Cubism is an art form popularized by Pablo Picasso, George Braque, Jen Metzinger and a bevy of other artists. Cubism can be fun and funky. It can also be confusing. Either way it can generate some highly charged opinions. The Anker 3-1-Cube with Magsafe is certainly not what I’d call a work of art, but it is a nifty piece of Magsafe charging tech packaged in a funky little cube.
I received an Anker 3-in-1 Magsafe charging cube as a Christmas gift and am using it on my current month-and-a-half long gig away from home to charge an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. Straight up I like the device quite a bit and am very grateful it was gifted to me.
Right out the box you get a small gray cube. It’s heavier than its roughly 2.5 inch footprint suggests, weighing in at 14.46 ounces. It deceptively makes you think the cube contains a battery, but it does not. It’s solidly built for the most part. Flip open the top and you can attach an iPhone via MagSafe for charging or to use in StandBy mode. You can also just plop your iPhone on top of the cube without flipping up the top. Press in on the small side shelf and out pops a small charging adapter for the Apple Watch. That watch charging shelf does feel a little finicky at times and I’m not sure if pressing it in and out constantly won’t eventually yield to failure. The lid angle is adjustable so using it for viewing something on your iPhone works well. With the lid flipped all the way to its maximum angle you can place your AirPods under that angled lid to charge them up.
Yes, you can charge all three devices at one time. With all three devices charging it takes Cubism into an sort of modern realm. The device comes with a 30-watt charging plug and a decently long cable (5 feet). No this isn’t a mobile charger, it’s meant to be used plugged in, which may mitigate the hefty weight. Anker’s cube supports 15-watt charging for compatible iPhone models and suppots fast charging for Apple Watches as far back as version 7.
The cube is a bit pricey currently running in the $150 range on Amazon, Apple and other outlets. I had looked at this when it first came out and ruled it out for my gadget collection due to the price compared with other options available. One of the things I like about it is the small compact size compared to many other charging stands and mobile charging options currently on the market that tend to look like jewelry stands. Given that some of my gigs require weeks long stays, I’m glad the Anker 3-in-1 Cube with MagSafe was gifted to me. I won’t mind its surprising weight when packing a suitcase, and I do indeed like this quirky, little, somewhat heavy cube quite a bit.
You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.
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