Review: Stuffcool Ally is a 10,000mAh power bank that charges your Apple Watch

Stuffcool is an Indian accessory maker that's doing all the right things. The brand has an extensive portfolio of chargers and power banks, and I've highlighted several previously, including the 20,000mAh power bank with 85W charging, Centurion charging station, and the 10,000mAh Mega power bank that's designed for use with the best Samsung phones.

Stuffcool's latest product is the Ally, and this power bank is aimed squarely at iOS users. The defining characteristic of the power bank is a built-in dock that charges the Apple Watch; all you have to do is plonk the smartwatch on the magnetic base, and it charges at 2.5W wirelessly. It takes just over two and a half hours to fully charge the Apple Watch, with a 50% charge taking over 90 minutes, and while that's not as fast as the official charger, the Ally offers unmatched convenience, particularly on the road.

I always forget to take the requisite charger for my smartwatch when traveling, so the Ally definitely comes in handy in that scenario. It's also an effortless way to top up the battery on your Apple Watch in the middle of the day; as much as I like the Apple Watch Series 8 (and I like it more than any Android smartwatch), it doesn't last over a day with always-on screen enabled, so if you need to extend that battery life while you're at your desk, this is about the easiest way to do so.

The Ally has other tricks up its sleeve — the power bank has a bundled USB-C to Lightning cable, so you can easily charge your iPhones on the go as well. The power bank has two USB-C ports, a USB-A port, and a Lightning port (for charging the power bank), and there's a custom housing for the USB-C to Lightning cable so you don't lose it — I cannot overstate what a difference this makes in my use case. There's also a slide-out stand that lets you rest your iPhone against the Ally, but this comes in the way of the Lighting cable port.

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The power bank has a minimalist design, and it is as portable as these things can get. The build quality is great, and the matte texture makes it easy to hold the power bank. There's a power button located on the left, and you get four LEDs arrayed in an X — this indicates current charge level. The 10,100mAh battery is more than adequate to charge your iPhone and the Apple Watch, and a nifty addition here is passthrough charging; you can charge the power bank as well as any connected devices at the same time.

As the Ally is designed for use with iPhones, it only goes up to 20W over the USB-C ports. The USB-A port manages 22.5W and works with Qualcomm's QC3.0 protocol, but this isn't intended to be used with Android phones in general. Here's the rundown of the power profiles:

• USB-C1 (out): 5V/3A (15W), 9V/2.22A (20W), 12W/1.67A (20W)
• USB-C2 (out): 5V/3A (15W), 9V/2.22A (20W), 12W/1.67A (20W)
• USB-A (out): 9V/2A (18W), 12W/1.5A (18W), 4.5V/5A (22.5W), 5V/4.5A (22.5W)
• Wireless (out): 2.5W
• USB-C1 (in): 5V/2.6A (13W), 9V/2A (18W), 12W/1.5A (18W)
• Lightning port (in): 5V/2.6A (13W), 9V/2A (18W)

The Ally does a great job with the iPhone 14 Pro, and is able to charge the phone by up to 50% in just 30 minutes. The ability to charge the iPhone and Apple Watch at the same time is what makes this power bank such a great choice, and while it costs a lot more, you are getting a unique feature-set here, and that makes the Stuffcool Ally a no-brainer if you're heavily invested in the iOS ecosystem.