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Qi Chargers - Am I missing something?

MacDevil7334

MacDevil7334

Contributor
Original poster
Oct 15, 2011
2,563
5,845
Austin TX
So I recently got the iPhone 8 and would like to buy a Qi charging pad for my desk at work. I’m not wild about shelling out $60 for this so I’ve been looking on Amazon. The Anker one people have been recommending here appears to no longer be available from Amazon anymore so I was looking at this one from RAVPower. It’s $15 but doesn’t come with a wall plug so I’d need to buy one. I think I need a QC 3.0 wall adaptor to get the faster charging speed whenever Apple enables the feature with a software update later this year. I found this one from Anker that looks good. Total cost for the two of them is $31, about half the price I would pay to Apple.

Then I notice that RAVPower is also selling this other charger that is “for iPhone 8/X” that comes with an adaptor and is $50. That’s getting pretty close to the price of the Apple-endorsed chargers (and I’d rather pay the extra $10 to buy the one from Apple at that point). So I have a few questions:
  • Is there any reason to pick the “for iPhone” charger over the more generic $15 charger? I’m trying to figure out if this is like RAM for iMacs where there is an “iMac Certified” version that is just the same RAM but costs more because it has been “tested on an iMac” and they know Apple buyers will pay the premium. If there is no difference between the generic and the “for iPhone”, I’d take the generic.
  • If I pick the generic charger, will it be able to charge at the full 7.5W after the software update later this year? I know the pad is fast charge up to 10W. But, will it be able to deliver the lower 7.5W to my iPhone? Or is the power draw controlled by the phone? I’m trying to figure out if the pad is only 5W slow/10W fast and nothing in between or if it is a continuous range of deliverable power. Not exactly sure how the technology works and if it’s the pad or the phone that controls the rate of power delivery.
  • Are there any other good Qi pads you would recommend that I might not have looked at?
Thanks in advance!
 
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I bought 3 wireless chargers on Amazon. Each was $15-20. Returned all three because they didn't work. Price is an indicator of quality it seems.
 
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The Anker site just redirects me back to the amazon page (unless I’m missing something there too? :)).

And yeah I know there are plenty of cheap Qi chargers on Amazon that should work. The questions I had were whether these will be capable of delivering the 7.5W fast charge to the iPhone when Apple enables it later this year and whether there is any particular reason a “for iPhone” charger would be better. Most are rated at 10W or 15W fast charge so it’s not immediately clear if they can deliver the lower 7.5W or if I will be limited to just 5W with these chargers.
 
Do you not have an ikea near by? They do lamps and desk insert pucks that work just fine with iPhones ;)
 
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MacDevil7334 said:
Oh that looks like a good option. Cheaper than the combo I was looking at and a known brand. Do you know if it will be able to charge the iPhone at 7.5W or will it be limited to a 5W slow charge?
Click to expand...

Sorry, that I don’t know :/
[doublepost=1507085415][/doublepost]
dominiongamma said:
So getting this! I read it reaches 100% then stops charging and charges again when it’s 99% is that true? Does it make annoying sounds? LED light turn off when sleeping?
Click to expand...

I don’t think that’s true. My phone is always at 100% when I take it off. It doesn’t show a dip to 99. No annoying sound, but the light is always on when it’s charging. It’s a nice blue. It may or may not keep you up. I also have this one: Samsung Fast Charge Wireless Charging Stand for QI Enabled Devices - Black (Certified Refurbished) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IRSWBIU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_eXe1zb7V1N7G6

The light is very small and not bright at all.
 
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asuandy said:
Sorry, that I don’t know :/
[doublepost=1507085415][/doublepost]

I don’t think that’s true. My phone is always at 100% when I take it off. It doesn’t show a dip to 99. No annoying sound, but the light is always on when it’s charging. It’s a nice blue. It may or may not keep you up. I also have this one: Samsung Fast Charge Wireless Charging Stand for QI Enabled Devices - Black (Certified Refurbished) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IRSWBIU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_eXe1zb7V1N7G6

The light is very small and not bright at all.
Click to expand...
I was looking at the second one but the reviews seems concerning, but I trust yours works great so maybe it’s bad reviews, the second one is build for 7.5 w ?
 
