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Summary
USB charging stations can cost a pretty penny, which makes theUgreen Foldable Kickstand Magnetic Batteryan excellent cost-cutting alternative. Equipped with Qi wireless charging, two USB ports, and Fast Charge capabilities, it’s a near-perfect portable battery that I’d gladly recommend to anyone.
Ugreen Foldable Kickstand Magnetic Battery
When it’s time to hit the road (or the sky), the Ugreen Foldable Kickstand Magnetic Battery is the only device you’ll need to keep your smartphones and tablets powered up. It’s also got a built-in kickstand and three different charge methods.
Design: Supreme Portability
I think Ugreen makes some of the bestportable charging stationsin town, so I was pretty excited to get my hands on theUgreen Foldable Kickstand (UFK). At 4.5 inches tall and 2.75 inches wide, the charger was about two-thirds the size of my iPhone 12. The device features a matte-gray casing, with a glossy, slightly darker trimming that wraps around the sides.
Laying the product vertically, the MagSafe wireless pad takes up the entire top half of the device. TheUSB-Cinput/output is located near the bottom-right corner, along the side. The USB-A port hangs out along the bottom frame, right next to the charger’s LED indicator. The only thing you’ll find on the back of the device is the built-in kickstand. Once extended, you’ll be able to position the charger upright or horizontally.
While I think the built-in kickstand is a very convenient feature, I do wish there was silicone or some other type of padding where the end of the stand makes contact with whatever surface the charger is placed on. The bottom of the kickstand is rounded off, but I could foresee delicate furniture getting scratched when moving the charger around in certain ways.
Features: Plenty of Failsafes
The main idea behind the UFK is that you’ll be able to charge up to three devices at once, using a combination of wired and wireless charging methods. And likeother Ugreen products I’ve tested, the UFK includes a number of failsafe protections, including over-voltage, over-current, over-charge, and high-temperature defenses. I especially like the latter feature because the UFK tended to run a little on the toasty side, both when charging devices and when the battery itself was getting charged.
Two-way charging is another great add-on that I didn’t take for granted. This means you’ll be able to re-up the UFK with a USB-C wire connected to a power brick, whilestill being able to use the MagSafe pad and USB-A port (independently or at the same time) for charging your devices.
Charging: Plenty of Power
The UFK isn’t the kind of charger you’re going to want to use for fast-charging a laptop, although youcanuse it to re-up a MacBook battery if you don’t mind a slower recharge cycle. The Qi wireless charging pad pushes up to 15W max, the USB-C output maxes out at 20W, and the USB-A dishes out up to 22.5W. It’s quite a rare case to have a USB-A outperform a PD port, but such is the case with the UFK.
Ugreen claims that the 10,000mAh battery supplies enough power to recharge an iPhone 14 up to 2.3 times and up to 1.1 times for a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Using the 20W USB-C port, I was able to charge my iPhone 12 from 29 percent battery to 63 percent in just over half an hour. With wireless charging, I was able to charge my iPhone from 38 percent to 65 percent in 40 minutes.
With the kickstand in place, I also liked being able to mount my iPhone vertically or horizontally to the MagSafe pad, which made it easy to watch YouTube videos while my iOS device enjoyed a pit stop.
Being able to charge the battery while you’re charging your other devices is a real godsend because it can take quite a long time to completely re-juice the UFK. For its first use, Ugreen recommends letting the battery run out and then fully recharging the UFK. Following this advice, it took around three hours to recharge my test unit. Considering the USB-C input maxes out at 20W, I don’t think this was an overly long charge cycle, but it’s nice to know that two-way charging is there if you need it in a pinch.
I do suggest keeping an eye on your devices when they’re charging. Even though the UFK includes high-temp protection, both my iPhone 12 and the UFK itself would get very warm when using the wireless charger.
Should You Buy the Ugreen Foldable Kickstand Magnetic Battery?
Definitely. Not only is theUgreen Foldable Kickstand Magnetic Batterya great price, but it gives you all the essentials for charging your mobile gear, including Qi wireless charging and PD-powered Fast Charge for compatible devices.
