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Details
- Price $46.97 at aliexpress.com
- Weight 5 oz / 140 g
- Dimensions 0.3" (w) x 0.4" (h) x 0.1" (d) / 7 (w) x 9 (h) x 2 (d) mm
Overview
I always considered myself a minimalist, but in reality, I've been failing and accumulating products unintentionally. This year, in penance, I embarked on a no-buy year where I will not purchase any non-consumables. At the same time, I took the chance to focus on minimizing my to-go digital nomad setup.
Besides my work laptop, my electronic accessories are essential to performing my job and running this site. My setup when I travel consists of
- NOMAD 65 Slim Adapter (Depending on the location, I have a UK-type Anker and a Mogics Power Bagel for everything else)
- NOMAD USB C Cable
- Apple Lightning Cable
- Apple Watch Cable
- Nitecore 10000 mAh Power Bank
- NOMAD Lightning Chargekey
Although the quantity of items appears adequate, discernible redundancies are apparent to the daily user. My biggest gripe was the lightning cables that seriously tempted me to break my no-buy and get the latest iPhone just for the USB-C charging. The single-purpose Apple Watch cable was another one that bugged me.
The RORRY Portable Charger lets you charge your phone with USB-C, as well as your Apple Watch. Effectively, I could eliminate four items from my current setup.
Even to me, this sounds too good to be true, and often multi-purpose gadgets like this have some kinks to it. Most of the time, those kinks are worth the reduction in gadgets so let's see if the RORRY Portable Charger can truly replace four accessories with minimal compromise.
When I am in a country where I know my ins and outs, a mobile battery isn’t even essential, especially if power outlets are readily available. I am usually very diligent in keeping my devices fully charged before heading out. So, in those locations, I prefer the RORRY 3-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger, which is an adaptor-only version without the power bank.
Style
One of the things that attracted me to the RORRY Portable Charger was the black colorway. It's black throughout the product, even on the metal ring.
The ring is metallic which makes it glossy. I would prefer a matte treatment, like those you see on PVD coating on NOMAD products.
But this is better than the RORRY 3-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger which has a metallic-colored ring. I “fixed” it with some matte paint but it's not ideal as paint has a hard time sticking onto the glossy surface even with primer. The paint comes off easily since your hand touches it all the time.
I also like that the power indicator lights are white, keeping the entire aesthetics minimal and monotone. I also like how “standard” they are. The four dots indicator is easy to understand and I am glad they didn’t try to reinvent the wheel with some fancy display.
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The size of the charger is commendable. It fits nicely into the palm of your hand and the rounded edges give a soothing look. There are some lines around the edges and bottom that takes away from the unibody look, but only an obsessive purist might mind.
RORRY doesn’t have the most refined-looking logo, so I thought it wasn’t necessary. They have, thankfully, kept it somewhat subtle by opting for a gray color that doesn’t stand out too much.
All the compliance logo marks and power specifications are hidden on the back so you won’t have to see it once attached to your phone.
Technology
As I slowly got intentional with my mobile use, I downsized from a 20,000mAh to a 10,000mAh battery, and finally to 5,000mAh. In fact, if I am out in either Japan or Singapore, I usually don’t bring a mobile battery.
My iPhone 14 Pro Max, fully charged, will get me through an entire day. The main reason I head out is to work at a co-working space, cafe, or office, so I have ready access to charging outlets.
I am equally confident when traveling, but the consequences of a dead phone are much more dire and require a lot more finesse to get through. That’s why I always take a mobile battery out when I am in a foreign country. And that’s where the capacity becomes an important factor.
Each iPhone has a slightly different battery capacity, so how many times can the RORRY Portable Charger fill up your phone depends on the model. Here’s a list you can find the battery capacity of your iPhone. My iPhone has a 4323mAh battery, so the RORRY Portable Charger should be able to charge it about 1.15 times. Or so I thought.
5000mAh is the advertised capacity which can be misleading. What you should look for is rated capacity, which is 3000mAh. 5000mAh is based on a 3.7V output, but USB power requires the battery to supply power at 5V, which results in a rated capacity of 3000mAh.
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That’s not all. Another consideration is power loss due to conversion. There are three points that cause this; when voltage is placed through a converter circuit to elevate 3.7V to 5V, when lithium batteries operating at 3.7V are stepped up to produce 5V, and when the voltage encounters resistance through a USB cable. Since the RORRY Portable Charger charges through MagSafe, this third point might not be applicable.
While rated capacity is stated by RORRY at 3000mAh, it’s hard to calculate the expected power loss. But it is usually safe to assume around two-third effective capacity, so just under 3000mAh is probably a fair assumption. This also means it won’t charge some of the larger iPhones fully, even once.
While the product description says it supports 20W charging, it can only charge your phone up at up to 15W speed, while the remaining advertised 5W goes to the watch. You can’t charge the iPhone at 20W, even with a 30W or more charger, like the NOMAD Power Adapter.
Usage
Using the RORRY Portable Charger is foolproof. Slap it on the back of a MagSafe-compatible cover like the NOMAD Rugged Case and press the button to start charging. A stick-on magnetic ring is included in the box so you can even slap it on if your case is not MagSafe compatible.
The logo tells you the orientation for it to go on and there is a distinct soft snap to know that you get it in the right position to charge. If you like to attach it blindly, you can attach it upside down but it will obstruct your camera.
One reason I dislike bringing mobile batteries out is because of the weight and bulk. They cause a bulge in my pocket and weigh down on my pants with drawstrings.
The RORRY Portable Charger is surprisingly light. Even with a relatively weighty iPhone 14 Pro Max, I didn’t feel weighed down with the charger attached. I was able to comfortably hold it up for hours, binging on my new-found obsession, the webtoon “Viral Hit”.
The magnet was relatively strong, but not as strong as the ring-only one (this one from AliExpress) that I was using before. It was strong enough to stay on the phone and hold up the Apple watch without support. However, I would sometimes pull my phone out of my pocket to have the charger get caught and detach on the way out.
The ring was stiff and would stay in place after you moved it to the desired angle, achieving a strong grip on my finger. The stiffness tends to loosen with use so I’ll update this review if that happens. I thought that they could have improved the ring by allowing it to rotate and extend into a vertical phone stand, like the 3-in-1 Magnetic Charger.
It's important to note that the 3-in-1 Magnetic Charger does get the iPhone hot while charging and iPhone will pause the charge till the temperature becomes normal.
The last, and maybe favorite, part about it is how comfortable it is to hold. The intentionality of the rounded edges and corners was apparent here. In fact, the portable battery made the phone easier to hold. I have my middle finger through the ring and rest my index finger on top of the charger and have my pinky finger on the bottom of the phone as a pivot to reach the lower part of the screen.
Conclusion
I can’t find any faults with this charger. It is just right for how I like to use it. There are certainly small refinements that can be made, such as adding features to the ring and product design details. But all in all, this is certainly the best-looking one I found that lets me charge multiple devices.
Consider the RORRY 3-in-1 Magnetic Charger
Those who don’t need the mobile battery should consider their 3-in-1 Magnetic Charger, which was perfect except for the color of the ring. But that is most certainly a problem.
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Tagged magsafe mobile battery review rorry