Summary
TheUgreen 5,000mAh Magnetic Wireless Power Bankis nicer on paper than it is in action. While all of its features worked as promised, and the size is certainly convenient, the temperature the power bank reaches during wireless charging made me feel uneasy. Approach at your own risk.
Ugreen 5,000mAh Magnetic Wireless Power Bank
It can fit just about anywhere, but considering its tendency to run on the warm side, I’d be careful when using the Ugreen 5,000mAh Magnetic Wireless Power Bank.
Design: Portable Enough to Hang Out in Your Pocket
About the size of a medium-sized wallet, the newest Ugreen 5,000mAh power bank (model PB560) was small enough to fit right in the palm of my hand. The power bank is also extremely lightweight and portable, weighing in at only 0.29 pounds.
The entire power bank is wrapped in off-white silicone padding. A magnetized Qi charging pad sits on the front-facing portion of the charger, with an LED battery indicator, a 15W USB-C port, and a single button resting below.
Pressing the button once will power on the charger, pressing it twice will shut it down. Pressing and holding for three seconds will activate and deactivate trickle-charging mode. you’re able to confirm this by taking a look at the LED indicator, which should be lighting up in sequence (one LED dot after the other).
Charging: An Uneasy Experience
I used the PB560 to charge my iPhone 12 and AirPods Pro 2 case, testing both its wireless charging and USB-C charging capabilities. I also tested the passthrough charging feature and low-current mode.
When I connected it to a Ugreen 20,000mAhpower bank, the PB560 automatically started charging. After attaching my iPhone to the Qi pad, the leftmost LED dot (it’s slightly bigger than the other four dots) lit up to indicate the device had entered wireless charging mode. This meant I could check the box for a successful passthrough operation.
At one point, I was wirelessly charging my iPhone for about half an hour, without any other devices connected. I was quite alarmed at how warm the PB560 was, and how hot it also made my iPhone. I actually disrupted the charge cycle and let both the phone and charger cool down, because I didn’t know what might happen if either device got any warmer.
I did like that you can use wired and wireless charging at the same time, although I assume doing so brings your USB-C charging down from its 15W max—I wasn’t able to confirm this.
The PB560 would also not wirelessly charge my AirPods case. I thought this was strange, considering other wireless Ugreen products have been able to do so, but no matter how many times I tried, the case would only charge through thewired USB-C port.
Battery: As Advertised
The PB560 has a 5,000mAh battery capacity, which translates to around 18.5 wattage hours. Ugreen claims that it should take about an hour and a half to fully recharge the power bank, using the device’s 15W PD port.
My test unit never needed a full recharge through the days I was demoing the product, but I was able to recharge from 50 percent to 75 percent battery in about half an hour.
Should You Buy the Ugreen 5,000mAh Magnetic Wireless Power Bank?
Considering the relatively small amount of power theUgreen 5,000mAh Magnetic Wireless Power Bankdishes out, and how warm it can get during wireless charging, I think I might pass on this one.
That being said, there are plenty of other bite-sized power banks on the market, with many models including both wired and wireless charging capabilities. Generally speaking though, I’m not the biggest fan of wireless charging, and for the exact reasons I disliked it when testing the PB560.
I know Ugreen and other brands include several failsafe features on these power banks, including high-temperature protection. But at the end of the day, wireless charging is far less efficient than wired refueling and potentially less safe.
