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Since we started up Knapsack, we’ve reviewed a number of different charging devices, be they small high-powered bricks or external battery packs. For me, however, they’ve all been of the wired variety. Our older iPhones were still behaving, so there wasn’t a need to upgrade. Finally, though, we did (iPhone SE 2020, for those curious) so that meant we could explore the world of wireless charging – enter the Mophie 15w wireless charging pad.
The Mophie 15w wireless charging pad is a fairly unassuming little rounded square pad, with a soft suede-like material on top, and hard plastic for the rest (and a small light up front that kicks on when you set the phone down, so you know you’ve got the connection). To power it up, you might expect to be plugging in a USB-C cable of some sort, but that’s not the case here (it is on their Snap series, however). Instead, you’ve got a wall wart, presumably to ensure there’s enough power getting delivered to the pad. So, just ensure you’ve got enough room at the outlet where you want this charger to live; the cord is fairly long, so you’ve got room to manuever.
Once it’s plugged in, there’s nothing left to do but place you phone down on it to charge. Now, while I was using this with an iPhone, it will work just as well for an Qi-enabled phone, and you should see the same behavior. With the 15W max output, charging can be quite speedy (unless your phone is controlling the inbound flow of electrons to extend battery life, and have it hit 100% at the time you normally grab if off the charger for the day). In other words, no muss, no fuss, just set it down and go.
So, yeah, the Mophie 15w wireless charging pad is way simpler than plugging in a cord, and you don’t have to worry about a solid connection with a cable. Set it down and you’re down. Of course, that means you can’t pick up the phone to check something (like you can when it’s corded and charging) without losing another charge cycle on the battery. So, keep that in mind when figuring out if something like this works for you. If you’re using the phone during the day as you work, maybe not. But for setting it down to top off overnight and not needing to look at the screen, it’s perfect.
For me, the Mophie 15w wireless charging pad is a taste of the future. Just pop your phone on down, and the electrons flow, no physical connection required (well, other than the phone touching the puck). This is just short of magic, and we quickly became a fan of it in our house. It’s relatively unobtrusive and low profile, and worked great with our phones. Just bear in mind, if you’ve got a really thick case, you may have some problems. For us, though, we found the pad to be a great addition to our charging area. If you want to get one for yourself, you can check it out over on zagg.com
