Travelling with tech can be a whole lot of fun, and the best devices can make your experience on the move drastically better. Still, you have to stay on your toes – and keep a careful eye on the horizon in case a device comes along that could improve your setup.
I just found exactly that sort of device, in the form of the Twelve South Butterfly charger. It's a fantastic little bit of design that has exactly the pair of chargers I need on every trip, and I already know I'll be using it for years to come.
The Butterfly is a sort of clamshell which you can open to uncover its two charging points. One is a simple magnetic 15W charger for your phone or any earbuds that have wireless charging. The other side holds a flip-up Apple Watch charger, meaning this is really only something to buy if you're an Apple user.
I happen to be one of those, though, and this means I can take the Butterfly with me instead of two separate chargers for my phone and watch. In fact, this means my travel charging kit is now just a single 45W plug (Anker's latest Nano charger), a USB-C cable that can handle my laptop, Nintendo Switch 2 and more, and then the Butterfly, which can plug into that cable overnight for my phone and watch.
That's the sort of simple packing list that I can really get behind, and it's made even safer if I throw in another Anker power bank as an insurance policy. Twelve South's design and build quality stand out, though – the Butterfly is exceptionally well-made.
There's no point ignoring that it also carries a fair whack of a price tag to match, though, at £90 or $100. That makes it a luxury purchase for sure – something that you should only buy if you're really keen to rationalise your packing as much as possible. For those with some budget to spare, though, it's in the top bracket.
It also underlines how impressive Twelve South is for discerning travellers and tech-lovers. Its gadgets are pricy, but they really are extremely reliable and high-quality. Survey the T3 staff, for one thing, and you'll find quite a few of them using AirFly Pro for Bluetooth audio on planes, for example – so you can just add the Butterfly to that list.
