Samsung Qi Wireless Fast Charger Charging Pad Special Edition W/wall Charger Reviews
The inquiry
- Why you should trust me
- Who this is for
- How we picked
- How we tested
- Our option: Belkin Boost Charge Wireless Charging Stand 10W
- Upgrade option: Belkin Heave Charge Pro Portable Wireless Charger Pad with MagSafe Special Edition
- Budget picks: Anker PowerWave Base Pad and PowerWave Stand up
- What if y'all utilize a wallet case for your phone?
- Other practiced Qi wireless chargers
- The competition
Why you lot should trust me
I've been covering power accessories since 2011 and reviewing them for Wirecutter since 2015. Over the years I've checked out more than 1,000 products, including early wireless-charging devices. I researched and wrote Wirecutter's get-go guide to Qi chargers in 2017 and have been consistently testing new models and updating the guide since. I as well wrote our guide to Qi power banks, battery packs that use the same wireless technology, and I'grand the author of Wirecutter's guides to multiport USB wall chargers and car chargers. In short, I've seen and tested pretty much every available charging variation.
Who this is for
A wireless charger is for anyone who owns a smartphone that supports the Qi wireless-charging standard and would like to accuse it without having to plug a cord into the phone itself. With a Qi charger, y'all just residual your device on the charging pad to ability information technology up. Information technology'south a matter of convenience: You lot don't accept to fuss with physically plugging in and unplugging a cable, and y'all reduce vesture and tear on the charging port. If your telephone doesn't accept a headphone jack, a wireless charger also frees upwardly the Lightning connector or USB-C port so you tin can employ wired headphones while charging.
"Wireless" is a chip of a misnomer, though, considering you still accept to plug the charging pad into a USB port or wall outlet. "Magnetic charging" may be a better term considering Qi uses magnetic coils to transfer energy and power your device, just nosotros'll stick with "wireless" hither because information technology's so commonly accepted.
Qi (pronounced "chee") is the wireless-charging standard from the Wireless Ability Consortium, an industry group with more than 220 members including device manufacturers such as Apple tree and Samsung, accessory makers such equally Belkin and Mophie, and others. For a charger to be certified by the WPC, the manufacturer has to submit information technology to an authorized exam lab. Phones uniform with the Qi standard include all iPhones currently being sold, Samsung Milky way phones, and Google's high-terminate Pixel models.
If you want the fastest possible accuse, you demand to utilise a cable. Wireless charging is slower than wired charging, and the wattage listed on the charger doesn't necessarily signal how apace it will accuse. Affordable, wired 12 W USB chargers can accuse an iPhone at least 30% faster than a Qi charger can, while an eighteen or 20 Due west USB PD charger paired with Apple's USB-C to Lightning Cable tin can approach 50% faster. Qualcomm Quick Charge adapters tin exercise the same affair for many Android phones.
The other downside to wireless charging is that y'all can't choice up your phone and use it while information technology'due south charging, dissimilar with a cable connection. This makes wireless charging a improve selection for recharging overnight or for when you want to see the phone's display on your desk or in the kitchen, rather than for charging while you're watching Netflix, say, or scrolling through Twitter.
In 2020, still, Apple introduced its MagSafe charging and magnetic mounting organisation every bit part of the iPhone 12 lineup. Hidden magnets inside the phone allow you to connect supported accessories and (provided the charger is MagSafe-certified) charge it at up to 15 watts, in dissimilarity to 7.5 watts with Qi chargers. This magnetic-charging pattern ways you tin use the telephone while it's charging, and because the magnets ensure proper alignment, you don't have to worry well-nigh your telephone being out of place and not charging properly. In addition to MagSafe-certified chargers, you tin notice non-certified chargers that utilize the magnetic-alignment system but don't accept advantage of the faster charging speeds that MagSafe allows.
