When I go away on holiday, I take with me a collection of different things to keep my iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods topped up with juice. There’s the portable battery bank that I leave in my bag, and then a selection of different cables, plugs, and other assorted charging detritus that I plug into every single outlet I can find in my hotel room. It’s a lot.
It would, of course, make loads more sense for me to have a device that does it all in one so that I don’t have to lug three hundred different devices around when I’m away from home. The Matrix Ultimate from Alogic Might just be the answer to my prayers
It’s a stand, an iPhone MagSafe Charger, an Apple Watch charger, an AirPods charger, and a portable battery bank all in one, and it looks like it just brought all my stuff together. But is it any good?
Alogic Matrix Ultimate: Price and availability
The Alogic Matrix Ultimate can be found at the Alogic online store and will become available on Amazon and other retailers soon. It costs $169/£129, so it’s not the cheapest, but the feature list more than makes up for the slightly higher price.
Alogic Matrix Ultimate: Build and style
The Matrix, unlike many of its contemporaries, comes with a carrying case straight out of the box. It’s a lovely, felted affair, and has compartments inside for the stand itself, the power cable, and the power brick. Before you even look at the build quality of the device, the carrying case is enough to make you less hesitant to slip it into your backpack.
Once out of the case, the Matrix Ultimate is a weighty, well-built thing. The hinge that lets it unfold into its stand configuration is smooth, metal, and heavy-duty. The battery bank that sits in the cradle with the MagSafe puck on it is compact and hefty, and the hinge for the Apple Watch charger clicks into place in both folded and unfolded positions.
It’s heavy enough to move about while you stack your devices on it, and looks good while it does so. I just wish it came in more than just the white color option — while the case will protect it in my bag, I can foresee some discoloration in my unit's future.
Alogic Matrix Ultimate: Features
This is where the Matrix Ultimate really comes into its own. First off is all the charging pads on the device when it’s fully stacked up. There’s an AirPods wireless charging base at the back, a fold-out Apple Watch charger, and then the main MagSafe charging point at the front. They all work well, with charging initiating the moment you plonk your device down.
It’s in this form that you’ll mostly use the charging stand, placing it on a hotel nightstand or bedside table. In the morning, when your devices are all charged up, you can slot the MagSafe charger out of the base for a portable MagSafe charger with 5000Mah of battery juice that you can use to keep your phone topped up through the day.
That’s not the biggest portable battery, but it’s a wickedly small thing that doesn’t take up too much space in your backpack. There’s a USB-C port on the bottom of it as well, so you can plug in another device that needs charging. The puck itself is 15W, so you’ll be waiting for around 3-4 hours for a full charge — although that’s a limitation of the standard, rather than of the charger.
The Apple Watch puck on the stand is also removable, and you can plug that into the bottom of the battery bank and charge your Apple Watch on the go as well. Don’t have a power port where you’re staying? The battery in the portable pack will power the whole device.
That battery will last you around two charges of your iPhone 15, or roughly one and a half if you charge your Apple Watch battery with it as well. That’s plenty for a one-night stay without a power outlet.
Alogic Matrix Ultimate: Competition
There are loads of MagSafe docks out there that you can buy — the Anker Cube being our favorite. It’s small and easily ported about when you’re off on a business trip, or on holiday. It lacks the battery of the Matrix Ultimate, however, so you’ll still need one of those in your bag.
The Belkin BoostCharge Pro is similarly lacking a battery bank, and is most definitely not portable by any stretch of the imagination — and while it’s a good-looking thing, it costs around the same as the Matrix Ultimate.
If you want a charging stand that doubles as a portable charger, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything like the Alogic Matrix Ultimate.
Alogic Matrix Ultimate: Should you buy one?
You should buy one if…
- You are a frequent traveler
- You want to charge your Apple daily carry all at once
- You want to combine all your chargers together
You shouldn’t buy this if…
- You don’t like white tech
- You don’t have a MagSafe-compatible phone
Alogic Matrix Ultimate: Verdict
There’s not much like the Alogic Matrix Ultimate. A solid charging stand that takes up little space in a bag with a built-in, super compact rechargeable battery pack. It looks good, charges well, and slips into a bag or suitcase with no issues for a clean traveling companion.
It’s all the extra little features that make it well worth the price, however. The Apple Watch puck that can be moved from the cradle to the portable battery pack, the diminutive size of the portable battery and the looks of the device all tell you that a great deal of thought has gone into the device. It might make a little sacrifice in its battery capacity, but it's a very solid portable dock that gives a little extra.
Take it anywhere charging stand
Giving you more than pretty much every other charging stand out there, the Matrix Ultimate is the best traveling companion for Apple device users — especially if you've got the holy trinity of iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch.
