Cygnett ChargeUp Pocket 2 review: Crossed wires

In Australia, the Cygnett ChargeUp Pocket 2 portable charger and power bank starts at $99.95. Where many of the brand's other power products come in a number of shapes and sizes, there's only a single option on offer here: the ChargeUp Pocket 2 comes in 10,000mAh and it comes in black.

While the ChargeUp Pocket 2 does come with some features that you might not find in a more budget-friendly power bank or portable charger, the price-tag does put it well above much of the alternatives. If you're in the market for a 10,000mAh power bank, it's not hard to find one cheaper than this.

That said, if you are attached to this particular one then there's always the option of finding a good deal. Check out the pricing table below for a round up of deals on the Cygnett ChargeUp Pocket 2 power bank in Australia.

Cygnett's ChargeUp Pocket 2 could easily be mistaken for something made by Belkin. Compared to some of the other portable chargers the brand makes, what's here is fairly generic. At least, when it comes to looks.

The ChargeUp Pocket 2 is a slab-like rectangle, with a set of LED lights on the top right corner and a single USB-C port that's used to charge up the unit. If you use a smaller handset like the iPhone 16, the size and shape is pretty comparable.

Where the ChargeUp Pocket 2 differs is that there are two integrated charging cables built into the sides. On the left, you've got a USB-C cable. This is matched on the right by a Lightning cable that'll play nice with older iPhones, iPads and AirPods on the right. Neither of these appendages is all that long, but their inclusion here brings practical value in that you're able to theoretically carry one less piece of tech around with you.

The devil is in the details though. The USB-C port that sits on the top of the ChargeUp Pocket 2 caps out at 18W but its integrated counterpart goes all the way to 20W. If you're looking to make use of the Lightning cable you'll only get as fast as 10.5W. Those numbers are more respectable than what you might be able to get out of a power bank from Kmart's Anko range, but far short of the best you can find in 2024.

It's hard to argue with the more tangible benefits of having a power bank with a built-in cable. However, the quality of that inclusion leaves something to be desired.

Since it isn't all that long, it's a little awkward to use. When I played my phone on top of the charger, the ends of the connector came apart almost immediately in a way that left me with some anxiety and concerns about the long-term integrity of the cable.

I can't guarantee that everyone else who picks this up will suffer the same experience but it does hint at the the natural downside of integrated cables like those found on the ChargeUp Pocket 2. At the end of the day, it's an additional point of failure in the mix and there's not a lot you can do with this thing if one of the cables here fails.

It's one thing to ditch the hassle of dealing with yet another cable, but you're paying more up-front for it and I have a lot less faith in the durability of what's here than I might with a more DIY configuration.

On a more positive note, I did like how the LED lights changed color to indicate that the charger is functioning as intended. It's a small but nifty touch that really elevates the experience by giving you more visibility that it's working as intended.

Aside from that though, there's not a lot here that the Cygnett ChargeUp Pocket does to set itself apart from the competition or justify its inflated asking price-tag beyond the baseline benefits of the built-in cables and even less in the way of things that offset the downsides of that decision.