How to Buy the Right Wireless Charging Stand (or Stand)
If you can charge your smartphone wirelessly, congratulations. You’ve arrived in the future, a time when the titanic process of fiddling with a cable, plugging it into the bottom of the device and waiting for a satisfying tone seems archaic and silly. With one handy power bar at a reasonable price, you can now put your smartphone down, wait for a call, and continue your fun journey. Suction cups cables.
But here’s the thing: Not all charging pads are created equal. You need to know the nuances of technology and hardware to get the best charging setting for your new (or slightly older) smartphone.
Even this has its own nuance. If you ever plan to lay your device down overnight and let it charge for six to eight hours at a time, the details are far less important. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about charging technologies.
Wireless charging basics
There used to be two wireless charging standards, PowerMat and Qi, but the tech world has consolidated around the latter . This is great news because it removes a lot of the confusion you would otherwise encounter in the store (or Starbucks, which first supported the former on its many coffee tables and surfaces).
As long as the tablet you are looking to purchase supports the Qi wireless charging standard and I can’t think of a single one that doesn’t, you are golden. Your smartphone will obviously need to support Qi charging as well, but most likely you already know if it supports that or not. This is usually one of the main advantages of the device, and your device manufacturer will make it pretty obvious if your smartphone supports wireless charging.
Seems easy, right? Just buy a charging pad and let it rip? Almost, but not quite.
Charging speed is the name of the game
Wireless charging may be a versatile concept, but details are critical. Devices can support different wireless charging capacities, as well as the wireless charging cradles on which they are installed.
You don’t want a one-way inconsistency – having a wireless charging pad that’s slower than your device can handle – but it’s not the worst thing in the world to have a charging pad that puts out more power than your devices support. When you get to your next great smartphone, it might be able to use the extra watts.
This is where it gets confusing. Take Samsung Galaxy S9. It supports up to 15W for wireless charging, one of the highest in the industry. In theory, you might want a wireless charging cradle (or cradle) that can deliver at least 15W. However, what you picked up input and output, does not mean that your device is sure to be charged more quickly than, say, a cheaper charging panel power 9W .
Could this change with a software update? Still would. Consider the iPhone X. It supported a meager 5W for wireless charging at launch, but Apple eventually bumped that up to 7.5W with the release of iOS 11.2. If you buy a 5W wireless charging pad along with your new iPhone X, after a month you will be stuck with a less optimal setting .
Let’s continue. Some wireless charging cradles support faster speeds for one platform (usually Android) than another. Consider this RAVPower fast wireless charger . As stated in a Macworld review: “This tablet only charges iPhones at 5W and other Qi-enabled devices with fast charging up to 10W (if you use the correct power adapter).” Read the label wrong and assume the 10W panel should work easily with a 7.5W iPhone, and in fact, wireless charging will be worse than you’d expect.
And this is another thing you need to worry about. Your new wireless charging pad may come with a power adapter, and chances are good it will provide the fastest charging speeds for that stand (and whatever devices you put on it). If it isn’t and you have to buy it yourself, or if you end up plugging the pad into any old power adapter that’s idle – as people sometimes do – you may end up with a slower charging speed if the adapter can only handle a fraction of the power that the charging pad can support. Count it up: Plug the 15W charger into the 5W power adapter and you’re on the limit.
Charging checklist
When you are looking to buy a wireless charger for your smartphone, you have a lot to think about. If you don’t remember anything else, here’s what you need to know:
- Your smartphone and charger must support the same maximum wireless charging power.
- However, you might get by with a slower wireless connection, depending on how well your particular device supports wireless charging. When in doubt, read reviews of how your device performs with different wireless chargers (varying in wattage) and see if the difference of a few watts is worth the extra money.
- The wireless charging stand can provide faster charging speeds for Android phone and slower charging speeds for iPhone. Make sure you check it out.
- Try buying a wireless charging stand with a power adapter. If not, make sure your power adapter supports the same wireless charging standards as your tablet. (This can be confusing.)
- Over time, your device may receive a software update that unlocks faster wireless charging. Make sure it is always up to date with the latest and greatest software.
It kind of makes you miss the simplicity of the power cable, doesn’t it?