That portable battery holds 4,000mAh of power on its own. That’s not a ton, so you’ll likely want to recharge it (over microUSB) after every phone refill. Baubax CEO Hiral Sanghavi did say the company is still planning to refine the pack before launch, though.
Baubax also says those charging pads are machine washable, so you shouldn’t have any reason to fear your washing machine here.
On a base level, Baubax isn’t doing anything different than any other wireless charging solution. There’s a pad, a power source, and a compatible device. The difference is that the cables that connect all of this are integrated into the apparel.
While my demo wasn’t extensive, everything did work. I slid a case-covered iPhone into the pocket of a vest like the one above, and it started powering up a few seconds later. The natural worry is that things could come loose if you move too wildly, but, outside of making sure you insert the phone the right way, nothing about it felt particularly unnatural.