Review: MiLi Pocketpal

Enter the Pocketpal by MiLi, a USB wall charger which attempts to offer the best of both worlds in that it’s about as small as the current bundled iPhone wall charger but offers retractable prongs which disappear into the body of the charger when not in use. And in a move away from the all-white chargers offered by Apple and most third parties, the Pocketpal comes in five different two-tone color combinations; my test unit is black with bright blue trim.

In short, the Pocketpal works equally well for use with an iPhone or an iPod (any iPod model except the shuffle). It doesn’t come with a cable, but that merely presumes you’re going to use the cable that came with your iPhone or iPod. I’d like the prongs to be a little easier to flip out, as I had to use both thumbs simultaneously, but that got easier the more I got used to it.

So why not a higher rating? The wall charger I’d been using, from RadTech, only costs ten dollars and has prongs that are a little easier to flip out (the RadTech charger also comes with two USB ports for $15). Then again, the RadTech charger is quite a bit larger and very generic looking; the Pocketpal, while not matching my iPhone or any of my iPods stylistically, has its own sense of stylishness. So if you want a small retractable wall charger in your choice of colors, and don’t mind paying a bit of a premium for the privilege, MiLi’s Pocketpal is an easily recommendable option.