Review: The Kanex GoPower Watch with integrated charger for juicing up your Apple Watch

Kanex GoPower Watch with Apple Watch Sport

A range of portable battery packs exist for juicing up your Apple Watch when you can’t get near a power outlet for a long-enough time, but not all of them have an integrated charging puck like the GoPower by Kanex does.

Complete with the built-in Made for Apple Watch-certified charging puck, you aren’t going to have to twirl up your OEM Apple Watch charging cable anymore, and it even comes with a USB port on the back for powering up your other mobile devices on the go too.

Kanex GoPower Watch Integrated MFi Apple Watch Puck

Inside of its compact package, it houses a 4,000 mAh battery that charges with any micro-USB cable you might have laying around. Fortunately, if you don’t have one, it comes with one.

The little round button on the front is actually a toggle switch for the power indicator. Four blue LEDs complete the circle around the button, so a full circle means it’s fully charged, a half of a circle means it’s half-charged, and so-on.

Kanex GoPower Watch LED Battery Indicator

One thing that’s neat about this battery pack is it has a technology built into it to prioritize charging your Apple Watch over anything you connect to the USB port. This is important because phones, especially those with any kind of fast-charging technology, are going to be thirsty for power and could drain the Kanex’s internal battery before your watch even gets a charge.

The manufacturer claims you can get 6 full Apple Watch charges out of the Kanex unit before it needs to be juiced back up, which is a pretty reasonable amount for the average traveler. If you’re talking iPhones, on the other hand, you might get 1-2 full charges out of it.

Because of the smaller battery capacity compared to most battery packs, this isn’t something you would want to use only for charging iPhones or iPads. Ideally, this is to be used only with your Apple Watch, and to juice up your smartphone or tablet in an emergency situation.

Priced at about $86 on Amazon, this battery pack does have a pricy edge to it compared to other higher-capacity battery packs on the market. Of course, with it, you get the integrated certified Apple Watch charging puck, which many other battery packs don’t have the bragging rights for.

Here’s a summary of pros and cons I’ve put together for the Kanex GoPower:

Pros:

  • Integrated Made for Apple Watch-certified charging puck
  • Lightweight and portable
  • LED battery level indicator
  • Includes a USB-out port for other devices
  • Completely cordless

Cons:

  • A bit expensive for the limited 4,000 mAh capacity
  • Plastic used as the primary build material

What are your thoughts on the Kanex GoPower? Share with us in the comments below!