All posts tagged: wireless charging

15 Best MagSafe Wireless Chargers (2026): Power Banks, Stands, Pads, and Travel Chargers

15 Best MagSafe Wireless Chargers (2026): Power Banks, Stands, Pads, and Travel Chargers

Published by skeptic

More Good MagSafe and Qi2 Chargers Here are a few other MagSafe wireless chargers we have tested that didn’t quite manage to earn a place above. Photograph: Simon Hill Mous Dual Charging Station for $100: This dual charger from Mous is a looker, but disappoints on charging speeds, maxing out at 15 watts for the main MagSafe pad and just 5 watts for the second Qi pad, though there is a spare USB-C port that can charge at 18 watts. You can also add an Apple Watch charger ($55) that connects magnetically to the pogo pins at one end (5-watt maximum) and pops up for Nightstand mode. Anker MagGo Wireless Charger Pad (Qi2) for $30: Our top pick until Apple’s redesign, this Qi2 charger brings MagSafe-style magnetic charging and a 15-watt charging rate. This pad stays put, has a durable aluminum casing that remains relatively cool, and comes with a 5-foot USB-C cable permanently attached. It can also charge AirPods with a magnetic charging case, but it does not come with a power adapter. Belkin …

Should You Leave Your Phone Charging Overnight?

Should You Leave Your Phone Charging Overnight?

Published by skeptic

You may have heard that leaving your smartphone charging overnight—either plugged in or atop a wireless charger—can damage your battery. But is it actually harmful or dangerous to do that? Or is this one of those persistent phone battery myths that refuses to go away? The simplest and most straightforward answer, according to most experts, is that you can leave your smartphone charging all night as long as you are aware of some limitations and details. The practice of leaving your phone to juice up through the night is not as problematic as it used to be. Starting in 2010, manufacturers have made it customary to integrate power management chips into their designs that choke the power coming in when the battery reaches 100 percent. The first such chips—called power management integrated circuits, or PMICs—began to peep out from the mid-2000s but became standard in phones somewhat later. When integrated into a motherboard, the PMIC manages things like battery charging, the system’s sleep, wake, and power cycle events, and the voltage and current used by …

18 Best Wireless Chargers, All Tested and Reviewed (2026)

18 Best Wireless Chargers, All Tested and Reviewed (2026)

Published by skeptic

Other Wireless Chargers We Tested There are a lot of wireless chargers. Here are a few more we like, but for one reason or another don’t warrant a place above. Photograph: Simon Hill Krafted Couch Wireless Charger for $52: I thought this wireless charger that’s designed to be draped over the arm of your couch was a great idea when I saw it, but the ridges failed to keep it in place on my velvety couch, so it kept slipping down the side. The silicone finish with the Krafted logo is also a bit ugly. It’s just a silicone mat with a magnetic charger inside, though there is a fairly generous 6.6-foot (2-meter) cable, and it is Qi2 rated. If you’re always rooting around for a charger and one of the colors blends well with your furniture, it might be a good solution for you. Einova Eggtronic Charging Stone for $70: Made with 100 percent solid marble or stone—you can choose from a variety. Every single pick in this guide looks very much like a …

An Inside Look at Lego’s New Tech-Packed Smart Brick

An Inside Look at Lego’s New Tech-Packed Smart Brick

Published by skeptic

The project needed more than mere technical insight. It needed a president of play. A fun foreman. Lego Group design director Michael Fuller has been at the company for 18 years. “The Lego Batman Movie, that was five, six years of my life,” Fuller says. After wrapping the 2017 film, Fuller was trying to work out what he was going to do next when Donaldson approached him. “I actually tried to convince him I wasn’t right for it. I’m not techie at all. I’m old-school. But Tom said, ‘No, that’s what we need. I’ve got lots of smart engineers and techie people. I need a toy guy.’” And so Fuller was drafted in. “In the early days, I was just drawing concepts. I had a wall at Cambridge Consultants with hand-drawn concepts of ‘What if? What if? What if?’” From there, they moved on to handmade prototypes, a phase Fuller estimates encompassed half of the total development time. “It was quite a small team of people, and you had to be resilient,” he says. This …

