Review cover Pitaka Air Omni (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review

Product Information:

The Pitaka Air Omni can charge all your respective devices, but is it a jack of all trades, or a master of none?

attachFull220213

Not too long ago, GBAtemp covered the Pitaka MagEZ Juice, a wireless phone dock and charger. Prior to the review, I'd never heard of Pitaka's brand before, but I'd quickly become a fan during my time with the charger. Following that, Pitaka reached out to us again to cover their latest product: the Pitaka Air Omni, an all-in-one device, designed to combine all your charging needs into one single product. I was intrigued from the start, but skeptical--is it worth the price?

Created as the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, the Air Omni came to life, promising to be the one and only charger you'd need for all of your electronics. It intends to solve the problem of having to deal with the clutter that comes with using multiple adapters, cords, and docks to keep all your technology topped up. Instead of needing a wireless charging mat for your earphones and smartwatch, along with a cord and power brick for your phone, combined with yet another cable for your tablet, you can just use the Air Omni to do all of those things, in one slim form factor. 

Upon removing the charger from its packaging, the Air Omni looks fairly unassuming as a small black rectangle. The surface has this slightly textured matte finish, which feels very nice and high-end, almost as if it were a fancy official Apple product. You might assume at first glance that it's a carbon fiber material, but rather, it's aramid fiber, which is a notable detail, as carbon fiber is conductive, while aramid is not. Considering you'll be using it for contact-based wireless charging, it feels like an important distinction. Once you start turning it around and fiddling with it, you'll notice all sorts of compartments and buttons that serve each of the useful functions the Omni has to offer.

attachFull220228

Review image Review image Review image Review image 

First, on the top of the Omni are two areas for wireless charging, as denoted by the small symbols. Pitaka has designed this with Apple devices in mind, so ideally, you'll be using one portion to charge your Airpods and the other for your iPhone, while the small white button pops up to snap to your Apple Watch and secure it for charging, all of which are handled flawlessly, as the Omni is MFi compliant. However, while it's geared towards Apple products, you'll still be able to use just about anything that'll fit on the surface, so long as it supports Qi charging. In addition to the wireless charging pads, there's a standard Lightning connector concealed in a small slot, no wait, a USB-C connector. Or rather, it's both. By pressing a button on the back of the Omni and pulling up on the dock cradle, you can switch between USB-C for your Android and assorted tech, and Lightning for say, an iPad. It's ingenious to include both, especially in a way that works so seamlessly. 

This gives you a lot of utility; you can charge just about everything you'll need for a day out with just the Omni and its single power cable. If that's not enough for you, then the Omni also includes a USB-C PD port and a regular USB outlet, for devices you need to charge, but lack the wireless Qi factor. In my case, I was able to charge my iPhone X, earbuds, Android tablet, smartwatch, laptop, and Bluetooth speaker all at once. Before the Omni, keeping all six's batteries topped up required a large USB power brick and six cables, which quickly turned into a tangly mess, resulting in a lot of hassle, or me just outright leaving some things low on battery purely because I didn't want to go through the effort of bothering with plugging each and every little thing in. With the Omni, you can just pile all your items onto it, plug in the two cables if you even need to, and you're done. The simplicity of having all these things managed by one single device is unmatched. 

Should you want to, the Nintendo Switch will even plug right into the USB-C slot and will charge as though you'd docked it normally, letting you play in tabletop mode as the battery fills back up. I wasn't expecting it to work, but it ended up being super useful for nights where my Switch was nearly out of power, yet I wanted to keep playing, without turning the TV on, or being chained to the relatively short charging cord. This could also be a solid way of quickly charging all your devices on the go while in a hotel room, without having to stuff a variety of different cables into your bag. 

attachFull220234

Review image Review image Review image Review image 

That's not even the full extent of the Omni's capabilities, either. Lastly, there's a tiny storage drawer next to the USB ports where you can store small, yet important belongings. It's shallow enough that you can't cram too much in, but if you need to keep a small baggie of Aspirin on hand, a few Switch game carts, jewelry, credit cards, or even a PlayStation Vita memory card, they'll store perfectly inside it. It even sports a small LED to light up the slot when you pull it out, so you can see what exactly you're keeping in there, even in the dark. All the small things and attention to detail really add up to make the Air Omni something top-notch. 

