Must-Have iPhone 15 Accessories

Tom's Guide

The iPhone 15 and 15 Pro is one of the most exciting updates of the series in years. To make the most of it's best new features, we’re sharing some must-have accessories, including chargers, game controllers and power banks.

Transcript

00:00Starting our list off, we have the 30-watt Anker Nano Power Bank.

00:03This is a 10,000 mAh power bank that has a few cool tricks up its sleeve.

00:07This supports power delivery with a max output of 30 watts.

00:11You can charge this to about 50% in about 45 minutes,

00:14or you can charge your phone to about 50% in just 30 minutes.

00:18In total, you can get about two full charges for your brand new iPhone 15, so that's pretty cool.

00:23At the top here, we have this button that, when you click it, reveals this color LCD.

00:28We've seen percentage readouts on other power banks before,

00:31but Anker takes this a step further by showing you how much time it'll

00:34take to fully charge your power bank, as well as how much time until the power bank depletes.

00:39So even though that might seem unnecessary when I'm running some important gear,

00:42whether it's a camera or my phone when I'm shooting video,

00:45it's really helpful to see how much time is remaining on this, that way I can plan ahead.

00:49Hard to miss as well is its built-in USB-C wire.

00:52When retracted, it's a carrying loop.

00:55Pull it out, and you have a relatively long cable built right in.

00:59That way, you never need to remember to have a cable in order to charge your devices,

01:03and this is one accessory that, no matter where I'm headed, I'm always taking along with me.

01:08Usually priced at $50 for a 10,000 milliamp power bank, it's not the cheapest,

01:12but we've seen this go for as low as $35 for Black Friday,

01:16which, for how powerful and reliable this is, it makes it a must-have.

01:20Even though Apple has improved support for game controllers, including Xbox and PS5s,

01:24if you really want to take your mobile gaming to the next level,

01:27you're going to want to check out the Backbone One.

01:31We have two colors to choose from.

01:32White, which is the PlayStation Edition,

01:35and black with the A, X, Y, and B buttons, which is the original,

01:39but I just call it the Xbox Edition.

01:42The controllers slide open, allowing you to slot your phone in,

01:45where it connects directly via USB-C on the right.

01:48This gives you a very Switch-like gaming experience,

01:51or, as recently released, the PlayStation Portal.

01:54And even though you're playing on a much smaller screen than those other two options,

01:58you have a much bigger catalog of games to play or stream.

02:01And for added convenience, it has USB-C at the bottom for charging,

02:04and a 3.5 millimeter jack if you want to use wired headphones.

02:08Unlike traditional controllers, this does require your phone to be docked in order to work,

02:13and if you have larger hands, the controls may feel a little bit small or cramped.

02:18But in my opinion, something that's this compact, it's hard to beat.

02:22And even when paired with this optional hard-carrying case,

02:25it's still smaller than a traditional controller.

02:28It normally costs a penny shy of $100, but for Black Friday, you can pick it up for just $69.99.

02:34And so if you have any friends or family that are big into mobile gaming,

02:37this is one of the best gifts you can get them.

02:38With iOS 17, we got a few cool new updates, including Standby Mode.

02:46And although this feature does work with a wired connection,

02:49there's something magical about doing it wirelessly.

02:53One of the newest wireless charging stands comes from Belkin

02:55with the Boost Charge 15-Watt MagSafe 2-in-1.

02:58This does officially release in a few weeks,

03:00but it finds its way to our list because of its fresh design.

03:04Unlike most other wireless charging stands that,

03:06honestly, are a bit of an eyesore when not in use,

03:09the Belkin instead has a soft and routed silicone finish

03:12that comes in either this eggshell or a gray color.

03:16And in my opinion, it does a really good job at hiding the fact

03:19that it's a stand because when not in use,

03:21you fold this back and you don't really know what this is,

03:25but it certainly doesn't look ugly.

03:27The other thing that I quickly noticed about this is that

03:29this has some really good weight to it.

03:31So you place it on your desk, it stays in its spot pretty well

03:35that even when you're aggressively placing or removing your phone on here,

03:40it's not going to move around a lot.

03:41This is a 2-in-1, meaning that you can charge your phone and your watch simultaneously.

03:46But unlike most other 2-in-1s, you can also charge your AirPods.