How we picked
A adept wireless charger should meet all of the post-obit basic criteria, which we used equally guidelines for our research:
- WPC certification: We considered simply those chargers that accept been certified by the WPC. This means that a charger has been tested and found to be both safe and in compliance with the Qi standard. If a wireless charger isn't certified, that doesn't necessarily hateful the charger is dangerous or noncompliant, only it'south all the same prudent to choose something that has been verified. Every bit of late January 2021, no MagSafe or MagSafe-way magnetic chargers have been certified by the WPC, so we gave brands in that category with an exemplary track tape (including Apple and RAVPower) the benefit of the doubtfulness.
- Charging speed: For our top picks, nosotros focused on chargers that provided fast charging to most phones. The Qi one.2 standard supports charging speeds of up to xv watts (9 volts, i.67 amps), merely 7.five W and 10 Westward chargers are more common correct now. iPhones can charge at speeds of upwardly to 7.5 W via regular Qi charging or fifteen W with an Apple tree-certified MagSafe Charger. Many Android phones can do up to x W, and some even support xv W charging. Since 5 Westward chargers are slower, we considered them only as a low-cost selection.
- Design: This benchmark includes non only how the charging pad looks, merely also how grippy its surface is for property a telephone in place. We prefer stands to pads because they allow yous to see and collaborate with your telephone'due south screen while information technology's charging, but nosotros included both styles in our inquiry to address all needs. This element besides includes extras such every bit charging-indicator lights.
- Noise: Some chargers nosotros tested put out a faint (and sometimes not then faint) whine or clicking noise, which quickly became annoying. We listened for this sound in our tests and noted any problems.
- Ability source: For single-device wireless chargers, we tested only those models that use a standard connection (Micro-USB is the most common, but we're seeing USB-C more often) and come bundled with an AC adapter. Cords with proprietary connections are more hard and expensive to supervene upon. We fabricated an exception for units that charge both a phone and an Apple Watch, since they exclusively use small, round "butt jacks" that could come in a variety of sizes. (As well, as with wired charging, the wall adapter matters: Lower-power adapters produce slower charging speeds or, in some cases, don't power the charger at all.)
- Maker reputation: Nosotros considered models just from companies that we knew had a proficient reputation for warranty coverage and customer support. Fifty-fifty if a charger is WPC-certified, you have no guarantee that it will never have a problem, and you should be able to become help if you demand it.
- Toll: The near expensive single-device charger we researched was $seventy, but many sell for $35 or less and provide similar performance. Because the more expensive models don't offer actress features or promise faster rates, we skipped them, opting to focus on the lower end of the price range.
How we tested
We tested the functioning of each Qi charger by separately putting each fully drained phone (we used an iPhone 13 and an LG V30) into aeroplane mode then placing information technology on the charging pad. If a charger came with its own wall adapter, we used it. If a charger came with only a USB cablevision, we plugged it into an 18 W USB-A or 20 W USB-C wall adapter.
Nosotros measured the phone's bombardment level after 30 minutes and then once again after an hour had elapsed. Any reputable Qi charger will fully accuse whatsoever telephone in a few hours, and certainly overnight, so nosotros were instead looking for differences in short-term charging. I outset tested everything at my desk-bound, but if I heard a sound that could potentially be disruptive, I also tested the charger in my bedroom at night, sleeping with it about ii feet from my caput to see if the noise would interfere with my slumber.
Our pick: Belkin Boost Charge Wireless Charging Stand 10W
Our option
Stand-style Qi chargers are more than convenient than flat pads and easier to properly marshal, and the Belkin Heave Charge Wireless Charging Stand up 10W is the best 1 we've establish for people who are looking to charge wirelessly without having to buy an Air conditioning adapter or any other actress pieces. No other stand-style charger we tested for this guide charges iPhone or Android devices faster, and the WPC has certified that this model meets industry safety standards. Its design is basic and won't look out of place in most settings, whether information technology's stationed on your desk or adjacent to your bed. And because it doesn't brand whatsoever noise while charging and its status light is hidden behind your telephone, it won't disrupt your slumber.
