Sharge has demonstrated again and again that the chargers and power banks you use to keep your devices running don’t need to look like boring gray bricks. The company has updated its transparent Retractable 65 wall charger, released earlier this year, with a 10,000mAh battery so it’s no longer completely dependent on an outlet. The only tradeoff is that its power output has dropped from 65W to just 30W, making it mostly useful for charging smartphones and tablets.
The Retractable 3-in-1 Power Bank is now available through Sharge’s online store for $49.99, but is currently discounted to $44.99. That’s the same price as Anker’s $45 10,000mAh power bank and charger that includes a built-in USB-C cable, but Anker’s power cord doesn’t retract and is relatively short. Sharge’s is over 27 inches long, and according to the company, has been tested to survive over 30,000 cycles of being retracted and extended. The retraction mechanism will potentially long outlive the battery’s ability to hold a charge.
Although the Retractable 65 delivers enough power to charge laptops and handheld gaming devices like the Switch 2 which requires at least 54W, the output of Sharge’s new 3-in-1 falls well below that, even while plugged into an outlet. That limits its usefulness, but it does include an additional USB-C port so you can charge two smaller devices simultaneously.
The power bank’s design is an homage to Braun’s iconic Audio 300 stereo, designed by Dieter Rams. On one side the 300 featured a record player, represented by the power bank’s retractable cable mechanism, while the other side featured a radio and various tubing knobs. Sharge’s device skips those features but includes a bright white LED dot matrix display on the front showing the battery’s remaining charge level. It also features a matching wrist strap, but unlike Anker has done, it doesn’t double as an additional USB-C charging cable which feels like a missed opportunity to cram a bit more functionality in.