Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank Review: Style Over Substance
Xiaomi's UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank is impressively slim and premium, but its 5,000 mAh capacity and Rs. 5,999 price demand careful consideration.
Power banks and “beauty” are seldom used in the same sentence. They are notorious for being bulky, heavy, and brick-like. Even the ones that can be slapped on the back of your phone and attached magnetically often feel uncomfortable to use along with a smartphone. Unless one is using the Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank.
Xiaomi pleasantly surprised us all with a super thin power bank last year, the Xiaomi Ultra Slim power bank, which was so slim and compact that many of us had mistaken it for a card holder. It, however, lacked wireless charging, so it could not be stuck onto the back of a phone. The UltraThin power bank fixes this shortcoming. It comes with a 5,000 mAh battery with up to 15W wireless charging support, and 22.5W charging support (up from 20W on the Ultra Slim). While these numbers are nothing to rave about, it is the design and build of the power bank that are showstoppers. But can its lightweight make up for its rather heavy price tag of Rs. 5,999? Let’s find out.
Design and Appearance: A Treat to Hold and Carry
It is difficult to think that anything out of the ordinary can be done with the design of power banks, given just how simple and functional the devices are, but Xiaomi has managed to make the design of the UltraThin power bank its biggest USP. As the name suggests, the power bank is truly “ultra thin.” In fact, at 6mm, it is almost half as thin as the Ultra Slim power bank that impressed us last year, and is the thinnest power bank we have used to date.
The power bank is quite compact as well. It is 98.5 mm tall, 71.5 mm wide, and weighs just 98 grams, which means that it will not only easily fit on the back of any phone out there, but will add only about as much weight as a routine phone case. Even though the Xiaomi UltraThin power bank is quite sleek, it still feels very sturdy. The body is made of an aluminum alloy shell, giving it that reassuring solid feel, and the wireless charging side comes with fiberglass.
The power bank is available in three different colors — Graphite Black, Glacier Silver, and Radiant Orange. While we received the black color option, we think all three colors look very good — the bright orange is the exact shade of the iPhone 17 Pro series’ orange and will basically blend with your iPhone 17 Pro or Pro Max.
Our unit came with a matte finish, and the back has a small “Mi” logo in a glossy contrast. The thin sides curve softly around the edges, while the front — which is the part that connects wirelessly to your phone — has a large circular mark to highlight wireless charging connectivity, along with some information. All the sides are bare except the base, which has a small power button, a USB Type-C port for charging, and four tiny LED lights indicating the remaining charge level.
The Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank is a treat to both hold and carry. It exudes premiumness, and its thin form factor makes it easy to carry around, regardless of whether you hold it in your hand, carry it in your trouser pocket, or in your bag — or even on your phone. It was so thin and light that we actually used it as a bookmark from time to time.
Specs and Hardware: Decent, Rather Than Exceptional
The Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank is more about style and convenience than specs. It comes with decent enough specs, but nothing that will make people sit up in surprise. The power bank comes with a 5,000 mAh battery, which is a touch more than the UltraSlim’s 4,900 mAh. Xiaomi has used an advanced silicon carbon battery instead of the usual lithium-ion one, which allows more mAh to be packed into a much smaller form factor.
In terms of charging speed, the Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank offers up to 15W wireless charging support and 22.5W wired charging support (up from 20W on the UltraSlim). That sounds brisk enough, but the 15W wireless charging speed is only delivered with the Xiaomi 17 series. For other smartphones with wireless charging support, you will get 7.5W charging speed, including iPhones — MagSafe is supported, but the charging speed remains slow.
Xiaomi has also added a number of safety features. The brand says there are ten layers of safety protection on the device, including foreign object detection, overcurrent, short circuit, overvoltage, overcharging, and overdischarging protection, among others.
Performance: Super Convenient, but Not Super Fast
The Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank’s spec sheet means it cannot fully charge most modern smartphones from 0 to 100 percent. While it has a capacity of 5,000 mAh, its rated capacity is lower at 3,000 mAh, as is typical with most power banks. As a result, it was able to take our iPhone 17 — which comes with a 3,692 mAh battery — from 20 percent to nearly full only once. And as its wireless charging speed for iPhones is fairly sluggish, it took comfortably over an hour. It took even longer to charge our Pixel 10 Pro XL. That said, thanks to its slim size and light weight, you can just stick it to the back of your phone and forget about it.
If you need relatively faster charging, you can connect your phone to the power bank with a Type-C cable and enjoy 22.5W wired charging speed — roughly three times the 7.5W wireless charging speed available with non-Xiaomi 17 series phones — which does get the phone charged much faster by comparison. However, if your phone has a relatively large battery (many phones these days are comfortably above 5,000 mAh), the power bank may only be able to get them up to 40 or 50 percent before needing to be recharged itself.
While you can use the power bank to charge two devices at once — wired and wirelessly — that compromises both speed and capacity, as output gets divided between both devices. The power bank also gets fairly warm while charging a phone wirelessly, which can cause the temperature of the attached phone to rise as well. Our iPhone 17 often got very warm during wireless charging sessions.
The magnetic hold of the power bank is very strong. It latched on easily to our iPhone and did not budge when we kept the pair in our pocket or bag, or even while using the phone. This is by far the most comfortable and convenient power bank to use with a smartphone — you hardly feel its weight.
Verdict: Pricey, Premium, and a Convenience Contender
The Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank carries a steep price tag of Rs. 5,999. You can get power banks with far more mAh, more ports, and much faster charging speeds at a lower price from Xiaomi itself. Other brands also offer slim power banks at lower prices — Boat has the Magnacharge at Rs. 1,599 and URBN has the One Premium MagSafe at Rs. 1,999. However, none of them match the sleek form factor and premium build of the Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank, nor the long-term brand assurance Xiaomi offers. Its closest real competitor is perhaps Samsung’s Galaxy Magnetic Wireless Battery Pack, which comes with a similar capacity and 15W wireless charging, but is bulkier and priced at around Rs. 4,900.
If you are in the market for a power bank with more mAh capacity and faster charging speeds at a lower price, the Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank is not for you. However, if you want to invest in an ultra-portable, very premium power bank that can give your smartphone a useful power boost without adding bulk to your daily carry — or to the device itself — the Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank could be a perfect fit. Yes, it is expensive, but it delivers terrific design, ease of use, and genuine convenience that premium phone users, especially those with iPhones and Pixels, are likely to appreciate.
The Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank’s style is its substance — and it is substantially stylish. Convenience, it turns out, can be a powerful feature in its own right.
Buy Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank
Pros
- Feather-light (lighter than most phone cases)
- Impressively thin at 6mm
- Very portable — phone can be used easily even when attached
- Premium aluminum alloy build
- Strong magnetic connectivity
Cons
- Expensive at Rs. 5,999
- Small effective capacity (3,000 mAh rated)
- Full 15W wireless charging only available with the Xiaomi 17 series; other devices limited to 7.5W
