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- Wireless charging is great,
and pretty much every phone has it now.
You just take your phone, you drop it on the pad,
and it starts charging like magic, except it's real.
But if you're actually looking to buy a charger
for the first time, it can be a little intimidating.
There's a whole bunch of specs you need to think about,
stuff like wattage, and how many coils it has,
what the charging speed looks like,
what the form factor is.
And it can just be really confusing
to just go to the store, and buy one,
or go on Amazon and buy one.
If you're looking to cut the cord for the first time,
and again, you should it's great,
here's a couple things that you're gonna want to think about
when you're buying a charger.
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First off, QI.
It's spelled Q-I, and it's the wireless charging standard,
your phone uses it, basically every charger
out on the planet's gonna use it,
but just double check to make sure it's there,
you'll save yourself some time later.
The most important spec
for buying a wireless charger though,
is how much power can it push?
Now, base charging for Qi starts at five watts,
which is fine.
But a lot of devices support fast charging,
so Apple phones like the iPhone XR or XS,
can support up to seven and a half watts,
which will charge faster assuming your pad can support it.
Samsung phones go up to nine watts.
Some Android phones even go up to 10 watts.
Pixel phones basically only just fast charge
with a Pixel stand which is a limit from Google.
Sorry Pixel owners.
But generally speaking, you're gonna wanna make sure
that to get the fastest possible experience,
you want at least 10 watts from any charger you buy.
There's lots of different form factors
out there for wireless chargers,
and where you plan on using yours
is probably gonna help determine what kind you want.
So if you're planning on charging your phone
by your desk a lot, you'll probably want a standing one,
where you'll easily be able to see the screen of your phone
without craning over.
If you're hoping for one by your bed though
to charge overnight,
you'll probably want a flat charger,
so that your phone isn't standing up,
and blinding you every time
someone texts you at two in the morning.
And if you're indecisive, or just want the flexibility,
there are pads that convert from flat to standing,
so you can get the best of both.
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Another thing you might wanna look out for
when you're buying a wireless charger,
is how many charging coils it has.
Now, there's two ways this can affect your experience,
the first is for chargers that are still only meant
to charge one device,
but still have multiple coils.
The advantage here is that having multiple coils
will make it easier to find that sweet spot
where it lines up, and actually charges.
On the other hand, there are also devices
like Samsung's dual charger
that have multiple separate coils
so you can charge multiple devices at once.
So if you have two phones,
or a phone and a smart watch
that you wanna charge at the same time,
that might be a good option for you.
Most wireless chargers use a standard adapter
to plug into walls which is great.
Most of them use Micro USB,
or some newer ones even USB-C,
which is really useful 'cause those are standard cables,
which means that you can easily swap them out
if you need a longer one, or your break yours.
But some chargers use weird proprietary ones,
or even have cables embedded directly into device,
which you probably will wanna avoid unless you really can't.
In that same vein you're also gonna wanna look at
what kind of wall brick comes with your charger,
if it comes with one at all.
A lot of companies don't include a brick in the box,
which can be frustrating
because if you only have a five watt brick
for your 10 watt wireless charger,
it won't matter that your charger
can fast charge your phone,
because it won't have the power supply to do that.
And if you're hoping to save money
by buying a cheaper charger that doesn't come with a brick,
just remember that unless you already have
a high watt charger with you,
you'll probably end up just having to buy a new one anyway,
which means you haven't really saved any money at all.
Wireless chargers come in all sorts of weird shapes,
and sizes, materials, and designs,
so a lot of it also just comes down to personal preference.
Do you like leather, get a fancy leather charger.
Do you like fabric, get a fabric one.
Do you want one that just charges your phone?
Get a cheap plastic one.
Now obviously there's gonna be some variation
between chargers.
Some will still charge slightly faster
than others,
but for the most part, if you follow this
you'll end up with a great wireless charger.
Personally my favorite charger is this RAVPower one
which we've written about over on
This is My Next on the site.
Thanks for watching, and be sure to subscribe to The Verge
for more videos like this.
- [Interviewer] Cool, clap once more. (hand claps)