Best wireless charger 2022: Qi pads and MagSafe stands for iPhone and Android

Best: Wireless charger for Android

Rating: 9/10

• Dimensions: D5.6 x W5.6 x H0.5cm
• Weight: 47g 
• Wattage: 15W for Android, 7.5W for iPhone
• Type: Pad
• Compatible with: Android and iPhone

If you’ve got an Android phone and feel a little envious of Apple’s magnetic charging system, fret not, because Mophie has designed a wireless charger that works in a similar way for both.

Mophie calls this functionality “snap+”, and it’s integrated into the company’s snap+ wireless charger. Like the MagSafe charger, it includes an array of magnets for any iPhone to attach to, but if you don’t have an iPhone with MagSafe, then the included snap adapter performs just as well. Best of all, it’s easy to attach to the back of any Android phone or case. This essentially adds magnetic capabilities to any smartphone.

The charger itself is actually better at charging Android devices than iPhones, with the pad juicing up an Android device with 15W of power and an iPhone with 7.5W of power. It’s small, portable, well-built and extremely easy to use.

Best: Wireless charger with in-built sanitiser

Rating: 8/10

• Dimensions: H3.5 x W19.9 x D11.8cm
• Weight: 440g 
• Wattage: 10W
• Type: Pad
• Compatible with: iPhone and Android

There are a bunch of two-in-one and three-in-one wireless chargers around, capable of charging multiple devices at once, but this wireless charger from Belkin is a different kind of two-in-one. Clearly designed for our post-Covid world, it’s a UV sanitising box first and foremost that doubles up as a wireless charger.

Roughly the size of a thick paperback book, it opens up to reveal a UV-C light chamber. Belkin says it’s able to sanitise non-porous items, such as phones, keys, wallets, cards and cash. Basically, if it can fit in the UV light chamber, then it can reportedly remove 99.99 per cent of bacteria. There are two settings – a three-minute quick clean or a 15-minute deep clean. It’s silent and easy to use, and comes with an 18W power outlet.

Once you close the lid, you can pop any Qi-enabled device on top of the box and charge it, with it delivering up to 10W of power. It’s not the best-looking thing in the world, and it’s a bit of a clunky device to throw in your bag, but it’s a pretty clever piece of kit that charged our phone up fast.

Our one wish? That it could charge our phone while sanitising it at the same time. You can sanitise your keys and wallet in the UV chamber while charging your phone, but popping your phone into the UV chamber won’t charge it.

Best: Portable wireless charger with kickstand

Rating: 8/10

• Dimensions: H6cm x W6 x D0.7cm
• Weight: 86.46g 
• Wattage: 7.5W
• Type: Puck/stand
• Compatible with: iPhone

This wireless charger is the cleverest little puck we’ve tested. While some manufacturers have made full wireless charging stands, ESR has opted for a portable little puck, featuring a metal kickstand which means you can prop up your iPhone while it’s charging. Think of it as a copy of the official MagSafe charger, just with a better design.

You will need an ESR halolock-compatible case or a naked iPhone to use this one, or it will just keep sliding off the back, but It’s great for chucking into your bag. It’s extremely well-built, featuring a nice hardy metal kickstand that clicks securely into a hole in the rear, helping it stay flush with the puck when not in use. It’s meant to be used horizontally, so don’t be surprised if it falls over when attached vertically.

With just 7.5W charging power, it’s not the fastest wireless charger in the world, so if you want your phone to charge super quickly, opt for the official charger.

Best: Wireless charger for design

Rating: 8/10

• Dimensions: H18.1 x W4.6 x D12.4cm
• Weight: 610g 
• Wattage: 10W
• Type: Photo frame stand
• Compatible with: iPhone and Android 

Let’s be frank, wireless chargers aren’t the best-looking things in the world. While they’re a nice convenience, they take up a lot of surface room on tabletops, and can get in the way when you actually want to use it for something other than charging. Twelve South’s powerpic mod is clever because it hides a wireless charger inside a photo frame.

You can use the powerpic mod as if it were an actual picture frame, placing it in either portrait or landscape orientations. It fits photos that are 4×6 in size, while also allowing you to charge your phone on top of it. It’s really neat and has a nice clear frame. However, it is a little fiddly putting photos inside the magnetic cover – you need to really align it properly or the edges will stick out, and you might struggle with photos that are printed on thicker paper, but when it works, it works well.

It doesn’t charge very fast, only providing 10W for Android devices and 7.5W for iPhones. You also need to use a 20W adapter (not included in the box) or your speeds will be even slower.

Best: Wireless charger smart speaker

Rating: 7/10

• Dimensions: H16.8 x W16.2 x D16.2cm
• Weight: 1.25kg 
• Wattage: 10W
• Type: Speaker
• Compatible with: iPhone and Android 

Some wireless chargers can take up a lot of room, especially with limited space on your bedside table, which is why this product from Belkin is such a neat idea. The Belkin soundform elite is a smart speaker with an integrated wireless charger on the top. It’s a fat cylindrical thing that looks like its upper body has been sliced in half, but it’s actually not as hideous as that description sounds.

With a speaker engineered by French audio company Devialet and two far-field microphones for Alexa integration, the soundform elite lets you play music with just your voice and charges your phone at the same time, keeping your nightstand clutter-free. It features a 35mm full range driver and a dual 70mm woofer setup, so this speaker gets loud. That said, we did find it to be a little too shrill when it came to the high frequencies and a little too boisterous in the bass – though the single-purpose Alexa speakers perform much better.

Sadly, it only charges iPhones at 7.5W, Samsung phones at 9W, and Google devices at 10W, so we didn’t get the fastest charging speeds when testing this machine, but it’s not too big of a deal, considering we placed it on the top of the speaker to charge overnight. And considering the acoustics – let’s be real, it’s a speaker first and foremost – are a little lacklustre, it’s pretty expensive when purchased from Belkin directly. Although it is frequently on sale at third-party retailers. Ultimately though, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an Alexa-enabled speaker with a built-in Qi charger better than this one.