The Wireless Charging Stand 10W beat out most other chargers nosotros tested in pure functioning, charging our fully depleted iPhone 13 to about twenty% after thirty minutes and roughly 37% to 50% after an hour. A few competitors—such as the RAVPower Magnetic Wireless Charger (RP-WC012) and Anker PowerWave 2 Stand—were similarly fast, and only Apple's far more expensive MagSafe Charger and Belkin'due south Boost Charge Pro Portable Wireless Charger Pad were faster. The upshot is that this Belkin stand charger volition easily charge your phone overnight or keep it topped off as you lot come and get from your desk. The fastest wired chargers are almost twice every bit speedy, but the Wireless Charging Stand 10W'due south performance was impressive when we compared it with that of other wireless chargers.
Belkin's plastic stand has a footprint of almost four past 4 inches, with safety strips on the underside that provide grip. It stands about 5 inches tall and leans back xx degrees, assuasive y'all to hands view the telephone'due south screen (and even unlock it with facial recognition, if your telephone has that feature). Whether you become the stand in black or white, it'southward pretty apparently looking, and that's a good thing because in near settings it won't stand out equally an obvious tech gadget.
Unlike a pad, which requires you lot to marshal your telephone correctly to brainstorm charging, stands like the Wireless Charging Stand 10W ensure that your phone is always lined up with the charging coils. And on this Belkin model, you can even charge your telephone in landscape orientation, which is useful if y'all're watching video.
The Wireless Charging Stand 10W makes for a good bedside accessory. This model is silent while charging, unlike the Anker PowerWave Pad with its audible fan and other chargers that whir, hum, or click. And the condition light is rather small, simply an LED pinprick that glows rather than casts calorie-free, so it won't illuminate your whole room.
This model uses a standard Micro-USB cable for power and ships with a iv-foot cable and a 24 W Quick Charge three.0 power adapter. Those two additions make information technology a neat value (some Qi chargers come with but the cable, not the adapter), too equally a more convenient pick than chargers that employ proprietary Air conditioning adapters, such equally the Anker PowerWave II Stand. If yous lose or break the cablevision or adapter, yous tin can easily and inexpensively replace either part.
Belkin offers a standard two-year warranty on this charger. That's more than the 12 or 18 months of coverage that most companies offer, and information technology'due south particularly great given the Wireless Charging Stand 10W'southward depression cost. Unlike with some of Belkin'south more premium products, however, connected devices (in this case, the phone you lot're charging on the stand) are not covered nether the warranty.
Flaws just not dealbreakers
The Belkin Boost Charge Wireless Charging Stand 10W works merely when connected to a Quick Charge 3.0 USB charger with at least xviii W of power, such every bit the one that comes in the box. In our tests, the stand wouldn't work at all when continued to standard USB chargers that provided 5 W to 12 W of power (at 5 V). This limitation could exist annoying if you lot lose or break the included charger, since you can't merely replace information technology with some other USB brick you may have lying around. Just we call back the wall charger is unlikely to suspension since information technology's a well-congenital device meant to be kept in ane place, unlike a power bank or even a wired charger that you lot may travel with. And even if something does happen to it, the whole package is protected past Belkin's warranty.
Every bit with all charging stands, this pad'due south whorl is too high on the stand to accuse anything that isn't roughly telephone-shaped. So if y'all have a smaller accessory, such as AirPods in their wireless charging case, nosotros recommend getting a horizontal wireless charging pad instead.
Belkin indicates on its website that the Wireless Charging Stand 10W is not compatible with the iPhone 12 mini. In our tests the stand charged this telephone without upshot, but it's possible you may not get the fastest speeds with that atomic handset.
