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.

review by Bill Palmer

Ask most people what they want from the future, and they’ll say “flying cars” – but with our lives becoming ever more filled with portable devices that need frequent recharging, that answer is quickly changing to “a product that can magically recharge itself.” If you’re looking for a solution that allows your iPhone to juice itself while you’re walking around with it, simply by grabbing up random electrons around you, then you’ll be waiting awhile. But if you’re willing to settle a rubber iPhone skin that allows you to recharge your iPhone simply by setting it down on a pad on your desk, without having to connect any wires, then say hello to the WildCharge.



While “wireless” typically implies some empty space between devices, the WildCharge is only wireless in the sense that there’s no connector cable needed to connect the skin to the pad. The skin has a hidden docking plug inside that runs from the iPhone’s dock connector port to four tiny electrodes on the back of the skin; setting the skin-clad iPhone onto the pad allows the the iPhone to charge.



The idea is that you carry your iPhone around in the skin all day, which aside from the impressively small bulges on bottom and up its back, resembles any other medium-thickness rubber iPhone case – and then when you get home, you simply pull your skin-clad iPhone out of your pocket and set it onto the charger. And based on my tests it works as advertised. As soon as you set it down, you’ll instantly hear the familiar charging chime from your iPhone. This is in contrast to having to remove your iPhone from a typical rubber skin and then either drop it into a dock or plug in a sync cable. Eighty dollars is a LOT to pay for this privilege. But if uncasing your iPhone so you can charge it is something that aggravates you on a daily basis, then it could be worth the investment – particularly if you’re a multi-device household, as you can buy a second skin for $35 and charge both on one pad. Also available for iPod touch (not tested).



The Wildcharge seems like an expensive solution to something that isn’t that much of a problem. When they can make it work so your skin-clad iPhone can recharge while it’s still in your pocket, a few feet away from the pad, then I’ll be drooling all over it.

Learn more about the WildCharge at WildCharge.com.