Wireless charging has been around for many years but consumers have started to use the technology not until recently. With growing popularity, majority of the manufacturers (Samsung, LG, etc) offer wireless charging in their flagship smartphones. Even Apple has started to offer wireless charging in iPhone 8 and iPhone X models. With Apple on-board, we can be sure that wireless charging is here to stay. If you have purchased wireless charging enabled smartphone, you will also need a wireless charger (if it was not included) to make use of this feature. Fortunately, there are many third party wireless chargers available in the market. Let’s check out the best wireless chargers that you need to consider before buying one.
How does Wireless Charging work?
Wireless charging allows you to charge your phone without connecting the power cable. The wireless charging requires a power transmitting pad (i.e. charger) and a receiver. The receiver is usually built-in to your smartphone but it can also be part of the phone case.
Wireless charging works based on inductive charging, which creates power by passing electric current through coils of charging pad to create electromagnetic field. The receiving magnetic plate creates magnetic field and generates electric current when the device comes into contact with charging pad.
There are two main standards for wireless charging: Qi (pronounced “Chee”) and Powermat. Luckily for you, Qi wireless charging standard has been adopted by majority of smartphone manufacturers so the choice is simple.
Things to consider
When shopping for a wireless charging pad, there are few things that you need to consider. Normally, the first thing you would have to consider is the charging standard (Qi vs Powermat), but we don’t need to worry about this because Qi has been adopted as the default standard in any smartphone. With Qi wireless chargers, the first thing to consider is the charging speed and power output as it can be slower than wired charging if you don’t pick the right one. For fast charging, you need to buy chargers that offer 10W (or 7.5W for iPhone) power output to reduce charging time. The other thing to consider is whether power adapter (QC 3.0) is included in the box as some cheaper options will require you to purchase the power adapter separately. The last thing to consider is the price as there are many options available and you can get all of the required features at different price points. For the purposes of this comparison, we will consider chargers that are affordable ($50 or lower) while offering the above mentioned features.
Comparison of the Competitors
Before we can look at the best system, let’s compare the competition so that you have a better look at the features and capabilities of the most popular wireless chargers available in the market.
| Feature\Device | Anker Powerport | Samsung Fast Wireless Charging Pad | RavPower Wireless Fast Charging Pad | Anker PowerWave Pad | Mophie Charge Stream Pad Plus | Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Pad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power output | 10W, 5W(iPhone) | 2A | 10W, 7.5W(iPhone) | 10W, 7.5W(iPhone) | 10W | 7.5W |
| Standard | Qi | Qi | Qi | Qi | Qi | Qi |
| Dimensions | 3.4" x 0.3" | 1.8” x 4.2” | 3.54" x 0.62" | 4.3” x 0.7” | 0.46″ x 3.82″ | 7.5″ x 1.75″ x 5.5″ |
| Weight | 4oz | 3.52oz | 4.8oz (136g) | 303g (10.7oz) | 4.8oz (136g) | 4.2oz (119g) |
| Cable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AC Adapter | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Price | $22 | $40 | $40 | $46 | $60 | $60 |
Based on the comparison above and keeping the considerations in mind, it is very clear that RavPower Wireless Fast Charging Pad is the best wireless charger you can buy right now. The RavPower charger offers 10W (7.5W for iPhone) power output, which is higher (7.5W vs 5W) than competitors if you are looking for an iPhone charger and RavPower is on par with more expensive competitors (Belkin, Mophie, etc).
| Charge Time | RavPower Wireless Fast Charging Pad | Mophie Wireless Charging Base | Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Pad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to 50 percent: | 1 hr and 15 min | 1 hr and 27 min | 1 hr and 51 min |
| Total time to 100 percent: | 2 hrs and 36 min | 3 hrs and 12 min | 3 hrs and 53 min |
According to the above comparison done by DigitalTrends, RavPower was found to be faster at charging than both Belkin and Mophie. The RavPower charger also includes 24W QC 3.0 Adapter in the box, which enables the fast charging on your smartphones. Given the lower price and faster charging speed, it is very clear that RavPower is the right option for anyone looking for a wireless charging pad.
I am officially a tech addict and enjoy providing my views on matters related to this industry. I am always interested in trying out new tech gadgets and I have owned multiple smartphones including the legendary HTC One, SGS2, Nexus 4, iPhone 4, 5S, 6S, XR, Note 9. You can ask me any tech related questions in the comment section or on twitter @hookedNav