTag Wireless Power Bank review: Design and specifications

The Urbn 5,000 mAh Compact MagTag Wireless Power Bank, now known as the Urbn MagTag Charger, comes with some interesting features. Chief among them is its small and well-rounded pebble-like design, with a very small footprint measuring just 9 cm x 6.3 cm with a thickness of 1.6 cm. It is also very light at just 121 grams. While its outer shell is made of plastic, its outer surface is coated with a rubber-like texture, which offers good grip and feels solid without any unwanted gaps. However, I noticed that the charging pad area is a fair dust magnet and gets quite dirty after some use.

LED battery charge indicator only gives estimate of battery life

There is only one button on the back of the power bank with two LED indicators on either side that display the amount of charging power left in the battery. Unlike most other wireless power banks I have used, the charging process is not activated when the smartphone is placed on the charging pad, but only when the button is pressed.

Although this was something I had to keep reminding myself to do, it has its advantages because you can have the power bank hanging on the back of your iPhone all day but you can activate wireless charging with just the press of a button. Can.

While LEDs are a useful indicator of the internal battery’s current capacity, you need to keep in mind that this is just an estimate. The power bank has one LED visible (instead of all four), which shows that it can hold anything between 25 percent to 10 percent of its charging capacity. So, a flashing LED does not mean that it currently holds 25 percent of the battery pack’s charging capacity. I would honestly prefer a digital battery monitor display on the back, which would give users more accurate information about remaining charge rather than such guesses.

The Urban MagTag rarely aligns itself perfectly due to its weak bottom magnet

I tested this power bank only with iPhones, as they pack smaller batteries. The manufacturer claims both on the box and on its website that it is MagSafe compatible, but I have my doubts about it. The magnetic ring and the dash below it weren’t strong enough to hold my iPhone 14 Pro firmly. The circular surface had better grip and hence the power bank would often move around as the magnet at the bottom would never stick to the phone properly.

As its product name suggests, the power bank offers a power backup of 5,000mAh. However, Urbn also sells another model with a capacity greater than 10,000mAh. Urbn claims to deliver a maximum wireless charging output of 15W with 10W input via the USB-C port.

Urban 5,000mAh Compact MagTag Wireless Power Bank review: Performance

While the design of the power bank appears to check all the boxes for a budget charger, it doesn’t quite hit the mark or meet expectations when it comes to the actual charging process.

Since this is a “MagSafe compatible” charger, it is not actually capable of reaching the advertised “maximum 15W” when charging the iPhone wirelessly, but is apparently limited to 7.5W. Then, one also needs to take into account the expected power loss that occurs when charging devices wirelessly.

Considering the above two factors, the Urbn MagTag couldn’t even provide a full charge to the iPhone 14 Pro’s 3,200 mAh battery. It managed to charge 23 percent in 30 minutes and then took the phone up to 46 percent in 1 hour. After 2 hours, the power bank finally gave up and stopped charging the phone at 80 percent, with an LED indicator flashing, indicating an estimated 25 percent charge left in the tank.

The Urbn MagTag’s 5,000mAh battery can’t fully charge the iPhone 14 Pro’s 3,200mAh battery wirelessly

Quite frustrated, I decided to try charging the iPhone 14 Pro using the official cable plugged into the USB-C port of the power bank. This yielded better results. I fully charged the phone in 2 hours and 3 minutes, with barely enough battery left to charge once again.

Once discharged, the Urbn MagTag takes approximately 2 hours 25 minutes to fully charge.

Urbana 5,000mAh Compact MagTag Wireless Power Bank review: Verdict

Overall, the Urbn MagTag in its 5,000mAh flavor (priced at Rs 2,499) cannot be used to charge an iPhone completely wirelessly and it clearly won’t do justice to the premium Android devices that were launched earlier. Are packed in the same 5,000mAh battery (for various reasons). Its usefulness as a wireless charger is basically limited to short top-up charges when kept in a pocket (thanks to its compact size), but I’m not sure it would pan that well, given its slightly weak magnets. looking at. The power bank also supports pass-through charging, which charges both smartphones (wirelessly) while charging the battery inside your power bank, so it can be used as a desk charger when connected to a power cable and adapter. can be done.

In fact, it makes better sense to go for the larger (and thicker) 10,000mAh model (oddly priced at Rs 2,199) as it packs in a higher capacity, which should, in theory, deliver a full charge regularly. Must be able to size iPhone. While the market is full of options, I would recommend the Daily Objects Surge Magnetic MagSafe Battery Pack instead, as it offers a lot of features (and a better design) at a slightly higher price of Rs. 5,999.

price: Rupee. 2,499

professional:

• Small and compact design
• USB-C port
• on / off button
• Also works as a desktop charger

Shortcoming:

• LED indicators show estimated charge remaining
• magnets are a little weak
• Full charge cannot be given at once