Anker 623 “MagGo” Magnetic Wireless Charger Review
We’ve had the MagGo for some months now, but it wasn’t until recently that I had an iPhone compatible with its magnetic stand and could take full advantage of it.
Only recently got my hands on a phone that takes full advantage of the @AnkerOfficial MagGo 623.
Wired charging is dead to me now. pic.twitter.com/ccLHO9EpmJ
— Phil Howard (@Gadgetoid) October 6, 2022
The MagGo charger/stand is a 2-in-1 charger that includes a flip-up MagSafe compatible top charger and – cleverly concealed underneath – a second wireless charger that will (albeit quite awkwardly) charge an older iPhone (pre iPhone 12) or, as is really intended, a set of AirPods in a wireless charger case.
MagGo is a hefty little desktop doodad that both charges your phone and keeps it at a sensible viewing angle for notifications and even interaction. The base is… hefty. So hefty, in fact, that I first confused it as containing an internal battery. I’m actually kind of disappointed that this isn’t the case, but Anker do sell MagGo 622 which *does* have a battery and stand.
While you can (I had an iPhone X until recently) charge older iPhone’s on MagGo it’s rather tricky to get the alignment right, and you won’t get much feedback if you get it wrong. The same applies to the top charger when flipped down. Alignment with anything older than a (MagSafe compatible) iPhone 12 is an absolute crapshoot, and charging an Android phone (I tried for rather too long to align the POCO X4 Pro) seems to be a no-go.
There’s a ring of LEDs around the base of the stand which flash on/off to indicate an error, but that error could be anything from a misaligned phone, to an insufficient power supply (seriously, just use the one included) to it just being a little grumpy for some reason.
The included power supply is a little basic (not a patch on the really nice one included with Anker’s Nebula Solar projector) but there’s a generously long, colour-matched USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable included. Handy, actually, I ended up swapping it with the Nebula Solar’s very short cable. The included supply is actually pretty good for charging portable batteries, and when we’re not charging our phones on the stand (usually overnight) I’ll steal the power connector and use it to charge MagGo 622 or the Wireless PowerCore III I tested back in 2020.
I’m a little apprehensive about the magnets, since certain phone cases have a knack of completely defeating them. D’s quite smooth, plastic case (with no explicit MagSafe compatibility) will slide right off, but my cheap and nasty silicone clear case from Tesco is just grippy enough to work, even though the magnetic attachment clearly isn’t as strong as it should be. It’s clear Anker have used a grippy-ish surface to mitigate this problem, but there’s only so much they can do. Suffice to say, make sure you have an explicitly MagSafe compatible case since there’s nothing more frustrating than having to peel it off every time you want to charge.
Overall the MagGo 623 (seriously, Anker’s number-based product naming scheme makes it really tricky to refer to things sensible) is a really tidy and aesthetically pleasing little MagSafe charging stand that stands apart from some of the (uhh… shall we say Brutalist?) options available in the Apple Store. While it might lack Apple Watch compatibility and the wider range of adjustment that its contemporaries offer, it’s a nice, concise solution that’s cleverly compatible (just fold the top bit flat) with even non-MagSafe phones… albeit you really, really don’t want to try charging an iPhone X from flat… just walk away.
The biggest problem with MagGo 623? We only have one. It’s in a shared location at the moment, but we both want one for our desks. Ha!
You can grab the Anker MagGo 623 wireless charger from Amazon for £60. Albeit not in the fetching violet that I tested!