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dominiongamma said:
I was looking at the second one but the reviews seems concerning, but I trust yours works great so maybe it’s bad reviews, the second one is build for 7.5 w ?
Click to expand...
I don’t know if the stand one will do 7.5w. I wasn’t really concerned if they did since I wireless charge at night when I’m sleeping. I think those reviews are for the refurbished units. Mine is not a refurb and it’s been great.
 
asuandy said:
I don’t know if the stand one will do 7.5w. I wasn’t really concerned if they did since I wireless charge at night when I’m sleeping. I think those reviews are for the refurbished units. Mine is not a refurb and it’s been great.
Click to expand...
Looks all perfect but I need my room pitch black to sleep so it would bother me that led charging light lol might get it but have to do little more research.
 
asuandy said:
Sorry, that I don’t know :/
Click to expand...
That’s ok, thanks anyway! How’s the sweet spot on the charger? Some of the reviews on Amazon say the charger can be a bit picky and you have to get your phone in exactly the right spot to get it to charge.
 
asuandy said:
I bought two Samsung ones and they're great. Both were around $20. They've been doing wireless charging for a while so I figured they'd make a good charger.

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Cert...TF8&qid=1507062452&sr=8-3&keywords=samsung+qi
Click to expand...

My dad gave me that charger that you've linked as he doesn't have any compatible devices anymore but it stops charging whenever I get a notification! I might have to wait for one of the 'made for iPhone 8' ones, the upcoming Mophie one looks good, and I guess I could always go with the official one when that comes out but I imagine it will be quite expensive!
 
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Holte139 said:
My dad gave me that charger that you've linked as he doesn't have any compatible devices anymore but it stops charging whenever I get a notification! I might have to wait for one of the 'made for iPhone 8' ones, the upcoming Mophie one looks good, and I guess I could always go with the official one when that comes out but I imagine it will be quite expensive!
Click to expand...
The Mophie and the Belkin can both be purchased right now from Apple’s website and in Apple stores (I’ve seen them). I’m not sure why you can’t get them direct from the manufacturers website.
 
MacDevil7334 said:
The Mophie and the Belkin can both be purchased right now from Apple’s website and in Apple stores (I’ve seen them). I’m not sure why you can’t get them direct from the manufacturers website.
Click to expand...

Thanks MacDevil, I'm just looking now. How's your experiences with wireless charging been, have you had any problems? I'm hoping I won't have the same problem again!
 
Holte139 said:
Thanks MacDevil, I'm just looking now. How's your experiences with wireless charging been, have you had any problems? I'm hoping I won't have the same problem again!
Click to expand...
I’m still hoping to find a good, less expensive charger so I haven’t bought one yet. But I did try out the Mophie in store and it seems fine. My phone charged right away and the pad seemed to have a good sized sweet spot. Though, the pad is so small it’s kind of hard to miss haha! I just don’t know if want to pay $60 for a wireless charger. I’m sure if Apple is selling them (and promoting them in the keynote), they will work well though!
 
MacDevil7334 said:
That’s ok, thanks anyway! How’s the sweet spot on the charger? Some of the reviews on Amazon say the charger can be a bit picky and you have to get your phone in exactly the right spot to get it to charge.
Click to expand...
I’ve had good luck with that and haven’t seen any issues. My phone starts to charge as it gets within an inch or less of the pad. It’s recognized the charger before I even set it down. This is on an iPhone 8, so other models may be different.
 
asuandy said:
I’ve had good luck with that and haven’t seen any issues. My phone starts to charge as it gets within an inch or less of the pad. It’s recognized the charger before I even set it down. This is on an iPhone 8, so other models may be different.
Click to expand...
Thanks, sounds worth a try!

Edit: should have jumped yesterday. Price went up $5 overnight!
 
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