Last year during their iPhone X keynote, apple gave us a sneak peak at their Airpower charging
mat: a wireless charging mat that can charge multiple devices at the same time.
And everyone assumed that the Airpower mat would go on sale in early 2018 and a lot of
people including myself thought that we would see apple’s wireless charging mat at WWDC
2018.
But we didn’t.
But now everyone is speculating that we’re going to see the Airpower at apple’s next
iPhone event in September.
But with a rumored price tag between $150 and $200 I think some people will find Logitech’s
new wireless charger a little more attractive.
It does have its draw backs, but its decent.
Logitech’s powered for iPhone wireless charging stand only comes in white and retails for
70 bucks.
And like I just said, its rumored that the Airpower is going to cost somewhere between
150 and 200 dollars.
And if thats the case, I don’t feel like paying an Apple tax just for a wireless charger.
But we wont know a definitive price until apple actually releases the thing.
If you want to pick Logitech’s wireless charger up I’ll have links in the description
below and if you use the links it really helps out the channel.
And also check out the new merch shelf down below.
Regarding whats in the box, you just get the charging stand that has a non removable 5
foot cable and a pretty big power adaptor for the wall.
And I’ll address this power adaptor in minute.
But besides that you also get a quick start guide thats pretty adamant about you not placing
any credit cards near the contact point.
The entire body including the cable is covered in TPU so everywhere you touch has a soft
touch feel to it, which is pretty nice.
Theres an indicator light on the top of the charger that lets you know its charging your
phone and the bottom has rubber feet.
Unfortunately from what I can tell, the angle of the stand is not adjustable….
Its locked at a 65 degree angle.
After living with this charger for a few days and having it placed on my desk, I found that
the angle is fine but I would like to be able to adjust the angle myself a little bit depending
on where I place it.
Personally I’ve never really cared about wireless charging cause you cant use your
phone and charge your phone at the same time thats why I still prefer just using a cable.
But I’ve grown to really like having this extra wireless charging stand on my desk.
When I’m going to get some work done I just drop my phone into the cradle and you can
easily see notifications as they come in.
You don’t have to worry about placing the iPhone perfectly in the cradle so the coils
line up.
You just drop and go.
But what I really like about this charging stand is that you can place your phone horizontally
on it and you get a pretty good viewing angle for when you’re going to a watch a video.
And no matter how much your phone vibrates when you get a call or notification you don’t
have to worry about it falling out of the cradle.
Regarding Tech Specs, Logitech’s wireless charger is still your standard Qi wireless
charger.
So you can charge any device that follows the QI standard.
And if you’re charging a non iPhone device the charger puts out 5 watts.
But if you drop an iPhone 8, iPhone 8 plus or iPhone X then the charger will put out
7.5 watts of power instead.
And from my time using Logitech’s wireless charger and testing it with an iPhone 8 Plus
with the latest OS, I noticed it charges the iPhone 8 plus almost as fast as using a wired
connection.
And this is good, the problem with wireless charging is that its not as fast and much
more wasteful than using a wired connection.
But when using the Logitech’s wireless charger both the iPhone and stand still get considerably
warm so you’re still wasting some power.
But if you want legit fast charging for your iPhone you’re still better off investing
your money in apple’s USB-C power brick and USB-C to lighting cable combo which is
going to run you about $85.
And this kind of relates to my biggest question I have about Apple’s Airpower… is how
fast will it be able to charge an iPhone wirelessly.
Again its rumored that its going to cost about $150 and we know its going to be able to charge
multiple devices at the same time.
And if thats the case it think its a pretty tough sell at that price if charging your
devices on the Airpower still means a slower charge rate than using a wired connection.
But if Apple’s Airpower is able to wirelessly charge your iPhone and the AirPods 2 at the
same time, and do so faster than using a wired connection than I think that would constitute
a premium price tag.
And it would also be very impressive.
Otherwise if you think about it, unless you’re a die hard apple user that has an iPhone,
airpods, and an apple watch you don’t really need the Airpower.
I’m just talking for my self here, I rock an iPhone and AirPods combo.
Everyone charges their phone on a daily basis, but AirPods when new can go about 4 to 5 days
between charges.
So I have no problem having one cable to charge both of my devices.
So I feel that unless the Airpower has true wireless fast charging its really only going
to be worth it for the group of people who have the iPhone, airpods, and apple watch
trifecta to invest $150 or more into a wireless charger.
But I personally think logitech missed a golden opportunity with their wireless charger.
Its also heavily rumored that the AirPods 2 are going to be announced at the next iPhone
event.
And the biggest feature they’re supposed to have is wireless charging.
And from the looks of it, it looks like this wireless charger wont be able to charge the
AirPods 2 unless you lay it down flat or if you prop the AirPods up with a pencil or something.
I think this wireless charger would have been much cooler if you could just drop the AirPods
2 there and get charging.
But another issue I have with this wireless charger is its power brick.
Its pretty big, and in a world where we’re constantly trying to fit multiple power adaptors
on a power strip, less is always more.
But I do wish we had more of a power cable.
Even though this is a 5 foot cable for my desk set up its not long enough.
I think another foot would have been just right.
So over all, Logitech’s new wireless charging stand is one of the better third party wireless
chargers out there.
Its very well built and it looks very good.
I just wish we also had a black option to choose from.
And maybe even gray.
I like the fact that it props your phone up so if you have this charger on your desk it
just makes your phone an extra screen.
I also like that you don’t have to go looking for the coils every time you drop your phone
in to the cradle.
And I also like that this wireless charger charges your phone almost as fast as using
a wired connection.
But for $70 this is definitely for somebody who wants convince over everything else.
Cause personally I would rather invest that money into getting a USB C power brick from
apple and get fast charging where in 30 minutes your iPhone gets a 50% charge from a dead
battery.
And I still think Logitech should have thought ahead and taken the AirPods 2 into consideration
given that they decided to release this product in August, but I think we can mcguiver something
here.