Quick review
The good
The not-so-good
Another of the many desk and bedside chargers, Mophie’s Snap 3-in-1 aims to provide a charger for Android and iOS alike. We’re not sure it works.
What is the Mophie Snap+ 3-in-1?
There’s clearly no shortage of chargers for your bedside and desk, but lately, we’ve found ourselves enamoured by what’s out there.
All-in-one devices that marry wireless chargers for your phone, earphones, and wearable, these gadgets are a must-have if you’ve spent the money on your phone and cherish it highly. In one place , you can charge the entire package without needing to reach for three cables.
One of those charger options is from Mophie, and the Snap+ 3-in-1 is like what’s out there, but a slightly different take. It’s a fabric lined charging pad sporting the ability to charge a phone, pair of earphones, and even a wearable, but crosses the mobile barrier, supporting both iOS and Android to a degree.
The plastic gadget includes a MagSafe wireless charging stand that can be pivoted slightly in place, while also providing a little interchangeable stand for wearable chargers. Each stand is made to support a different wearable — one is made to accomodate the Apple Watch charging pad each Apple Watch arrives with, while the other handles Samsung’s Galaxy Watch charging pad — and you then plug that pad into a USB-C port at the back of the Snap+ 3-in-1.
What does it do?
This is Mophie’s attempt to make a charging pad that works with iOS and Android owners alike, offering a BYO mentality for either.
An iPhone owner can use the MagSafe stand to hold an iPhone from the 12 onwards — basically any recent iPhone except for the iPhone SE — while the charging prong for the Apple Watch is optional, and the fabric-topped pad is ideally for the AirPods or AirPods Pro. Easy.
If you’re an Android owner, the wearable accessory can see a Galaxy Watch charging fob go into that place, and even then it’s not perfect. The earphone charging pad should support quite a few wirelessly charged earphones for Android owners, but that magnetic charging stand is a whole different thing altogether.
As it is, Qi2 will support magnetic charging, but this charger isn’t Qi2 friendly, and there aren’t any Qi2 phones in Australia, anyway. That’s a problem.
Mophie’s attempt at solving it is to bring over its Snap adaptors and guide you into attaching one to your phone, which is a process we’re not sure we’re fans of. You certainly can attach a magnetic ring to your phone, but it won’t guarantee you’ve positioned it over the wireless charger, if you indeed have one.
Frustratingly, it’s not always going to be the most useful addition for most people and difficult to recommend trying.
Does it do the job?
The good news is for iPhone owners, you’ll definitely be able to charge with the Mophie Snap+, and the name largely sets up what you’ll be doing, snapping your phone to the MagSafe charging pad.
The bad news is it doesn’t feel like a complete package, and Android users are basically getting two thirds of the whole deal: mediocre wearable charging and a flat 5W earphone charger below. Hardly impressive.
What does it need?
While the Mophie Snap+ will charge a phone, watch, and earphones, what it doesn’t come with makes it stand out in the landscape of these style of gadgets, but not in a positive way.
The Belkin models come with an Apple Watch charger. The Twelve South models have one, as well. But the Mophie Snap+ includes an accessory to weave your Apple Watch charger into place, rather than have something made for purpose in the stand itself.
It might seem minor, but it’s a feature that doesn’t help the Snap+ stand up by itself, forcing you to plug your own charger in.
Mophie has attempted to turn this into a positive by allowing Samsung Galaxy Watch owners to also plug their charger in with an extra accessory, but it doesn’t fit comfortably and ends up an odd execution. Heaven forbid you try to weave the Pixel Watch charger into place, which doesn’t work using the Galaxy Watch accessory at all. Don’t even bother with the charger for the Withings Nova — there’s no chance there.
The only one that works well is from the Apple Watch, and it’s just not a great outcome, forcing you to use your own charger and deal with the cable length at the back. It’s awkward-as.
It’s a similar picture with phones. Mophie tries to make its stand about more than just the iPhone, with Android supported, but it comes off half-finished, largely because its Snap concept isn’t easy for Android users to deal with.
It would have been a different picture if that charging stand flattened or came off, and you didn’t need to rely on a magnet to charge your phone. But that’s not what the Mophie Snap+ 3-in-1 is all about. Rather, it’s a very specifically designed charging stand, and not as well rounded a packaged as you might expect.
Is it worth your money?
Priced at $179.95, the Mophie Snap+ 3-in-1 seems a little too hefty for what you get. Look around a bit and you’ll find it for closer to $130, and even that seems a little inflationary by comparison.
Maybe it’s the cost of living crisis or maybe it’s just that we like quality — we’re clearly spoiled as reviewers — but the fact that you need to bring your own watch charger just makes this gadget read as less of an overall package than its peers.
Yay or nay?
While Mophie’s Snap+ 3-in-1 can charge your phone, earphones, and wearable, the whole thing doesn’t scream complete.
You need to bring a watch charger, and even if you do, it won’t necessarily fit properly. The look is different, but even lacks the premium minimalist aesthetic we’ve been seeing of late.
Ultimately, the Mophie Snap+ 3-in-1 feels overpriced for what basically amounts to a MagSafe stand with a BYO mentality.
At or under the $100 mark, the Snap will be a good buy, but above it and it’s a bit of a stretch. You’re bringing your own watch charger, and it may not even fit perfectly.
