Look, I know most people probably aren’t doing a lot of travelling right now, but hopefully, we will again, and when that time comes Satechi’s new power bank might be the perfect accessory — especially for anyone with a lot of Apple gadgets.
At $US100 ($138), the Quatro is a bit pricey compared to your typical battery pack, but it also has some features you seldom see on any of its competitors. That’s because, in addition to a 10,000 mAh battery and both USB-C PD and USB-A charging ports, the Quatro also sports two built-in wireless chargers — one of which even supports wireless charging for the Apple Watch.
Which is great, because right now it’s kind of miserable when travelling with an Apple Watch. I hate uprooting my whole home charging set up, but that’s required because even though the world’s two largest smartwatch makers — Apple and Samsung — support wireless charging on the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch, neither device uses the standard Qi wireless protocol.
People who own recent Samsung phones and watches can at least get around this by using the reverse wireless charging feature included on Galaxy S phones since the Galaxy S10. But Apple Watch owners aren’t quite so lucky. Apple doesn’t include reverse wireless charging on the iPhone.
Now with the Quatro, you can leave your Apple Watch cradle at home and use Satechi’s power bank to top off your watch using its dedicated Apple Watch pad (its the white circle off to the side), while still having a main Qi wireless charging pad in the centre for recharging your phone, wireless earbuds, or any other gadget that supports Qi wireless charging.
Now it’s true that wireless charging isn’t quite as efficient as plugging in a cord, but convenience is sometimes worth it. Not only is the wireless charging convenient, but with a 10,000 mAh capacity (which can fully recharge most phones two or three times) and a built-in LED indicator, you’ll still have an easy way to keep tabs on how much juice the Quatro has left.
The only real downside to the Quatro is that with a max power output of 18 watts, the Quatro isn’t a great choice for topping off larger electronics like a small laptop or a Nintendo Switch. That’s not to say the Quatro can’t recharge them at all, things just won’t be very speedy.
The Satechi Quatro goes on sale in mid-October, with Satechi offering $US20 ($28) off discount for anyone who pre-orders using the code Quatro.