ESR CryoBoost Foldable 3-in-1 Magnetic Charging Station

I had been looking at this charger for a while, but it was not available in the EU for some time. So when I finally had the chance to test it here, I was pretty happy about it.

First small surprise: the included cable is L-shaped. That sounds like a small thing, but on a desk it actually makes a lot of sense, because the cable is easier to hide behind the charger. The included 50W brick also feels better than I expected. It does not feel like a random cheap charger thrown into the box.

The main reason I was interested in this charger is that I wanted a third-party 3-in-1 charger without too many annoying compromises. I use an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods daily, and I wanted something that looks clean on a desk, folds down for travel, and does not make the Apple Watch charging painfully slow.

I tested it with an iPhone 12 Pro in a thin MagSafe-compatible case, an Apple Watch, and AirPods.

Build quality is solid. The main hinge is tight, and the phone stays stable at different angles. It also does not slide around on my desk, which is something I always notice with smaller chargers. Folded down, it is only slightly thicker than an iPhone, so I can definitely see myself traveling with it. I have not traveled with it yet, but I will soon, and this is probably where the foldable design will make the most sense.

The fan was the part I was most unsure about. I do not really like the idea of tiny fans in desk accessories, because I expected it to be annoying. But in normal use, I basically cannot hear it. If I put my ear close to the charger, yes, I can hear it. But sitting next to my Mac, it just disappears.

The cooling also seems to matter a lot. With the fan on, my iPhone stayed completely cool during charging. With the fan off, the phone got noticeably warm, not just “a bit warm”, but uncomfortably warm to the touch. Charging was also much slower with the fan off.

I focused on 0 to 80%, because after 80% charging usually slows down anyway, and for everyday use 0 to 80% is the part I care about most.

My results:

iPhone 12 Pro

  • iPhone + USB charging: 80% in 62 min
  • iPhone + ESR, fan on: 80% in 79 min
  • iPhone + ESR, fan off: 80% in 120 min

Apple Watch (Series 10)

  • Apple Watch + original Apple charger: 80% in 30 min
  • Apple Watch + ESR: 80% in 38 min

The Apple Watch result was probably the biggest positive surprise for me. It is a little slower than the original charger, but not by much. I have tried third-party setups before where the Watch charging felt like the weak point, but here it is close enough that I would not really think about it in daily use.

AirPods (Pro 2) charging also works fine. No real issue there. The only small thing I would like is if the AirPods area had some kind of magnetic positioning too, just to make placement feel a bit more automatic. But in practice, it charged my AirPods normally.

Update: ESR clarified in the comments that the charger can deliver up to 25W peak wireless charging with Qi2.2. Since I tested it with an iPhone 12 Pro, my iPhone results are limited by the phone itself, not necessarily by the charger. iPhone 12–15 models are limited to 15W wireless charging, while iPhone 16 and newer models can take advantage of faster 25W wireless charging.

So the iPhone numbers in my test are best understood as older-iPhone real-life results. If I upgrade to a newer Pro model later, I’d like to rerun the same test and compare.

A few small downsides:

The Apple Watch charging part has a looser hinge than the main phone hinge. It still works, but it does not feel as firm as the main folding mechanism. On the positive side, even if I accidentally fold the charger while the Watch part is still open, it does not feel like I could easily snap it off.

The other thing is more of a wishlist than a real con. I use an ESR Geo Wallet too, and it would be great if I could somehow charge that on the same setup. That is not really this charger’s fault though. It just makes me wish there was a MagSafe or Qi-compatible version of the ESR Geo Wallet.

Overall, I like it a lot more than I expected.

It works well as a desk charger, it is quiet, it folds down nicely, and the Apple Watch charging is much closer to the original charger than I expected. The CryoBoost fan is not just a gimmick either. In my test, fan on vs fan off made a huge difference, both in charging speed and heat.

For me, this feels like one of those accessories that makes the most sense if you use the full Apple setup: iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. At home, it cleans up the desk. For travel, it should replace multiple separate chargers.

After a week of daily use, I would say it is a pretty practical 3-in-1 charger, especially if you care about portability but still want something that looks decent on a desk.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

ESR CryoBoost Foldable 3-in-1 Magnetic Charging Station