03:51Granted, you can't do all three at the same time,

03:54but I really do love this design.

03:56Now at $130, this is a very premium choice

03:59and you can certainly find a lot of other 2-in-1

04:01and even 3-in-1 chargers for much less.

04:04But if you're like me and you're a minimalist,

04:06you like that high quality and built to last finish,

04:09then you're going to love this choice.

04:10On the other hand, if you're on a tighter budget

04:12and you want more of a traditional design, but still high quality,

04:16then you have this Hitachi 2-in-1 Magnetic Charging Stand.

04:20It's white, silver, and brushed metal are all complemented very well.

04:24The downside here though is that this only supports your phone

04:28and your AirPods, but no Apple Watch.

04:30So if you do have an Apple Watch, this might not be the best choice for you.

04:34Additionally, charging speeds aren't as fast as the 15 watts offered by Belkin.

04:39But then again, this is half the price.

04:45Next up, we've got the smallest accessory on our list, but still crazy useful.

04:49This is the AirFly Pro.

04:51With the AirFly Pro Bluetooth transmitter and receiver,

04:53you can connect up to two AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones

04:57at the same time to otherwise only wired devices

05:00like airplane screens, as it's in the name,

05:03as well as like gym equipment and TVs.

05:05But here's the other really cool thing.

05:07Even with newer devices like my MacBook here,

05:09which of course support Bluetooth,

05:11if you plug one of these in,

05:12you can listen to or watch the same thing

05:15on two different AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones.

05:18And then of course, because this is also a receiver,

05:21you can plug this into other hardware,

05:22whether it's wired speakers, an old car stereo system,

05:26and then you can transmit your audio from your phone

05:28to those in order to listen to your music wirelessly.

05:31You can pick one of these up in white or black for $54.99.

05:35Now, returning to that Anker Nano that I just showed you,

05:38what if we added a wall charger to it?

05:41Well, that's exactly what this two-in-one hybrid charger is.

05:44It has the same 10,000 milliamp battery,

05:46but with a 65 watt wall charger built in.

05:49Now, as you can imagine,

05:50this does add a considerable amount of weight

05:53and size to the Nano,

05:55but if you're already planning on carrying

05:56a power brick as well,

05:58as an all-in-one solution that has a power bank

06:01and a charger that can charge basically

06:03all of my devices, including this MacBook,

06:06this thing is awesome.

06:07When Apple announced that the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max

06:12were getting native log video recording,

06:14I was super excited.

06:16The ProRes log that you can capture with this is incredible.

06:19There's one downside though.

06:21The files are absolutely massive.

06:23One minute of 4K, 30 frames per second

06:25takes about six gigabytes of storage,

06:27which is why you may want to pick up

06:29one of these external SSDs like this Crucial X6,

06:33two terabyte that I have,

06:34as iPhones now support recording

06:37directly to external sources.

06:39For its speed, size, and reliability,

06:41this is one of the best choices under $100,

06:44not to mention for under $80,

06:46where this is pretty much the only brand name

06:48that you can find today.

06:54And now to wrap this video up,

06:55we have the AirPods Pro 2,

06:58something that we've seen make its way

06:59into this video a few times already.

07:02Now, honestly, I was a bit skeptical at first

07:03when upgrading to the AirPods Pro 2 from the AirPods Pro.

07:07Sound quality hasn't really changed,

07:09but there's a few other updates that make this

07:11my favorite pair of earbuds.

07:13Aside from increasing its battery life

07:15from four and a half hours to six hours,

07:17its noise cancellation is way better

07:19when I'm commuting throughout the city.

07:20And also, when I've got these in,

07:23I'm at work, I'm down the street,

07:24I'm trying to talk to someone,

07:26I no longer have to take these out as much

07:28just to hear what the other person is saying.

07:30And because of how small and easy this is to lose,

07:32we now have Apple Find My built in,

07:34as well as a speaker,

07:36which helps you relocate these much more quickly.

07:38Of course, quick pairing between your iPhone,

07:40your MacBook, and your other Apple devices

07:42is the cherry on top.

07:44These are usually $250,

07:46but they're $60 off now,

07:47bringing the price down to $189.99,

07:51which, for what this offers,

07:53makes this an exceptional deal at under $200.

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