Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
If you work on the go a caboodle , the Journey Nexa is a fantastic protective laptop sleeve for your MacBook – ply you are willing to pay its damage . The craftsmanship is outstanding , and there are two incorporate wireless chargers for the iPhone and AirPods . A match USB - coke cable is included , but the case has no extra storage space for it or any other accessary . To get the maximum charging power out of it , you will also need an additional baron supply or one with multiple ports .
Every few years , there ’s a gadget that create me call back , “ Yes , that ’s glorious , I want that ! ” Most recently it was theSony SRS - XB23 , an invisible , cylindrical Bluetooth loudspeaker system that won me over with a single product photo . The Bluetooth speaker equip perfectly in the cup bearer of an modal camping chairperson – perfect for festivals .
And at the end of 2023 , it was the Journey Nexa , a laptop computer sleeve made of contrived leather and other material . Relatively inconspicuous at first glimpse , it has an incredibly clever trick at 2nd glance : two wireless chargers integrated into the protective cover , on which you’re able to charge a smartphone and wireless earpiece ( or two smartphones very , very slowly ) .
The Nexa laptop computer arm is a wandering berth aspiration . It is the mobile counterpart to the multifunctional desk pad Journey Alti , which in play is more suitable for fixed workstations . After being sold out for a while , the Journey Nexa is finally back in stock and I was able to examine it extensively . It ’s just as undecomposed as I ’d hoped , although it does n’t number without its quirks .
Eugen Wegmann
Journey Nexa: Design & workmanship
The Journey Nexa looks classy but is still largely inconspicuous . It get along in two version , for 13/14 - inch and 15/16 - inch laptop – basically , all Apple laptop computer . you may choose between two colors , contraband and light gray . In this limited review , I took a tightlipped look at the small black version made to correspond a 13 - column inch M1 MacBook Pro .
The craftsmanship is but great . The seam are clear , there are no creases or other obtrusive quirks , and the materials feel very high - caliber .
The pillowcase consists of two halves sewn together and therefore pass around open like a declamatory envelope when open up . The surface of the lower one-half is made of a kind of cloth , and the upper half of artificial leather . The miserable one-half is significantly longer , because at its death is the tizzy with the two chargers , which is also address with imitation leather and holds magnetically to the other one-half when closed .
The Nexa is generally design so that it lies on the material - alike side with the leather side face upwards , as this is the only way the chargers will also face upwards .
The element with the chargers is comparatively blockheaded : while the foundation is slightly thicker than a USB - C port , a few mm are added for the two chargers that protrude from the dither .
The Nexa is explicitly a sleeve and not a udder . That ’s why there is no extra store space for cable , a charger , a shiner , or an adapter – not even the USB - C cable length provide fits in anywhere . If you are travel with a lot of accessories , you will have to stow them in a freestanding bag or invest in a small cable organizer . Journey advertises the Nexa as a 4 - in-1 merchandise : charger , protective cover , mouse pad , and desk pad . To my gratification , this is all true , but with some limitations .
Journey Nexa: Charger
The feature that sets the Nexa aside from other protective casing is the two mix courser . They are plan for the iPhone and Airpods , but they are also compatible with other smartphones and in - auricle headphones that support wireless charging . The round charger for smartphones has the exact dimensions of a MagSafe courser , and the orthogonal one is the sizing of the AirPods charge case .
The smartphone charger is only MagSafe - compatible , not MFi - certified . In praxis , this mean that the Nexa can not charge an iPhone comparatively rapidly with 15 Isaac Watts , but only with 7.5 watts , which is of course not very suitable for quickly supplying your iPhone with a great deal of world power when the barrage fire has just hunt down out , but for recharging it a little now and then or for long sessions .
With the “ real ” MagSafe , warm attracter are mix into it , which at least lock the iPhone utterly onto the hockey puck . Most Android smartphones that support wireless charging still lack the corresponding counterpart , which is why it is always a matter of luck whether you have placed the induction coils neatly on top of each other and can level as loss - gratuitous as potential .
The magnets are so strong that you could easy use your MacBook in your base as a wireless office bank for your iPhone , supply it is in a MagSafe case ; alas , my raw iPhone 15 Pro Max does not hold . Overall , however , this is but a squeamish side effect , as you may just as well connect your iPhone to your MacBook in your bag using a cable . If it is long enough , you’re able to even take it out of your grip and continue using your iPhone .
The same applies to the other charger : in possibility , you may at least use it to charge your AirPods Pro in your bag , as the charging pillow slip accommodate onto it well enough . With other phone , things do n’t see so secure . For example , the Sennheiser MTW3 and MTW4 have larger and heavier cases . In addition , the charismatic forces between the charger and the case are not as potent as with the AirPods , which is why they do not adhere very well to it unless the Nexa is lie flat on the table .
The two charger are not explicitly design for earpiece and smartphones . you may level your iPhone just as well on the rectangular courser and the AirPods on the round one or two pairs of headphone , even two smartphones at the same sentence ( at least if you fix up them in a T - shape ) .
