UGreen MagFlow 10,000mAh Power Bank & MagFlow 2-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger
design
The new MagFlow range is a slight departure from UGreen’s usual styling, albeit only in terms of colour. Rather than the gunmetal grey I’ve come to know from UGreen gear, both the MagFlow Power Bank and MagFlow 2-in-1 Charger share a new lighter exterior. If these were Apple devices I’m sure they’d be given a jazzy name like Celestial Blue, but for people outside of Cupertino boardrooms we’ll just call them light grey with a slight blue tinge. They’re pleasant though, the lighter colour makes them less industrial and a little softer to look at, despite their quite boxy shapes.
Both MagFlow devices are largely plastic (with the exception of the main arm on the 2-in-1 Charger), though they live up to UGreen’s usual impressively strong build quality. The slight matte texturing is pleasant, the bits that are meant to be smooth are smooth and the edges are clean and crisp without any sharp or rough patches. They feel noticeably premium in your hand and look the part when not in use.
I particularly like the gently rubberised surfaces that cover the Qi2 charging connections themselves on both MagFlow devices. They are unbelievably satisfying to touch for some reason and do a nice job of protecting your gear from scratches while providing a little extra friction grab too. Strangely though, while this rubberised texture covers the mobile phone connection pads, the lower charging pad on the 2-in-1 charger is simply hard plastic. Why this spot isn’t deemed worthy of rubberisation I don’t know, but it’s a shame it doesn’t carry over.
performance
The headline feature of both MagFlow devices is the increased speed of up to 25W charging on those Qi2 wireless pads. It’s here where the crux of performance lies and across both the MagFlow Power Bank and the MagFlow 2-in-1 Charger I was impressed by what they delivered. Charging from both was snappy and reliable, no concerns on this front from my side. It’s worth noting you’ll need to supply your own power brick and cable for the 2-in-1 charger and this will ultimately dictate whether you can max out performance, but UGreen has you covered with a good selection of chargers that have always impressed me.
There are plenty of considerate features and nice quality-of-life touches on the UGreen MagFlow Power Bank. 10,000mAh is plenty of juice, there’s an integrated USB-C cable that also doubles as a wrist strap, and UGreen has even managed to sneak a little screen on the side to show what charge percentage you have remaining. It’ll recharge at up to a snappy 30W and if you BYO cable and take advantage of that in/out USB-C port the MagFlow Power Bank is capable of charging three devices simultaneously.
I can’t fault any of that, the raw performance is there and so are the added features. It feels like it’s ticking a lot of boxes and in truth, that’s because on paper it is. The problem I found with the UGreen MagFlow Power Bank, however, is despite its performance, I’m not sure how practical it really is. It’s surprisingly thick and even with my reasonably large hands I found it made my iPhone 15 Pro too bulky to comfortably use with it attached.
At 250g it doesn’t feel heavy by itself, but when snapped to the back of my phone it felt like a real wrist workout. As a portable option for taking out and about, I don’t think this is the way to go. You’d be better with something like the UGreen Nexode in a bag and running a cable out of it into your pocket. I’d also have liked to have seen a little kickstand on the back. That would have made this a viable option for travelling or commuting, letting you kick a leg out to act as a media stand while also charging would have been great.
The MagFlow 2-in-1 Charger is easier to recommend as a bedside table or desk companion. Again all of the impressive charging performance is here, though this time there are fewer drawbacks to contend with. I was happy with how well it held my phone in different positions, both portrait and landscape, though with an iPhone 15 Pro it did seem a little unstable and prone to a few wobbles if my desk moved or I tried to interact with my phone. This is definitely a set-and-forget stand, a display pedestal, not a dock where you’d want to be constantly looking to play around with your phone while it’s attached.
The magnetic charging ring offers plenty of sticking power, perhaps almost a little too much. Removing your phone is realistically a two-handed exercise as you’ll need to hold the base down to lift it off. A little tilt leverage can make this a one-handed affair though the base will still slightly lift up, fine if there are no AirPods charging on the base, a problem if there are. This is the price you pay for a compact footprint like the MagFlow 2-in-1 Charger; the only way to combat this problem is a larger base, and I’m not sure that would be much better.
summed up
UGreen’s new MagFlow pair are a bit of a mixed bag — it’s a case of strong talking points and resulting trade-offs. The MagFlow 10,000mAh Power Bank has plenty of clever touches and plenty of charging punch, but it’s just too chunky to feel like a true everyday carry and some of the brand’s other power banks are probably a better choice. The MagFlow 2-in-1 Charger meanwhile has less holding it back bar a major design annoyance. This has the potential to be a neat little bedside or desk companion that does what it promises, as long as you can keep your hands off your phone while it’s on display.
At a basic level, the new UGreen MagFlow lineup lives up to the performance standards I’ve come to expect from the brand. In terms of the power and charging prowess they offer I have no complaints. There are usability quirks here, but how impactful these will be day to day is going to come down to individual cases. If you’re looking at the 2-in-1 charger as more of a nightstand, it’s a great choice, but as an active hotdesk stand it’s likely to cause frustrations. The Power Bank is the more curious of the two for me. I’m not sure of the best-case scenario here — I’m sure there are a subset of people who’ll see this as a great option, but I’ll be sticking with the brand’s retractable option myself.
