Ever since smart phones broke the barrier of the £1,000 price-point, the appeal of a charging power bank intensifies as consumers hold on to their old blowers for longer and longer. It’s obvious enough that with plateauing feature sets and planned obsolescence, in conjunction with brighter screens and ever bigger camera plateaus, charging banks offer a logical (and perhaps even necessary) solution for squeezing a few extra lithium fluid ounces out of any given device.
With the conveniences of wireless charging technology and vast improvements to battery capacities versus actual physical size ratios, it’s become a no brainer to consider if now is the time for Ugreen’s MagFlow Air.
In the words of Madonna Ciccone, Ugreen’s MagFlow Air gets physical. At a 8.6mm thickness and barely over a hundred grams in weight it disappears into a pocket or into a bag in a way that many battery packs don’t. It has this soft-touch finish and solid build quality, which is really nice to interact with. All good, then?
Well, the caveat is in the charging, this where things get a little more complicated. As it turns out, through no fault of the power bank’s own, the Ugreen MagFlow Air Qi2‘s magnetic alignment only works when both ends have the magnetic ring. No iPhone SE of any generation has had one built in and that leaves the power bank’s magnets doing their best against a phone that simply isn’t holding up on its end of the bargain.
Tested here, the charge also drains quickly with or without a case; it is barely able to nudge the phone past a 30% indicator on an overnight charge. It runs incredibly hot too while in action which can be a little disconcerting, but it is entirely consistent with a wireless coil sitting slightly off rather than its intended usage with more up-to-date hardware.
There is an obvious workaround, however, in that that single USB-C port handles both recharging the bank itself and powering a phone, or other USB device, such as a Nintendo Switch 2, directly. It is using this method at 20W that it rectifies charging quickness, sidestepping the whole magnetic conversation entirely. One can’t help though, in this instance, but be a little disheartened that it is not what the magnetic design is actually designed for. It means one has to make the difficult decision of choosing between topping up the bank or the phone, rather than doing both at once.
Key Features
| Feature | Specification Details |
|---|---|
| Battery Capacity | 5,000 mAh (Polymer Lithium) |
| Wireless Charging | Qi2 Certified, up to 15W Max |
| Wired USB-C Output | 20W Power Delivery (PD) Max |
| Dual Charging | Yes (Simultaneous Wireless + Wired) |
| Thickness | 8.6 mm |
| Weight | 127 grams |
| Exterior Finish | Soft, skin-friendly silicone |
| Safety Features | Overvoltage, short circuit, overcurrent, and overheating protection |
| Color Variants | Space Gray, Lunar White, Starlight Blue |
