Unboxing Joy - Once More, I Can't Resist Anker's Funniest Power Bank!

Unboxing Joy - Once More, I Can’t Resist Anker’s Funniest Power Bank!

There’s nothing more ridiculous than Anker’s MagGo Magnetic Charging Station. It’s bulbous, inelegant, and weirdly heavy. But I love this goofy thing, so I’m buying another one while it’s on sale.

Imagine a power strip with three AC outlets, two USB-A ports, and two USB-C ports. Now, take all of those ports and cram them onto the backside of a plastic orb. Slap a Qi2 (MagSafe) charger to the front of the orb, and you’ve got yourself the MagGo Magnetic Charging Station .

The MagGo Magnetic Charging Station is a convenient Qi2 solution. But it can be a very inconvenient power strip. You’re forced to blindly reach around this monstrosity every time you want to remove or insert a cable, and the AC outlets are so closely shoved together that they can’t accommodate big wall warts. (Naturally, these complaints surfaced in our review of the charging station.)

But I’m not plugging things in and out of the Magnetic Charging Station. Every cable that I’ve shoved into the back of this unit is supposed to stay there on a semi-permanent basis—two AC cables that power my speakers, plus a couple of super-short USB cables that are easy to push away when unneeded.

Sergio Rodriguez / How-To Geek

Yes, a standalone MagSafe charging stand and a regular old power strip could fulfill this role. But the price of those two items works out to at least $45, which is just $10 less than the MagGo Magnetic Charging Station’s $55 Prime Day promotional pricing. Why buy two regular-looking things when I can buy a weird orb instead?

I’ve also found that the MagGo Magnetic Charging Station can serve as a convenient power strip. You just need to set it on a surface that isn’t your desk.

When you place this orb at your desk, your natural inclination is to push it as close to the wall as possible. And because your desk is at chest level, you can’t reach down to access the rear AC ports—you have to reach across a horizontal plane. Neither of these problems exist when using the MagGo Magnetic Charging Station at an end table, a kitchen counter, or some other surface that’s relatively uncluttered and lower to the ground.

I tested the charging orb at my bedside table and had no trouble plugging a vacuum cleaner in and out of its AC outlets. So, I’m now buying one for this specific purpose. It’ll charge my phone while I sleep, and it’ll save me the trouble of bending over every time I need to use an outlet in the bedroom.