Upgrade pick: Belkin Heave Accuse Pro Portable Wireless Charger Pad with MagSafe Special Edition
Upgrade pick
If you take an iPhone 12 or afterward and want a wireless charger that lets you use your telephone while it'due south charging—or yous just want the fastest wireless charging you can get—we recommend Belkin's Boost Charge Pro Portable Wireless Charger Pad with MagSafe Special Edition. The magnetic puck is faster than any other wireless charger we've tested, including Apple tree'southward MagSafe Charger, and information technology automatically aligns itself when you're using a bare iPhone or a case with MagSafe-style magnets. An embedded kickstand on the back folds out, if you want to position your telephone in landscape orientation while information technology's charging. The Belkin charger is more than expensive than the Apple MagSafe Charger, though, and you have to provide your own wall adapter.
MagSafe-certified chargers (as opposed to generic magnetic wireless chargers) offer ii major benefits: perfect alignment and fast, 15-watt charging. But they're even so few and far betwixt. This Belkin charger is one of the few third-party options available.
In our speed tests using an iPhone thirteen, the Heave Charge Pro Portable Wireless Charger Pad was faster than any wireless charger we've ever tested, including our top pick and even Apple'southward ain MagSafe charger. It charged a fully depleted battery to 34% later on 30 minutes and 67% in an hour, compared with Apple's MagSafe charger's 57% in an hour.
The Boost Charge Pro Portable Wireless Charger Pad is a 2.3-inch-diameter, 0.six-inch-thick plastic puck with a 79-inch-long braided USB-C cord, and it magnetically snaps to the dorsum of a bare MagSafe-equipped iPhone or one in a case that has the right magnets congenital in. This means yous don't need to worry about getting the alignment right, which is a existent business organization with pad-style chargers. Phones that don't have MagSafe built in, including older iPhones and Android phones, can nevertheless charge on the Belkin. But y'all have to be precise in how you place them on the puck or utilize a MagSafe ring adapter.
Belkin'southward inclusion of a kickstand on the dorsum is a nice touch because it lets you lot prop up your phone in mural orientation, which is user-friendly if yous desire to scout a movie or stream YouTube while your telephone charges. Since information technology folds flat, it doesn't get in the way when non in use. The fabric-covered cablevision besides helps justify the price because it should hold up to wear and tear better than a standard rubber-coated cablevision. And since the cable is so long, the silicone cablevision strap Belkin has fastened to the cable is peculiarly handy for keeping any extra length tamed.
Just like Apple, Belkin does not include the 20 Westward USB-C wall charger y'all need to power the Boost Charge Pro—information technology's $xx if you buy Apple'southward version, or about one-half that if you choose ane of our every bit fast and much smaller picks. That means the whole bundle will price about $seventy to $75 if you lot don't already have a wall charger.
Belkin covers the Boost Charge Pro Portable Wireless Charger Pad with a 24-month warranty, and although the Belkin charger isn't WPC-certified, neither is any other magnetic charging puck (including Apple tree's own MagSafe Charger) at this writing. Belkin has a proven history when it comes to Qi chargers, though, then we're comfortable recommending this charger even without the certification.
Upkeep picks: Anker PowerWave Base Pad and PowerWave Stand
Budget pick
The Anker PowerWave Base Pad and Anker PowerWave Stand are the most affordable WPC-certified chargers we've tried from a reputable visitor. Compared with our meridian picks or a wired charger, they are dull to charge a phone, but they're ideal for overnight charging or other scenarios that aren't time-sensitive. Neither model comes with an Ac adapter, but you tin can utilize a USB charger like the ones you normally use to charge a telephone or tablet, or purchase one separately. All of the other chargers we tested that don't include wall plugs are more expensive, at which bespeak you might as well buy one of our picks that come with a wall plug.
In our tests (which we conducted using a Quick Accuse 3.0 AC adapter), both the PowerWave Base Pad and the PowerWave Stand charged a fully drained iPhone 13 battery to a little nether 15% subsequently 30 minutes and 30% later an hour. (Anker claims the Base Pad can charge the latest iPhones at vii.5-watt speeds with a QC 3.0 adapter, but our testing showed that not to be the case; nosotros plant the results to be consequent with those from a 5-watt charger.) This is a slow charging rate, specially compared with those of our other picks, which brought the iPhone 13 to 20% in 30 minutes and most 40% in an hr. But these Anker chargers are about value, and they work with the Ac adapters or USB chargers you may already have; yous can even plug them into a USB port on your computer. If you need speed or don't take a spare USB wall plug, go with the Belkin Heave Charge Wireless Charging Stand up 10W.
