PITAKA Air Omni

The PITAKA Air Omni is a six-in-one Qi/Lightning charger aimed at Apple products. But it is equally at home with Qi and USB-C, so Android users take note.

I really don’t know where to start – perhaps an analogy. GM built the Humvee (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) to be the mother of all 4WDs and do everything. PITAKA built the Air Omni on the same premise.

It is a mix between great industrial design meets the Hulk. We put the PITAKA (pityaka about the name) Air Omni through its paces – and there were many.

Website here
Price: Eventual retail US$221.20
From: PITAKA and soon on Amazon.com.au and eBay.com.au.
Elevator Pitch: One big mother of a multi-charger to rule them all
Warranty: 12-months but you may be liable for return freight – always a risk if buying from overseas
PITAKA is a Hong Kong-based Apple case, charger, and accessory maker. It has a reputation for durability using materials like Aramid fibre (high-performance aromatic polyamide), zinc alloy chassis, magnetic pads and Chain-coil (3+ coil Qi chargers for maximum Qi efficiency).

What is the PITAKA Air Omni?

Sorry to be techy but here is what it is capable of

Power is via a 15V/4.3A (64.5W) brick – if ordering specify an AU plug. This provides a variety of 5V charging solutions that total about 5V/10A/50W that is shared over six charging devices. That total limit is why individual ports tested higher than rated.

Pop up Lightning or USB-C port that will charge iPhone/iPad/Pro and a variety of USB-C devices. 18W rating but tested: Lightning to 5V/2.4A/12W and USB-C PD 3.0 to 3.4-5.5V/5A/25W
Dedicated pop-up (or flat) Apple Watch mag charger (5W) – delivers just under 4W
One coil Qi charger for AirPod or wireless chargeable buds (5W) – ditto and well within spec
Three chain-coil for Apple iPhone or any Qi chargeable device (up to 10W) – delivers 86% of rated wattage.
USB-C side output: 18W rating but tested with Power-Z monitor – Apple 5V/2.4A and QC 3.0 devices (Samsung etc.) 5-12V/2A/24W. Also supports BC 1.2
USB-A side output – same as USB-C but using both together reduces the output to 5V/3A (15W)

Also included is a magnetic attachment to prop a tablet in landscape mode. You can also charge it via one of the ports on the side.

You can read about USB-C, PD and QC here.

Qi and Apple MFi certified

It has the usual over-temperature, foreign object detection, under-voltage, overcurrent, short-circuit protection mechanisms. And it has full Apple MFi certification (meaning Apple get a cut!)

Things it is good at

Any Apple portable product or any Qi-compatible product. The two external USB ports are a pleasant surprise supporting PD 1.0 to 3.0 (5V/3A to 12V/2A/24W), so these will provide fast charging as well as USB-C 5V/3A and USB-A 3.0 5V/2.4A.

From an Apple perspective the main Qi panel outputs 5V/7.5W and depending on your iPhone model, battery capacity and whether turned off or on will charge from 0-100% from about three hours to the worst-case – an iPhone II Pro Max with location, Wi-Fi and BT active in about eight hours.

We tested with the Samsung Galaxy Ultra 5G (idle with AOD), and it charges 0-100% in four hours.

Oh, and is has for want of a better word a LED illuminated pop-out ring draw!

Things it is not designed for

It will work fine with higher wattage devices but may not be as fast.

While it supports QI – it will not charge a Samsung Watch, but you can use the USB port for that.

It could very slowly charge things like MacBooks or Ultrabooks if they are off.

The pop-up USB-C and Lightning connector is great, but you need to be careful of protective case thickness.

And it is big and quite heavy. Including the adapter brick its 1.082kg and 200x165x30mm. I can think of better uses for cabin luggage allowances.

GadgetGuy’s take – the PITAKA Air Omni is the Humvee of chargers

It is extremely well-made, it works as advertised, and it is flexible enough for Apple and Android users.

It can concurrently charge devices to a maximum of a total of about 50W and that covers most portable devices.

Considering the competition generally taps out three devices, this is quite a deal more useful. It earns our recommendation. I just can’t see it flying at US$221 (over A$300). And don’t forget to specify an AU plug – yes the power supply is C-Tick approved.