Rtops 3 in 1 Magnetic Wireless Charger Review: Going Back to Amazon

Purchase Price: $29.99

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees and support our channel by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

I rarely buy official Apple accessories at their full price simply due to the fact that I personally find the MSRP to be a bit high for what they provide in terms of functionality. With the inclusion of MagSafe charging to the iPhone lineups, one accessory I have had on my wish list was the MagSafe Duo Charger from Apple. For $129, you have the ability to charge an iPhone and an Apple Watch in an extremely portable manner with only one cable required to make it all work. That product sounds like an ideal travelling companion. Naturally I went to Amazon and found a clone product from a company called Rtops and purchased a charging station that not only charges those two stated Apple devices, but has a third wireless station for a pair of earbuds too. This 3 in 1 cost $30, but is “you get what you paid for” a positive or a negative thing for this product?

Triple the Charge

The layout of the magnetic wireless charger is rather simple as this tri-folding accessory lays out into three individual sections. It’s constructed from a matte soft-touch plastic that I presume was used to imitate what the Apple MagSafe Duo Charger is actually made from. On the far left is where the magnetic Qi connector clamps onto a smartphone. The center square houses a round magnetic Apple Watch connector, while the third slot is a simple Qi charger that can recharge wireless earpods. Each square has a symbol to represent the respective types of devices they’re supposed to charge. I think the product looks and feels a bit cheap, but so does the actual item they copied it from. The cool thing about something like this is that when stored away, it all folds up neatly into a tight compact package that can easily be transported when traveling.

What’s also fascinating about this is that it can also origami fold into a triangular stand that can then charge an Apple Watch and an iPhone at the same time. That’s two different form factors that can wirelessly charge 2-3 devices at the same time. Each panel has a distinctive LED indicator (located all on the second panel) that lets you know when its square is in use. The phone can stand vertically or horizontally so that the user can view content while the device is charging. The problem with using this as a magnetic stand for the phone is that the material is too lightweight to support the actual phone even without a case. While propped up together in a triangle, the position is held together by a relatively weak magnetic connection. I have a Peel Super Thin Bumper case on my iPhone 13 Pro which (to no surprise) would not magnetically hold in place. The iPhone in its naked glory did sustain itself in landscape mode, but the phone was too large and heavy to be able to prop up in portrait mode.

Fire Hazard

The Rtops portable charging station requires an 18W fast charging adapter which the company includes with the package of the product. It connects to the center square via USB-C and supposedly has overcurrent, overcharge and temperature protection. I put three items on the station to charge and lo and behold all three of them actually began charging. An iPhone 13 Pro occupied the left square, an Apple Watch SE took the center slot and the Xiaomi Redmi Buds 3 Pro took the right slot. While the squares did what they were supposed to do, after a few minutes I quickly became concerned at just how hot the center panel where the USB-C connection with the unit was. Just touching it was beyond uncomfortable and my thermometer read out as high as 109 ° F. In the paperwork, Rtops claims that when temperatures hit beyond 104° F, the station will shut off charging to prevent damaging the battery and starting a fire. That didn’t happen as the temperature continued to rise while all the devices continued on with their charges. I honestly think it is quite dangerous and the first time I used it, I did receive a slight burn on my finger. Keep in mind I used the included USB-C to USB A cable and power brick supplied by the company with the purchase of the product. I also plugged it into an outlet in a cool dry room with ideal temperatures. That’s the recommended combination in the paperwork for a safe use case. Even at the max output of 10W or 5W depending on the square, I don’t see any reason for the device to dangerously overheat as much as it did on my unit. It wasn’t even a gradual buildup of hours as the temperature spiked within mere minutes of plugging it in.

Avoid At All Cost

This is the case of an imitation product that doesn’t have the proper technological capabilities to supply a properly functional copy at a cheaper price point.

This one major issue automatically disqualifies this product as something I can recommend to Sypnotix readers. It’s a safety hazard that could legitimately induce a fire or injury. I actually felt unsafe to even touch this after getting burned the first time. It was an easy return to Amazon. While there’s a chance that I received a faulty unit, some other Amazon reviews have also mentioned overheating as an issue. There’s a lot of things that could have gone wrong but I surmise wiring could have played a role in why this has a difficult time processing dangerous heat limits. Whatever the case is, I cannot stress enough for people to avoid this product. It’s not a preference thing like many products we review. This is the case of an imitation product that doesn’t have the proper technological capabilities to supply a properly functional copy at a cheaper price point. If you want all the functionality and portability of a MagSafe Duo Charger, either pay up for the official Apple product or look elsewhere in the imitation market.

Featured

Alex

Caught in between the conundrum of his fascination with retro and the future, Alex has a very unique taste in technology. Never one to follow trends like his millennial peers yet constantly desiring to get ahead of the curve, he sees technology like he does his other love: comic books. Always looking for the best value or a hidden gem, his collector mindset reflects on some of his favorite gadgets: the Moto X (2015), HTC U11 and the Google Pixelbook. If there’s a good tech deal out there, Alex is on the hunt!