Journey Alti Play Desk Mat review
The Alti Play Desk Mat is a utility-oriented desk mat and charging system for your desk, although at a steep price.
Desk-wide mats create a productive workspace, whether gaming or doing office work. The Alti combines a high-quality mat with an RGB charging strip to brighten and refresh your workspace.
Journey is an Australia-based consumer tech company that specializes in chargers and lifestyle tech.
Journey Alti Play Desk Mat – Design
Out of the box, the Alti comes with the mat, the charging pad, and a 1.5-meter USB-C cable. Assuming you already have a charger at your desk, you can plug the Alti’s charging pad into your USB-C hub, dock, or other power source.
The mat itself has a sleek black design, with the top side made from lycra for smooth mouse movement and rubber on the bottom to keep it on the desk.
Journey Alti Play Desk Mat review: It’s pretty portable once you roll it up.
The charging pad is magnetic, snapping onto the mat through the plastic edge on it. It also features a 15W Qi2 charging pad and a 5W pad for AirPods.
The RGB settings can be controlled by two buttons on the side of the charging pad. Press for 3 seconds on the lower button for on/off, press the upper button to cycle colors, lower for modes, and hold the lower button to cycle through brightness.
With a combined width of 100 cm (40 inches), the mat and the charging pad take up nearly the entire width of my desk.
Journey Alti Play Desk Mat review: The mat provides a large, clean space to get work done.
Journey Alti Play Desk Mat – Specs
| Product Detail | Spec |
|---|---|
| USB-C Input | USB-C DC 5V/2A, 9V/3A, 12V/2.5A |
| USB-C Output | USB-C 20W max |
| Fast wireless charging for iPhones | 15W (Max) (Qi2 Enabled) |
| Wireless charging for earbuds/AirPods | 5W (Max) |
| RGB LED output | 1.3W max |
| LED Lifetime | 50,000 hours |
| Colour Temperature | 1200K – 6500K |
| Mat Section Dimensions | 900(L) mm x 400(W) mm x 4(H) mm |
| Charging Panel Dimensions | 400(L) mm x 100(W) mm x 7(H) mm |
| Weight | 1681g |
| Device Compatibility | iPhone 12 and onwards, wireless charging-enabled Android phones, wireless charging-enabled earbuds, and AirPods/AirPods Pro |
Journey Alti Play Desk Mat – Use
To me, the mat taking up so much space is, surprisingly, a positive. It motivated me to keep my workspace clear and organized.
It’s also genuinely an upgrade from my older mat, which accumulated dust and blemishes far more easily than the lycra mat. The Alti’s rubber underside has also made it nearly immovable.
Journey Alti Play Desk Mat review: Detail shot of the rubber padding on the back.
I recommend having a desk vacuum to help clean it off, since the rubber-heavy material made me cautious to throw it in the wash, which I didn’t hesitate to do with my previous all-cloth mat.
The RGB is a great touch if you have other accessories to match it with, like a keyboard or desk light. Realistically, I can’t imagine getting the Alti as a standalone if it’s the only product with RGB on your desk.
Despite the large footprint, it reduces clutter when it comes to charging space. It’s convenient to enter my room and be able to drop off my AirPods and iPhone to charge as soon as I pass my desk.
The charging speed is standard as per the spec, but the convenience is more about how seamless it feels to leave your devices on the pad when you’re stationary. The charging pad also incidentally does a good job of keeping your phone out of sight since it’s relegated to my peripheral vision when I’m looking at my monitor.
Journey Alti Play Desk Mat review: The charging pad gives your AirPods and iPhone their own space.
Journey Alti Play Desk Mat – A unique take on a premium desk accessory
The Alti is a quality desk mat with a nice wireless charging component. It brings convenience, organization, and a bit of flare to your desk.
After a few weeks of use, it has held up well for daily life and productive and recreational uses of my desk.
Of course, the asking price of $139.99 is a lot when you can probably buy an RGB strip, mat, and MagSafe charger all separately for less. The value of the Alti is that it wraps up all three of these things into a cohesive and pretty unique product.
Whether that’s for you depends on the size of your desk, budget, or even if you already have a wireless charger for your desk.
Journey Alti Play Desk Mat Pros
- Premium materials
- Multi-device charging
- Practical workspace
Journey Alti Play Desk Mat Cons
- Expensive
- Needs seperate USB-C charger
- Only for larger desks
Rating: 3 out of 5
Where to buy the Journey Alti Play Desk Mat
The Journey Alti Play Desk Mat is available on the Journey store and $139.99, and on BestBuy for $149.99.
