Native Union's smart and compact combo charger has secured a place in my travel bag.

I love that the new Voyage is the kind of charger from Native Union that I admire nearly as much for its cleverness as for saving space in my carry on. A humble, puck-shaped product folds shut to easily fit in a pocket or bag.
Native Union's smart and compact combo charger has secured a place in my travel bag.

I love that the new Voyage is the kind of charger from Native Union that I admire nearly as much for its cleverness as for saving space in my carry on. A humble, puck-shaped product folds shut to easily fit in a pocket or bag.

Open it up, and you get a pair of Qi2 chargers. One side is dedicated to MagSafe iPhones, and the other to the familiar Apple Watch charging connector. The Voyage will lie flat in this configuration, so snap a phone and either an Apple Watch or wireless charging-compatible AirPods case on the other.

Depending on whether or not your Watch band can be opened flat or is a loop, that can put the watch in a somewhat awkward position. Fortunately, though, the watch connector flips up, so you can charge the smartwatch on its side like this:

If you like another option, the charger's outside side also magnetically snap together, so you can charge both your phone and watch on their sides. This just may be the best of the lot, as it draws up the iPhone's Standby mode, thus eliminating the necessity for a bedside alarm:

The Voyage is on the pricey side for a charger, and you wouldn't think otherwise of a product emblazoned with the word "Paris" on the front. Many will bristle at the prospect of paying $100 for an iPhone travel charger- even one that comes with a woven USB-C cable and a travel case.

If I had my druthers, I'd shoe-horn a third charger into the device so I could altogether swap out the goofy little MagGo Wireless Charging Station. Of course, Anker's product runs $10 and is a good half inch thicker.

For the purpose of shaving as much from my carry-on luggage as possible, I am fine with sacrificing the tradeoff from the Voyage. Hey, Native Union saves some of its magic for the Voyage 2.

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2024-10-25 00:28:49