The Anker PowerWave Stand is mostly plastic, with prophylactic on the lesser to forbid it from moving. Like other stand up-style chargers, it holds your telephone at an angle, which lets you easily use Confront ID on iPhones that support the characteristic. A small blueish indicator-calorie-free ring on the supportive lower ledge lets you know when it'south charging.
The PowerWave Base Pad is a rounded rectangle measuring vi inches long, 3 inches wide, and near one-half an inch thick. Information technology's grippy plenty on elevation to concur a bare phone in identify, only information technology's non tacky, and the aforementioned prophylactic cloth on the lesser holds the charger itself in identify. A tiny blue LED glows to betoken when the charger is engaged. Neither charger makes any noise during utilize.
Anker offers an 18-calendar month warranty merely doesn't provide an option to extend that coverage period, every bit RAVPower does on its warranty. Though we've never had an upshot in our years of using Anker charging pads, when our staff has had to have reward of Anker's protection on other devices, they've found the service to be quick and painless. We've heard the aforementioned from readers. Anker's Qi accessories do have some negative owner reviews on Amazon (every bit do most chargers). But buying from a reputable brand with a good warranty ways that if something does go wrong, you'll be taken care of.
What if you utilise a wallet instance for your phone?
If you lot use a phone case that provides storage on the dorsum for credit cards and cash, a wireless charger may not be for you. Some wallet cases are likewise thick to activate wireless charging on some chargers, and metal credit cards, which are becoming more popular, can also cake charging.
Other skilful Qi wireless chargers
If our superlative pick goes out of stock or jumps in cost: Anker's PowerWave II Stand is a great culling to the Belkin Boost Charge Wireless Charging Stand 10W. It charges just as quickly, and the price is about the same. We decided not to go far our option considering it uses a proprietary butt-manner charging plug rather than Micro-USB; as a result, the cable and attached wall charger are more hard to replace if necessary.
If y'all desire a more affordable magnetic charger: We recommend RAVPower'due south Magnetic Wireless Charger (RP-WC012). Although it charges at almost half the speed of the Belkin we recommend, it costs one-half every bit much, and that cost includes a wall adapter.
The contest
Apple's MagSafe Charger charges at a slower rate than the Belkin magnetic wireless charger nosotros recommend, and it is more expensive than the RAVPower RP-WC012. You're better off choosing 1 of the other models nosotros recommend by determining if speed or toll is the near important gene to you lot.
The Nimble Apollo Wireless Pad charged an iPhone 12 just a petty slower than the RAVPower RP-WC012 in our tests. It looks more like a traditional pad-style charger merely there are magnets inside, and so it's piece of cake to marshal MagSafe-equipped iPhones and keep them in place. The charger is also made of recycled materials, which we appreciate. Nosotros have two qualms, all the same: the high toll tag (although a 20W wall charger is included, then it's a consummate package) and the lack of WPC-certification.
ESR'southward HaloLock Magnetic Wireless Charger is a pad-manner charger with built-in magnets, then if y'all're using a MagSafe-capable phone, you don't take to worry about misalignment. Information technology was far slower than other chargers in our testing, though, hitting just a 30% charge subsequently an hour. Information technology also lacks a ability adapter.
If you lot prefer your phone to prevarication flat while it'due south charging, the RAVPower Fast Wireless Charger (RP-PC058) is a bully option. It has the same 10-watt charging whorl as the upright Belkin Boost Charge Wireless Charging Stand 10W, then it tin charge your phone just as rapidly, and it comes with the same cable and AC adapter. Y'all might prefer a pad-manner charger because they're by and large less expensive than equally fast stand-style chargers, or if you'd rather not be tempted to await at your screen once you lot've set your telephone downwardly, but a stand up charger is probable to be more useful for most people.
