Pod Pro review: the portable Apple Watch & iPhone battery dock

Nomad-Pod-Pro-Apple-Watch-and-iPhone

Those who need a portable battery pack for the Apple Watch that aren’t so keen on just plugging the USB end into the receiver of a battery pack and letting the magnetic end dangle around everywhere are going to be hard-pressed to find a good portable battery pack made specifically for the Apple Watch’s proprietary charging platform.

Fortunately, Nomad has the Pod Pro, which can be had on Amazon for $85, and is a great solution for on-the-go Apple Watch charging, and even includes a built-in Lightning cable for charging your device, whether it’s an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. We’ll show you what the Pod Pro is all about in this review.

Pod Pro – practical mobile charging for your Apple Watch

Charging your Apple Watch on the go has always been somewhat of a different kind of animal than charging your iPhone on the go would be. The charging connector is magnetic, rather than a physical metal-on-metal connection; as a result, it doesn’t hold as tightly as a Lightning cable would.

For those that do a lot of traveling, power adapters aren’t always widely available either. You may be in the middle of a power outage, on a camping trip, or even in a car without a 12v adapter. Although there are a lot of external battery packs out there, hardly any of them are made specifically for the Apple Watch.

Nomad’s Pod Pro provides a different mobile charging experience for Apple Watch users. It’s actually a 6,000 mAh battery pack and charging dock in one for all sizes of Apple Watch that includes a Lightning cable for charging your iOS devices too.

Your Apple Watch sits on top of the dock with the OEM Apple Watch charging cable, which plugs into a hidden USB port on the Pod Pro.

Nomad-Pod-Pro-Apple-Watch

Pod Pro comes in space gray, so it’s well color-matched to the Apple Watch Sport. The top cover is made out of anodized aluminum, and it’s held on to the base of the unit with two powerful neodymium magnets. You can pull the cover off to install your Apple Watch charging cable – just plug it in and coil it around until you can seat the charging connector in the top round slot:

Nomad-Pod-Pro-Apple-Watch-Charger-Coil

Now, place the cover on top with the magnets touching each other, and you’ll have a solitary unit. The Apple Watch charging connector peeks out of the cyclops hole at the top so you can easily attach your Apple Watch for charging and it’ll stay in place in the center of the unit.

Nomad-Pod-Pro-Apple-Watch-Charger

As we were saying earlier, Pod Pro also charges Lightning devices. The unit has a built-in MFi-certified Lightning cable that tucks away when it’s not in use.

Nomad-Pod-Pro-Lightning-Cable

As you can see the cable just tucks away tightly into the Pod Pro, and there are little grips on the side that help you pull it out. Still, it can be a little tricky to dig out without fingernails:

Nomad-Pod-Pro-Lightning-Cable-Stowaway

Right next to all that, you’ll see the Micro-USB port, which is used to charge up the Pod Pro, you’ll see a button, and you’ll see a four-LED indicator light. The button can be pressed at any time to show how much battery life is left in the Pod Pro via the four-LED indicator light – as you’d imagine, each light is worth 25% of charge.

Nomad-Pod-Pro-Indicator-Lights

You’ll also have to press the button one time any time you attach your Apple Watch so it can begin charging.

My thoughts on the Pod Pro

Overall, I like the shape, color, and form factor of the Pod Pro as well as the fact that it utilizes the OEM Apple Watch charging cable. It’s also handy that it includes the built-in MFi Lightning cable for charging your Lightning devices.

I only have a gripe with the way it charges the Apple Watch because it doesn’t keep it charged 100% of the time like an AC adapter would – it only charges up to 100% one time when you press the button, and then you’d have to press the button again.

Here’s a Pros and Cons list that I’ve put together for those who want an easy list:

Pros:

  • Dual-purpose Apple Watch connector/MFi-Lightning connector battery pack
  • 6,000 mAh battery is available on the go
  • Small form factor
  • Color-matched to Apple Watch Sport
  • Attractive stainless steel design
  • Grippy rubber boot at bottom keeps it from moving around

Cons:

  • Takes a while to charge
  • Can’t continuously keep Apple Watch at 100% charge
  • Costly

Conclusion

Overall, I have very little bad to say about the Pod Pro, which can be had for $85 on Amazon, but if you were looking to spend a little less money, you might try the Pod, which is essentially the same thing but with less battery capacity and no Lightning cable. That version retails for $60 on Amazon, and is slightly smaller too.

What are your thoughts on the Pod Pro by Nomad? Share in the comments!