Twelve South ButterFly 2-in-1 MagSafe Charger Review

Who said charging can’t come in style? Definitely not Twelve South, whose ButterFly 2-in-1 MagSafe Charger has an eye-catching aluminum housing, making it look like Jony Ive’s hockey puck.

Yes, a wireless charger isn’t the fastest way to charge your iPhone, but it’s not meant to be a quick pit stop. From our experience, this is designed to be a travel-friendly, very packable bedside charger left at your lodging. So, if you’ve seen the enticing image above and are just left wondering if there’s functionality to back it up, read on and see how it works!

The Rundown

Nothing says sleek and elegant quite like an aluminum chassis, as evidenced by the ButterFly here. If Twelve South’s goal was to make the ButterFly blend with the rest of Apple’s hardware ecosystem, then mission accomplished, aluminum is a surefire way to achieve that. More importantly, aluminum minimizes the flimsiness of construction. You won’t find creaks, squeaks, or flexibility in the chassis. To top it off, both halves of the ButterFly are tethered by a vegan leather strap, working as a classy accent piece and a clever way to hide connections and wirings.

Aluminum may be durable, but this material’s not immune to dings and scratches. The eagle-eyed among you may have already spotted markups on our sample. That’s from both halves being folded back-to-back on each other, which rubs the aluminum housing together. Luckily, the scratches aren’t that visible against the aluminum’s reflective surface; plastic would likely fare worse over time.

There’s only one port on the device, and it’s, thankfully, the reversible USB-C kind. Even better, Twelve South includes a charging adapter in the box (which we’re happy to see, for the nearly $130 price tag at the time of writing). The USB-C to USB-C cable is relatively beefy, though it’s only one meter long, which is about the length you’d want for a charger on your nightstand. Meanwhile, the 30-watt charging adapter comes with various outlet adapters you can swap out, including US, UK, EU, and AU-style prongs. All in all, we’re happy to see everything we need already included in the box and not have to scour for a charging adapter for our newly purchased wireless charger.

The ButterFly opens up like its bug namesake, revealing the two charging pads. The flip-up Apple Watch charging pad connects to the side where the USB-C cable plugs in, while the other half has a 15-watt MagSafe charger for either your MagSafe-compatible iPhone or AirPods. If you’re curious, iPhones without MagSafe (series 8-12) should still be able to charge, just not magnetically stick, however your mileage may vary.

It’s a pretty clean setup with both an iPhone and Apple Watch seated. Your Apple Watch goes into Nightstand Mode when it’s propped up on its little dock, while your iPhone sips power at a brisk 15 watts. Alternatively, if you don’t have an Apple Watch, you can fold the ButterFly’s halves back-to-back, so you effectively have a more typical MagSafe puck on your iPhone. Twelve South says the ButterFly also acts as a sort of kickstand in this mode. It does, but it doesn’t feel very reliable, and your iPhone can still tip over. It seems more like a happy coincidence rather than an intentional design feature. On the other hand, kickstand mode works well enough to use your iPhone’s StandBy Mode.

We’d be careful when reaching for your iPhone in the morning. The entire ButterFly may be robust and clad in aluminum, but it’s still a small dock magnetically connected to your devices. We find it easy to drag it around—plus your watch and the charging adapter—when we haphazardly try to grab the phone.

Charging speed is quite typical for MagSafe-compatible chargers, topping out at 15 watts for an iPhone and fast-charging Apple Watch Series 7 and above. They’re not slow, but they’re also not blazing-fast like topping up your iPhone with a wired connection using a GaN charger supporting USB Power Deliver 2.0. The ButterFly really fills in that bedside charger niche, quietly trickle charging your device overnight so it’s as ready in the morning as you are.

Packability

The ButterFly itself is quite slim and small, and we have no issue slipping it into most tech pouches we use, like the Aer Slim Pouch and Peak Design Tech Pouch. Most of the bulk and packing pains will come from the charging adapter and cable. Unfortunately, you’ll want to bring these if you plan on using the ButterFly as a bedside charger on your trips, just as we did. We also bring a fast GaN charger and USB-C cable for quick top-ups on the go for both our iPhone and MacBook.

It’s worth noting that a velvet travel bag is included in the box to hold the ButterFly, the cable, the charging adapter, plus the outlet adapters. So, just in case you’ve already packed your tech pouch to the brim, you at least have the option to use a separate pouch that is ready to go.

Quick Comparison

As its name suggests, the ESR HaloLock 3-in-1 Travel Wireless Charging Set is arguably more functional than the ButterFly. It comes in a visually more bulky package because of its rectangular shape, though that’s understandable given that more devices mean it’ll need more space to support them. Still, it’s hard to deny the ButterFly’s sleeker and more solid build quality, doubly so when it’s sitting pretty on your hotel room’s nightstand.

Lastly, one of the more interesting wireless chargers we have at the Pack Hacker HQ is the Satachi Quatro Wireless Power Bank—yes, power bank. Like the ButterFly, it has a dedicated spot for an Apple Watch, plus a charging pad for your smartphone. However, unlike the ButterFly, it can charge three or more devices simultaneously thanks to its USB ports—and that’s on a 10,000 mAh battery, by the way. Caveats? It’s not MagSafe-compatible, the Apple Watch Charger doesn’t stand up (sorry, solid band users), and it’s a very chunky package compared to the more elegant ButterFly.