Anyone who is deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem should absolutely get their hands on the Pitaka Air Omni. With just how simple it makes charging those devices, it's a no-brainer to get something that can handle everything at once. Even for those that prefer Android, the Omni is still an incredibly handy charger, and you'll be able to get nearly the same amount of use out of it, barring the watch support. While its retail price of $159.00 may seem steep, you also have to factor in how much you'd pay to keep your tech organized and all in one nice, neat place, and not have to deal with cords strung over your nightstand ever again. If the thought of that appeals to you, I can't recommend the Omni enough. 

attachFull220239

Review image Review image Review image Review image

Tech Specs

  • USB-C: Fast Charging PD (18W)
  • USB-A: Quick Charging (18W)
  • (Both charging ports will lower to 15W total if used at the same time)
  • Connector: Lightning+USB-C
  • Wireless Charger: Chain Coil Pad
  • Weight: 1.8 pounds (830g)

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Looks sleek, feels premium and high quality
  • Can be your all-in-one charger for nearly everything
  • Seamlessly switches between USB-C and Lightning connectors
  • Works with the Switch, too!
What We Didn't Like ...
  • The USB-C/Lightning toggle can be the slightest bit finicky at times
9.4
out of 10

Overall

If cables and cords are tangling up your life, then this is quite possibly the best solution on the market for your charging woes.
Goddamnit, this thing feels like it's so close, yet so far, as it sounds like Samsung smartwatches, from what you described, don't quite work? At least it should charge up my Samsung Galaxy Note 10+...(even though my iMuto portable battery charges it up faster using the PD USB-A port compared to the Samsung charger I have that has QC 2.0 and QC 1.0)

Like, I've been looking at the pics, trying to figure out how this thing works, exactly; it doesn't look like it has a power cable providing power to the pad from what I could gather. I guess it has its own battery? That's nice, but it'd require a good charging of itself, which might require a use of my portable battery, which itself needs to be charged...



Even then, I can see this requiring a hub or two if one has multiple controllers to charge like the many Switch controllers I have for Smash in the rare event I can get 8 people in one room. I already have a six port USB-A hub that could sort of replicate that, but it wouldn't be as elegant as a setup like this, and I can say that I really wish I could just clean up my room and do things how I'd like to do them, but considering this is my parents' house, my plan to move out sometime next year unless if Illinois goes full authoritarian with these lockdowns, and the work and money required to make my "ideal room to myself," minimizing what's in my personal space is gonna have to wait... :(

O, how sweet being debt-free is...
 
Like, I've been looking at the pics, trying to figure out how this thing works, exactly; it doesn't look like it has a power cable providing power to the pad from what I could gather. I guess it has its own battery? That's nice, but it'd require a good charging of itself, which might require a use of my portable battery, which itself needs to be charged...
I see the power cord in at least three pictures, friend. So, it seems right up your alley.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chary
80% of the devices I regularly need to charge use proprietary connectors... everything else uses connectors so prevalent that I'm rarely more than a few seconds away from being able to plug them in.
This thing seems pretty useless to me - and even if it's useful to everybody else right now, it's only a matter of time before the current connector being favored by most manufacturers is replaced by something else that this can't accommodate.
 
Review cover
Product Information:

Reviews

  1. Xiaomi has just launched its latest smartphone line, the Xiaomi 14 series. In this series, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is the top-of-the-line model, with a focus on photography and a dedicated Photography Kit to complement this focus. Let’s take a closer look!

  2. Obsidian’s Pentiment is part of a new wave of Xbox games coming to other platforms. Should you try to solve the 16th century murder mystery it presents?

  3. The second iteration of Supernote's compact e-ink notebook, we check out the A6X2 Nomad!

  4. Acting like an NPC has never been more intense

  5. The Aurvana Ace by Creative might look like your regular pair of wireless earbuds but it's the first to pack xMEMS’ solid-state silicon drivers. These are supposed to deliver richer, lifelike...

Site & Scene News

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    straferz @ straferz: Anybody know why this is happening to my ACWW town...