A Handy but Imperfect iPhone Desk Upgrade

The Ohsnap Desk Power Kit is a fantastic way to score three useful phone accessories for one decent price. Some parts of my user experience were better than others, but overall, I can see this combo as a worthwhile addition to most desks or workstations.

Price and Availability

The Ohsnap Desk Power Kit sells for $130 and can only be purchased directly through the manufacturer. At the time of writing, this bundle was already marked down to $100, and is available in five colorways: Obsidian Black (my test unit), Midnight Blue, Pure Silver, Dusty Rose, and Stone.

Strong Magnets All Around

The Ohsnap Desk Power Kit comes with three separate components, all of which may be used together: the Snap Grip, the Snap Stand, and the Snap Charge. While you can use each item separately, the true desktop experience comes from the accessory trio working together. This starts with connecting the Snap Grip to the back of your phone.

Ohsnap was kind enough to provide an alignment guide for getting the Grip connected. The accessory forms a very tight seal, so make sure you’re committed to keeping it on your phone. I removed the Grip once while testing, and needed to use a pry tool to do so.

Not only does the Grip connect to the magnetized Stand and Charge, but it also features a built-in kickstand for propping up your phone. Unfortunately, this function didn’t work that well and required a lot of finessing on my part to get my device standing upright. I did like being able to slip my fingers through the kickstand loop for a grip that doesn’t rely on your palms as much.

The Stand carries all the weight of the combo, and the tough aluminum body did a phenomenal job at gripping my iPhone 12 without keeling over. I also found it easy to rotate my phone between portrait and landscape positions, without losing magnetization. The Stand’s base even uses a washable, nano-suction adhesive, so you won’t have to worry about it losing its grip when moved from one surface to another.

That said, the auto-aligning didn’t exactly go according to plan. It was 50/50 as to whether the Snap Grip would attach to the Stand or Charge without further adjustments on my part to line everything up.

Living on My Desk for a Spell

The Ohsnap Kit’s space-saving design makes it a natural addition to even the most cluttered workspace. Thanks to its adhesive base, the Stand can be mounted flat, but it can also be suctioned to the sides of furniture. You could even stick it to the bottom of a shelf!

I opted for conventional desktop placement, and fortunately, the Charge’s nylon-braided USB-C cable was long enough to span from my desk to the closest wall outlet. I can see the relatively short wire length being problematic, though, especially if you’re aiming to loop the cable through a desk’s wire management system.

To that end, it may pay to keep a USB-C extension on standby. And don’t forget: you need your own USB-C power adapter.

I enjoyed having the Ohsnap family by my side throughout my average workday. Other than having to occasionally adjust the Charge if it didn’t align correctly with the Stand, I never had to worry about my iPhone falling off the mount, or the mount succumbing to my iPhone’s weight and tipping over.

I also liked knowing that as long as my iPhone was docked, the 15-watt Charge Qi pad was keeping it powered. I even used this accessory to top off the MagSafe Charging Case for my AirPods Pro 2. It’s not the kind of zero-to-100-percent-in-30-minutes battery boost that wired USB-C delivers, but wireless chargers can only push so hard.

Should You Buy the Ohsnap Desk Power Kit?

I think the Ohsnap Desk Power Kit offers great value for the sum of its parts. While it’s not the only charger-mount combo for $100 (and some competing products come with a power adapter), I liked the fact that you can use all three components a la carte, or as a trio of tech.