As we’ve established in many of our reviews, there’s every reason to look for consumer electronics or products that can do different tasks at the same time. A headphone stand with built-in charging for your headphones? Yes, please! A desk lamp with an elegant digital clock? Yes, sir!
That’s exactly what Journey did with their Alti Wireless, which has quickly become a YouTube darling of sorts for “home office” videos, a genre that’s become more popular since working from home became more popular during and after the pandemic. more popular.
what is that? Well, like some of Satechi’s products, it’s just a large format mouse pad, or if you prefer, maybe a so-called “desk pad” with one side that can be connected to a power source, thus providing the iPhone with MagSafe Charge, and charge a set of AirPods via a small Qi pad.
That in itself makes the Alti Wireless extra special, and there are others like it on the market. But the point is, it’s done in a very tasteful way that’s more unique than you might think. It’s rectangular, fairly large, and made of vegan leather on one side and a kind of felt on the other. You can basically use both at the same time and switch between them. Journey says it’s for you to be able to store paper between the layers, which is smart enough, but when you put your forearm on it, it doesn’t take a lot of paper to stack up to notice it, so how smart is it ,Hard to say.
Here is an ad:
The charging portion of the Alti Wireless is actually an accessory, and attaches magnetically to the side of the desk pad. The idea is pretty simple, but you just leave the Alti Wireless in place to remove the entire wireless charger, which can deliver up to 15W of power (7.5W for the iPhone if you’re also using a Qi charger).
A few little things here and there. If you’re a die-hard Apple fanatic, the lack of space to charge your Apple Watch is a bit of a bummer. Yes, it uses Qi in principle, but it does not charge on a dedicated board, in principle it is engraved directly for a set of AirPods. So personally, I still need a wireless charger to get that functionality anyway.
And then there’s the small footnote, even if you have a USB-C cable, there’s no power. You have to replenish it yourself. Yes, maybe it’s a matter of principle rather than practicality, but the idea that what you’re buying doesn’t actually work unless you power it yourself, I’m just not comfortable with that. For smartphones? Yes, maybe. But Journey should provide the key elements that the Alti Wireless needs to be more than just an expensive mouse pad.
Here is an ad:
That said, the Alti Wireless is another interesting example of the way we combine different functions on our desktops at home or at work, and it’s no doubt a product that’s easy to fall in love with.