Spigen'southward SteadiBoost Flex Wireless Charger is a transforming charger, meaning information technology can work as a stand or fold apartment to act as a pad. In our testing it matched the fastest non-MagSafe charging speeds we've recorded for both iPhones and Android devices. It doesn't come up with a power brick, though, and it typically costs nigh equally much as the Belkin Boost Accuse Wireless Charging Stand 10W, which does have a ability brick. If y'all need both a stand and a pad, this charger is worth the money, just nearly people volition exist served well enough past one or the other.
Anker's PowerWave Sense Pad Alloy charged apace in our tests, and it comes with a cablevision and a Quick Charge 3.0 charger. Its metal body and textile-lined surface expect quite nice, too, only this Anker charger is expensive for a pad-style charger, then we advise that y'all get it only if the price drops or if you're willing to pay for the aesthetics.
Like the Anker PowerWave 2 Stand, the Anker PowerWave II Pad charges more slowly than competitors, and instead of a USB charger, it uses a proprietary AC charger that you tin't replace as easily if necessary. Nosotros also institute the pad to be besides slick. The PowerWave ten Stand with ii USB-A Ports version runs at the aforementioned speeds and has the same kind of power source, but information technology offers the added benefit of ii USB ports with a combined 12-watt output.
Anker's PowerWave Pad is our quondam budget pick, but it's a picayune slower than the PowerWave Base Pad, which is bachelor for the aforementioned price.
The Samsung EP-NG930 was our previous favorite stand, but it's slower than better models and doesn't wait as prissy.
The iOttie iON Wireless Plus Fast Charging Pad is one of the improve-looking Qi chargers nosotros've tested. Just it was slower than other models in our tests, and when it wasn't charging, the unit emitted a quiet, intermittent beep that may annoy people who accept astute hearing. iOttie's stand up version of the charger is as handsome, and we didn't hear any noises coming from that model. Only information technology charged both an iPhone XR and an LG V30 more slowly than other chargers did.
Prior models
The Logitech Powered for iPhone charging stand unremarkably costs several times more than the chargers we recommend, yet it lacks the power to charge that much faster. The permanently fastened cablevision gives y'all less flexibility in swapping it out if something goes wrong.
The Belkin Heave Upward Bold Wireless Charging Pad 10W was slower than much less expensive chargers in our tests, and the pad emitted a high-pitched coil whine. Belkin told us that our examination results did not reverberate the data from its ain testing and that "[Belkin's] charging pads are performing slightly better vs. the latest competition." Merely even if the operation were better, we don't remember the charger would be worth its relatively high price.
The Mophie Accuse Stream Pad Mini is the smallest Qi charger we've tested, and information technology performed pretty well, but it was nevertheless slower than competitors.
The Twelve South PowerPic is the about cleverly designed Qi charger nosotros've come up across. The charging surface is subconscious inside an bonny movie frame, allowing you lot to display a five-by-7-inch photo when you're not charging. Thanks to this blueprint, the PowerPic can blend into your home improve than accessories with the standard techy wait. It'due south expensive, though, peculiarly because it doesn't come with a wall adapter. And information technology's not especially fast: Our tests showed results in line with those of a 5-watt charger, despite the 10-watt listing.
With the Case-Mate Wireless Power Pad and its included plastic stand, yous can charge your phone in a flat or angled position. Its charging speeds were pretty much in line with our expectations. But the price, usually about double what our favorite Qi chargers cost, is simply too much for what this model offers.
The Satechi Wireless Charging Pad looks nice but isn't as grippy on top as better chargers. It also doesn't come up with a wall adapter, so you lot demand to provide your own. Information technology took longer to accuse an iPhone than the fastest chargers nosotros tested.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-qi-wireless-charger-for-iphone-and-android-phones/
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