The round one is the more powerful of the two and reaches the aforementioned 7.5 Isaac Watts , while the rectangular one only touch 5 watts . Android users have an advantage , however : compatible smartphones level on the puck at up to 15 watt , which is twice as fast as an iPhone .
Of naturally , all of this strike that you link up the Nexa to an external battery charger and not to the USB - C port on your MacBook , which supplies less tycoon . If you require to understate the number of supplement you have to carry with you , we recommend a sinewy power provision with at least two USB - C interface and at least 100 watts – one for the MacBook , one for the Nexa , which does n’t let in an adapter . Incidentally , the maximum power consumption of the Nexa is 30 watts , more than enough for two gimmick . What the Nexa all lacks is a charger for the Apple Watch .
Journey Nexa: Protective cover
inwardly , the two half are not symmetrical and consist of different layers . The simulated leather half is somewhat more set than the other one-half – presumptively conceal a thin level of credit card in spite of appearance – and is coated with a kind of microfibre on the interior . The textile side on the other side is much better cushioned and therefore softer and more pliable . The unlike textures of the two half are intended to make it placeable how a laptop computer should be come in at bottom : With the display half on the soft side and the keyboard half on the laborious side .
This creates a unusual trouble : If the Nexa is lying on the tabular array and you want to store your MacBook in it , you have to push it in “ upside down ” , i.e. with the display side facing down and the foot confront up . The same apply to unpack : you always take your MacBook out with the underside facing upwards and then have to twist it . Sure , it ’s just a simple cognitive process , but it ’s not very intuitive overall .
How you tuck the MacBook in the Nexa has an force on the protective role of the case in borderline case . I can well think that there is a load limit somewhere where the display is damaged in the case of a fall if the MacBook is inclose in the case improperly , whereas it would have rest intact if it had been inserted the proper fashion .
The gasbag design does work to bring home the bacon the MacBook with some protection . If the case with the MacBook inside body politic on the level , it fan out out ( minimally ! ) in a wedge configuration on impingement and sop up the military group completely via the flexibility of the two halves . The Macbook would probably not be damaged even from greater heights .
Incidentally , there ’s no need to talk about water and dust resistivity with the Nexa : the covert does n’t close completely , but allow a thumb - sized gap clear on both side of the flap . So if you are often out and about in the pelting , you should make certain that your traveling bag provides protective covering .
Journey Nexa: Mousepad and underlay
To use the Nexa as a desk lodgings , you simply place your MacBook on the leather side . Using it as a computer mouse stamp pad is middling cagey , if not flawless . Simply place your MacBook on the board and station the Nexa next to it and you have a huge mouse launch area . Although the cover is more than three times large than a ceremonious mouse pad , the height is barely noticeable . I have have much flimsy cloth and plastic computer mouse pads that were much more uncomfortable . The reason for this is the rounded edges over which the carpus and forearm can slide gently without getting stuck .
As with everything else , the leather side is intended as a shiner pad . My Logitech Lift has a fiddling more underground on it than on a textile or hard plastic gaming mouse inkpad , but this is still dead acceptable .
The fact that the leather side serves as a computer mouse pad also explains why there is a stiffer layer and why the MacBook has to be pushed in upside down : so that the mouse pad remain as flat as possible and does not curl . Unfortunately , this only works to a circumscribed extent in recitation . If your MacBook has been in the case overnight ( or even longer ) this layer twist inside and adopt a while to flatten out enough so that you do n’t feel like you ’re tug the mouse over a mountain .
For me , this have in mind that I use the Nexa as a basis for my MacBook for the first half hour in the position so that it is flattened again by the weight before I crowd it to the side and use it as a mouse inkpad . I do n’t acknowledge whether Journey can puzzle out the job , but it would be desirable .
Journey Nexa: Price and deliverables
Journey , as a premium or lifestyle brand of Alogic , is not precisely known for bargains . In this respect , it is hardly surprising that the Nexa costs a banging $ 130 , disregarding of the sizing . $ 130 for a laptop sleeve is a pretty centime when you consider that there are other more affordable sleeves . However , these are largely simple protective sleeves or bags ; according to my research , there are no other sleeves with integrated wireless charger on the mart apart from the Journey Nexa .
The scope of bringing is also quite straightforward : in addition to the laptop arm itself , it only comes with a USB - C cable system in a matching color ( contraband for the black and white-hot for the grey version ) , a few stickers , and the common paperwork .
Should you buy the Journey Nexa?
With the Journey Nexa , you pay for in effect design , high - quality workmanship , and its unequaled merchandising peak . Though I ca n’t currently say anything about its longevity ( I have a good feeling so far ) , I would purchase it again if it were to break out . However , if it started to fall apart in three months , I would almost surely vary my judgment . I can only give an unreserved purchase passport to those who can afford it . If you ’re on a stringent budget , you ’re probably better off with a inexpensive case . After all , the Nexa is a luxuriousness product that not everyone can , wants , or needs to afford .
For more MacBook traveling options , check out ourroundup of the good cases , sleeve , and bags .
This article in the beginning come out onMacweltand was translated byRoman Loyola .
This clause originally appeared on our sister publicationMacweltand was translated and localized from German .
