Journey ALTI Lift Review: A smart desk mat with 15W Qi2 wireless charging

At a glance

Expert rating

Benefits

• Fully adjustable 15W iPhone charger
• Two different surfaces
• The cargo mat can be attached to the left or right
• Hidden place for notes

Disadvantages

• No power supply included
• Not for open offices

Our Verdict

The stylish Journey ALTI Lift Wireless Desk Mat not only creates a calm, uncluttered workspace at home or office that looks and feels great, but also serves as a convenient fast charging station for your favorite Apple devices.

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Desk mats, like mouse pads, seem like a thing of the past when today they’re just yoga mats, but desk mats are much smarter than yesterday’s executive desk organizers.

The Journey ALTI Lift Wireless Charging Desk Mat is the latest addition to Journey’s ALTI line, and the latest version includes a tilting fast charging stand for your iPhone, placing it within easy reach for voice and video calls, as well as messaging while you work on your Mac or MacBook desktop.

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Design

Available in black or beige gray (ignore the boring name, it’s actually a pretty sand color), the ALTI Lift Wireless Charging Desk Mat measures 28.7 x 14.6 inches (73 x 37 cm), with a height of 0.16 inches (4 mm), so not for offices with an open desk policy.

You can alternate between the cool leather side and a warmer felt side, depending on your mood. The charger itself is covered in matching vegan leather. Non-slip stickers keep the mat securely in place during use.

The double-sided mat keeps your keyboard and mouse in place, but the real action happens sideways, on either side, again depending on your preference or right-handedness/left-handedness.

Simon Jarry

The loading side panel is 9.5cm wide and attaches magnetically to the main section (see above).

At the top of this panel, the iPhone holder can be rotated and tilted, and will charge wirelessly at the Qi2’s full 15W power, twice as fast as the previous 7.5W flat wireless charger (MagSafe compatible). ALTI Wireless Charging Desk Mat And Thin version, but the same as the 15W (MagSafe certified) ALTI Super Fast Wireless Charging Desk Mat and illuminates ALTI Play (Black only). The company also sells a MacBook sleeve that incorporates wireless charging; see our Journey Nexa review.

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All previous Journey ALTI desk mats have had flat pads for iPhone charging, and the new fully rotatable “Lift” adjustment by pull is the biggest benefit of this update. The claimed 360-degree rotation is achieved in 180-degree clockwise and counterclockwise rotations, with the charger turning to face you or someone sitting opposite.

The phone can also be laid flat to minimize distractions.

A small recess lower on the side panel houses another wireless charger (5W) for the AirPods case. You can (slowly) charge a second iPhone here instead. Apple Watch owners will have to look elsewhere: we recommend the best Apple Watch chargers elsewhere.

Simon Jarry

On previous ALTI models, there was a white LED at the top to indicate whether the entire charger is active or if any of the devices inside it are currently charging. This is not a feature of the ALTI Lift.

You won’t eliminate all the clutter, because even wireless chargers need to be connected to power: only the phone-charger part is wireless. This means the included 1.5m cable needs to be connected to a USB-C wall or desktop charger. You can plug the ALTI’s cable into the Thunderbolt port of a powered MacBook, which can deliver a total of 15W. That’s theoretically enough to match the wireless charger’s maximum power, but you’ll probably lose a few watts in the process. A better plan would be to follow Journey’s advice to use a USB-C charger of at least 30W. Check out our list of recommended USB-C chargers.

Recommended Reading: Are Qi2 Wireless Charging and the Latest Qi2.2 Better Than MagSafe?

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To keep your workspace tidy, you can store a small number of documents between the layers of the mat to keep your workspace tidy. Don’t forget to put them there!

There’s even a magnetic ring included to allow non-MagSafe phones to charge wirelessly. This is something that iPhone 16e users can benefit from, as this phone doesn’t officially support MagSafe, although it does in fact work with MagSafe chargers.

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Price

The Journey ALTI Lift is sold exclusively through the company’s online store and costs $149.99 / £119.99 / CA$179.99 / AU$169.99 / €139.99, which at first glance seems rather expensive, and it’s certainly not pocket change.

However, Journey’s well-designed solution is the best we’ve seen and of course includes a 2-in-1 wireless charger, including a 15W charging stand on an interchangeable side panel. You will, however, need to provide your own wall charger.

If you purchase the Journey ALTI Lift Wireless Charging Desk Mat

The stylish Journey ALTI Lift Wireless Desk Mat not only creates a quiet, uncluttered (stationary) workspace at home or office that looks and feels great, but also serves as a convenient fast charging station for your favorite Apple devices. It’s not cheap, but it doesn’t look cheap either, and its built-in charging functionality is second to none.