Apple has done a phenomenal job designing an elegant product with its Apple Watch and iPhone. That, is perhaps the most boring statement on the internet. But alas, we needed an opener for this review.
When using these products as much as we do, however, there are often moments when our needs outweigh the devices’ battery life. As such, Nomad has brought to the market a product called Pod, a simply named charger for both iPhone and Apple Watch.The device, approximately a four-by-one inch flat cylinder, houses a a built-in Lightning cable as well as a standard USB port for your Apple Watch (or really, anything else that charges via USB). Pod does exactly as it says: it charges both devices. With a 6000 mAh battery, it charges both an iPhone 6 and Watch twice on a single run of its internal battery.
There is no included Watch charger with Pod, however yours will fit in the device without any issue. It will take either the 1-metre cable or the 2-metre cable that came with your Watch, though we found the smaller of the two to be much easier to wrap within the charger.
The aluminum construction comes in either Space Gray or Silver, the former of which we tested. Construction is impeccable; this feels like an Apple product through and through, and that’s likely due to its unique features such as its magnetically-aligned enclosure and integrated battery status indicator.
We’ve tested many portable batteries in the past, but this is one that has truly been our go-to device for the past month. We took it to E3 this year and used it to charge our devices multiple times throughout the day. Having not needed to use Pod in the past few weeks, the device has still maintained its full charge despite being tucked away in a bag since we returned from Los Angeles.
The other of Nomad’s products also comes in the same iconic Apple colours, and provides a bit less function than Pod, in favour of aesthetic form. Nomad’s Stand is exactly as it sounds: a stand for Apple Watch, designed to help those fashion and style-conscious consumers have an elegant way to charge their timepiece.
Stand is quite simply a piece of milled aluminum, twisted into a shape that adds a bit of flare to the Watch charging process. It can be used as either a vertical stand or in watchOS 2’s Nightstand mode, though Nomad doesn’t mention this directly on its website.
As with Pod, Nomad doesn’t include a charging cable, so you’ll have to provide the one that came with your Apple Watch, but again, the stand supports either of the two length cables through a channel in its rear. It will also charge both sizes of Apple Watch regardless of the band you use. And if you happen to be in the market for a new band, Nomad’s got you covered there, too.
The only real downside to either of these products is the fact that you need to provide your own cable. However, the use cases for both products are such that you likely won’t need an extra cable. If you’re on a trip and need extra juice on the go for your Watch, there’s no sense in leaving your cable at home. If you need to charge your phone, well, there’s a built-in Lightning connector for that.
Pricing for Pod is $79.95 USD, a far cry from the high prices you might pay for a battery of this capacity which is designed to charge just your iPhone. There’s also a sale on the silver version of the Watch-only charger that Nomad sells on its online store, definitely worth picking up for a nickel under thirty bucks.
Stand is a bit less of a bargain, at $39.95, but the product still provides a lot of function when considering how it hides the cable from what could be a well-manicured dresser or bedside table.