Hurricane or storm knock power out? Stay charged up with Mophie universal power packs

Mophie is a leader in providing power to mobile devices through integrated battery cases and external battery packs. Mophie sent along four battery packs from its universal battery collection.

The sample pack includes the Powerstation USB-C, Powerstation Plus, Charge Force Powerstation, and Powerstation. These battery packs have different ports with each having a slightly different focus. Check out the gallery and information on each to find out which fits your needs best.

I recently was at the fringes of Hurricane Matthew and had the batteries charged and ready to go, but we never lost power. The next week I lost power twice thanks to a wind and rain storm in Washington and used these batteries to keep my devices charged up.

Most new Android devices are launching with a USB Type C port so Mophie has made available the Powerstation USB-C for $99.95.

This new battery pack has 10,000 mAh of battery power with support for 15W fast charge. You can plug in to either the standard USB port of the USB Type-C port to charge up your mobile device, including a phone or tablet. You can even choose to charge up two devices at once with cables attached to both ports.

To recharge the battery pack, you connect your A/C power source to the USB Type-C port. The Powerstation USB-C supports priority charging so that your device charges up first before the battery is recharged if you have the battery connected to a power source.

The Powerstation USB-C comes in black and weighs in at 221 grams. The retail package includes a 0.5 meter USB-C to USB-C cable and a 1 meter USB-A to USB-C cable so you have everything you need.

Most of the Mophie battery packs come with one or two USB ports. In order to charge up your device, you then need to plug in a cable to charge up your mobile device. This can be inconvenient as you need to make sure to have a cable packed with your battery pack.

Thankfully, Mophie also has battery pack options with an integrated cable, making the Powerstation Plus my favorite of the four battery packs I tested. The integrated cable fits in nicely along the bottom and secures into the lower side of the battery pack.

At first I thought the integrated cable was just a Lightning cable, but then noticed that tip can be removed to reveal a microUSB tip under the Lightning tip. Thus, this battery pack works for both Android and iOS devices. I imagine we will eventually see a similar design with a USB Type-C tip.

The Powerstation Plus is available for $79.95 in space gray, rose gold, and gold colors. It has a 6,000 mAh battery with soft touch coating on the edges and back while the colored portion on top is aluminum. The battery pack has a premium look and feel with a weight of 160.2 grams.

The Powerstation Plus has a 2.1 amp output rating so you can charge up your device quickly. A USB port on top can be used to charge a second device while the integrated cable charges the other. A microUSB port is used to charge up the battery pack.

The integrated cable and dual tips makes the Powerstation Plus my favorite Mophie battery pack.

The Charge Force Powerstation may look like a typical black external battery pack, but this 10,000 mAh beast has a hidden feature.

The Charge Force Powerstation weighs in at 241.5 grams. The retail package includes a 1 meter USB-A to microUSB cable so you can charge up the battery pack.

The Charge Force Powerstation is charged up via the microUSB port while the second USB-A port can be used to charge up a second device while you are using the wireless feature to charge up another device.

The top is coated with soft touch material so that you can rest your device on top of it and charge up your Qi-enabled device or Juice Pack Wireless case. Wireless charging is not as fast as connecting via a cable, but it is convenient.

The core battery pack from Mophie is known as the Powerstation and there are four different capacities available to purchase. Mophie sent along the 6,000 mAh Powerstation for evaluation. It is available in four different colors for $49.95.

Like the others, the microUSB port, centered on the Powerstation top, is used to charge up the battery pack. There are two other USB-A ports on the top of the Powerstation that provide up to 2.1 amps of charging power.

One port, denoted by a battery icon, supports priority charging for a pass-through connection. The Powerstation has an aluminum top and bottom to give it a sleek look and feel. It weighs in at just 158.8 grams.