Mophie’s new USB-C PD battery packs are an expensive way to get faster charging

Mophie released a pair of new battery packs today, and the company is finally embracing the USB-C PD specification for fast charging. The new PD pack comes in two sizes: the $59.95 Powerstation PD, which offers 6,700mAh of charge, and the larger $79.95 Powerstation PD XL, which has 10,050mAh of battery capacity.

Cleverly, Mophie is taking advantage of the dual nature of USB-C, and each pack only offers two ports: a single USB-C port, which can be used to charge devices plugged into the Powerstation PD (at up to 18W) as well as recharge the pack from a wall brick (at up to 15W). There’s also a legacy USB Type-A port, which can power devices at up to 12W.

The two chargers look nice enough, but as is almost always the case with Mophie’s products, you’re paying a huge premium for the company’s brand and design. It’s justifiable for things like the company’s battery cases where aesthetics play a bigger role, but it’s less so for a featureless battery brick.

The unavoidable fact is that for less than the price of Mophie’s $59.95, 6,700mAh Powerstation PD pack, you can pick up RAVPower’s 26,800mAh USB-C PD battery pack, which offers more ports, a higher 30W power output, and dramatically more charge capacity. Mophie is late to the party when it comes to supporting USB-C PD, and no amount of slick marketing pages explaining the tech will change the fact that it’s a universal specification that you can get for less money elsewhere.

Still, a point in the Mophie packs’ favor is that there aren’t many USB-C PD power packs in the smaller physical sizes and capacities that Mophie offers. So if size and bag space are truly at a premium for you, and you don’t mind the extra price, they could be worth consideration. Otherwise, you can probably get more bang for your buck elsewhere.