Last fall I got a chance to check out ZENS’ all-new Dual + Watch wireless charger, which offers a charging perch for two Qi-enabled smartphones and the Apple Watch. I’ve come to love the accessory, which should be a great charging hub for anyone in a two-person household, and now the company has launched a companion accessory called the ZENS Dual Wireless Powerbank.
This device is a portable battery pack that has two spots for wirelessly charging an iPhone 8 or later (or any Qi smartphone) similar to the Dual + Watch Stand design. The powerbank has a 9,000 mAh battery, two USB-A ports and a USB-C charging port on the back (Lightning fast charging from USB-C is not supported). The device itself supports wireless charging, so you can place it on the Dual + Watch Stand without messing with cables to fuel the powerbank more easily.
Design
ZENS has mirrored the design of the Dual + Watch Stand for its new powerbank, and both accessories have a nice rubberized texture where you place your iPhone. Instead of aluminum on the sides like the stand, the powerbank has a plastic enclosure that still has a nice fold to it.
Like the stand, I really like the general design of the powerbank. Black isn’t usually a color I like to use on a large stand like the ZENS Dual+ Watch, but I’ve been using it since I reviewed it last October, and the only downside I’ve found in the past few months is that it’s definitely a dust and fingerprint magnet. .
If you don’t mind seeing the dust and smoke build up on the black surface, it’s something you’ll probably wipe off multiple times a week, and the same goes for new powerbanks.
Although the two designs are compatible, there are some quirks when using them together. You cannot place the powerbank on the stand in such a way that it occupies both Qi hotspots on the stand. This will cause the lights on the stand to flash rapidly until you move the powerbank so it rests on just one hotspot, at which point it will start charging.
This makes finding the right angle to recharge the powerbank a bit awkward, since it’s got more width and length than the stand and it’s always hanging sideways no matter how you charge it.
As a bonus, you can charge the powerbank on any Qi-enabled wireless charger, so if you already have a bunch of mats lying around the house it’ll be super easy to put the ZENS accessory down and power it up, although the process takes a long time.
While charging, the LEDs on the front light up to indicate its status, and you can press the button in this area to bring up the LEDs when not charging and discover how much battery is left. I found the powerbank’s lights to be fairly soft and unobtrusive at night, just like the Dual + Wireless Stand.
Once it’s charged, the 7.5 x 4.5 inch powerbank isn’t exactly a sleek accessory to carry around, so you really need to get your use out of its wireless charging features to justify traveling with the device. Otherwise, there are many power banks that are smaller, more portable and cheaper than the ZENS alternative due to the lack of Qi-enabled surfaces.
daily use
Because of its size, I chose not to bring the ZENS with me on a recent vacation trip, but I found a clear use for it as the mainstay of my living room coffee table. I’ve always wanted to put a Qi charger in here, but its location meant cables would hang out in the walkway so that wasn’t an option.
I can easily reach my iPhone on top of a mat when I’m watching TV or playing PS4, but topping off is key here, as charging an iPhone completely wirelessly in a powerbank will quickly drain its 9,000 mAh. battery
In multiple tests, I only got two full charges on my iPhone X before the ZENS Powerbank died. In the first test my iPhone’s battery went from 12 percent to 100 percent, then again from 2 percent to 100 percent. The ZENS barely had any battery left and the third time I went to charge my iPhone it died quickly.
The second test went about the same, but the ZENS gave my iPhone X a slightly higher charge, with two full charges and one half charge before it died. Given the powerbank’s wireless charging feature, battery waste may be a factor to consider, meaning the full potential of its 9,000 mAh battery won’t directly correlate to the iPhone X’s 2,716 mAh battery.
I contacted ZENS to make sure my particular unit wasn’t at fault and the company told me that when you factor in battery damage, an iPhone X should expect about 2.5 charges. Still, just two wireless charges seems low for a powerbank, and unfortunately that number was about the same for direct USB-A charging as well. I was able to charge my iPhone X twice with a USB cable connected to a powerbank and at some point during the third charge the device died and left my iPhone X at about 30 percent fuel.
By charging two iPhones wirelessly at the same time, you essentially use up almost all of the powerbank’s battery at once. This makes the accessory’s full potential less enticing, since you’re out of battery long before you’re able to fully charge all four devices connected to the powerbank at once (two via wireless charging and two via USB).
bottom line
The ZENS Dual Wireless Powerbank sports the manufacturer’s quality craftsmanship, but the device often fails in its original purpose of recommending it as an addition to your travel charging equipment, unless you really need dual wireless charging capabilities.
Wireless charging is still a novel addition to portable battery packs, but there are many cheap and small 9,000 mAh battery packs on the market that make the €79.99 powerbank from ZENS seem too steep.
ZENS provided MacRumors with the Dual Wireless Powerbank for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