WiTricity brings wireless EV charging to the golf course

WiTricity brings wireless EV charging to the golf course

Published by skeptic

The wireless charging experts at WiTricity claim their newest wireless charging pad solution will eliminate the sort of, “Did I remember to charge?” worries that plague retirement communities and golf enthusiasts everywhere. Before we get too far into this, allow me to concede that the WiTricity solution is really more of a “plugless” solution than a wireless one – especially in light of the fact that I can see a wire leading from the charging “pad” to a standard 110/120V outlet in the official promo picture. That said, life on a big dealer lot has taught me that it is all too easy to pull a golf cart into its designated parking spot at the end of a long day and completely forget to plug it in at night. Wireless or not, the WiTricity MR/1 inductive charging pad solves that problem. And, because the WiTricity pad’s connection to the outlet can be more or less permanent and can be covered with cable ramps, reduces the sort of trip and fall risks normally associated with long cords. …

Best Apple 3-in-1 Wireless Travel Chargers (2026), Tested and Reviewed

Best Apple 3-in-1 Wireless Travel Chargers (2026), Tested and Reviewed

Published by skeptic

Other Good 3-in-1 Travel Chargers Photograph: Simon Hill Kuxiu Qi2 25W Travel Charging Station for $79: This charger folds down to an impressively small package, and it feels pretty solid with a silicone-covered metal construction. It can hit 25 watts for supported Qi2 phones, comes in a few different finishes, and ships with a 45-watt power adapter and USB-C cable in the box. Unfortunately, I don’t like the way it looks, and I found it awkward to get all three devices charging at once. It’s actually too compact, so it feels crowded. UAG 3-in-1 Travel and Desktop Charger Photograph: Simon Hill UAG 3-in-1 Travel and Desktop Charger for $170: This was close to earning a recommendation until I clocked the price. It’s a very smart 3-in-1 charging kit that folds flat and comes in a snazzy zip-up bag with a 4-foot braided USB-C cable and 25-watt power adapter, including plugs for the US, UK, and Europe. You can prop your iPhone at different angles on the MagSafe stand, and it works well with StandBy mode …

The Best 3-in-1 Apple Charging Stations (2026), Tested and Reviewed

The Best 3-in-1 Apple Charging Stations (2026), Tested and Reviewed

Published by skeptic

Other 3-in-1 Chargers to Consider We have tested several other 3-in-1 Apple charging stations. Here are a few we liked: Photograph: Simon Hill Anker Prime 3-in-1 Charging Station for $230: Sporting a tree design similar to our top pick from Belkin, the very latest Qi2 25W charging, fast Apple Watch charging, active cooling, and an interactive display, this is perhaps the most feature-packed 3-in-1 charger on the market. You can connect via Bluetooth and configure in the app to set wallpapers for the clock, schedule night mode to dim the display and turn off the cooling, and track your charging stats in a table. I’m just not sure it’s worth the premium. The finicky touch display is flat, so you have to sit up to see it, and it looks a bit cheap to me. It also feels superfluous when your iPhone already offers Standby mode. Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe for $100: Twelve South’s 3-in-1 is an elegant wireless charger for the nightstand and gives the iPhone plenty of breathing room to rotate it …

13 Best MagSafe Power Banks for iPhones (2025), Tested and Reviewed

13 Best MagSafe Power Banks for iPhones (2025), Tested and Reviewed

Published by skeptic

Other MagSafe Power Banks to Consider We like a few other MagSafe power banks that didn’t make it into our top picks. Apple MagSafe Battery for iPhone Air. Photograph: Julian Chokkattu Apple’s MagSafe Battery for iPhone Air for $99: The super svelte iPhone Air doesn’t have room for a big battery, so Apple offers this perfectly sized MagSafe add-on, capable of charging wirelessly at 12 watts. But, with just 3,149 mAh of power (it charged the iPhone Air to 68 percent), it’s awfully pricey. Still, it’s one of the few perfectly designed for the iPhone Air. You can technically use it with other iPhones, but you’ll have to rotate the power bank so that it hangs horizontally. Statik State Power Bank for $60: This pack uses semisolid battery tech, meaning there’s less liquid inside, so it’s safer (won’t catch fire, even if damaged), and it should last longer. Statik suggests double the lifespan. It certainly keeps its cool, offering 5,000 mAh at up to 15 watts or 20-watt USB-C charging. I like it, but the …