Best Wireless Charger to Buy

Gone are the days when we need to plug in our phones and other smart devices to charge them. Charging cables haven’t left a moment too soon. If you’ve ever managed to break a charging port on a smartphone, you know. Wireless chargers are the wave of the future. All you need to do is set your phone down on the charger, and you’re ready to go. But how do you choose which type of wireless charger is the best for you?

We’ve found the best wireless charger options for smartphones that don’t natively support wireless charging.

Wireless Charging for Samsung

Samsung has one of the highest wattage and best wireless chargers on the market. Samsung’s native fast charging sits at 9W.  Most other phones offer a standard 5W fast charge instead. The iPhone will be upping theirs to 7.5W for the iPhone 8 and later upgrades.

Samsung’s Wireless Fast Charger is one of the best fast chargers for Samsung phones. For about $40, you get an elevated charger with a sleek black plastic case. It also has colored LEDs that tell you when it’s connected and when your phone is charging.

RavPower is also a contender when it comes to Samsung wireless chargers. It’s slightly smaller than the Samsung version. It’s got a solid metal case and a non-slip charging surface that keeps even the slipperiest phones from sliding off.

Anker is one of the best names in phone chargers, and they offer a couple of great options. The Powerport Qi 10 Watt is one of the best affordable options, less than $30, but doesn’t include a USB wall plug. The Powertouch USB-C is another 10-watt option. It also doesn’t have a wall plug and occasionally has a problem recognizing some devices.

Wireless Charging for iPhone

If you’ve got an iPhone 8 or got your hands on the new iPhone X, congratulations! You’ve got an Apple phone that is designed for wireless charging. If you’ve got an older model, wait until the next section. We’ve got a few of the best wireless charger options for you as well, we promise.

The Morphie wireless charging base was designed specifically for the iPhone 8, and the X now that Apple released it. When their software is updated for faster charging speeds, this charging pad will be able to accommodate those higher speeds. It will also work with any Qi-enabled charger, so if you’ve got other phones that are wireless charging-enabled, this pad will work for them as well.

Again, RavPower makes the list for their wireless fast charging pads. iPhones seem to work best with the less expensive plastic Wireless Fast Charger, but it tends to be a bit of a dust magnet so be prepared to dust them more often than your other wireless chargers.

Finally, the Belkin Boost Up wireless charging pad is ideal for all your iPhone wireless charging needs. Its sleek white look perfectly matches your iPhone, and unlike the RavPower option, this wireless charger was made specifically for iPhone.

Wireless Charging for Everyone Else

Not every phone comes equipped for wireless charging — this writer has an LG Stylo 3 Pro that she adores, but it’s not Qi-enabled. That’s where Qi wireless adapters come into play.  These plug-and-play devices can make any phone capable of being charged wirelessly

All you need is a stick on wireless charging adapter, a case and any of the wireless charger pads that we mentioned above. All you need to do is stick the charging adapter to the back of your phone, plug the connector into your phone’s charging port, and put on your favorite case to make sure that the adapter stays in place. Boom! Plug, play and wireless charging for just about any phone.

You can also pick up wireless charging cases for your phone, but the models available are limited, and they can be expensive alternatives to the simple stick on adapters.

Wireless charging might not be a necessity, but it’s nicer than scrambling around for a charger in the dark when your phone is down to 2%. Wireless charging doesn’t have to break the bank, and it’s easy to add to almost any phone even if your particular phone doesn’t natively support that form of charging.