The Belkin Boost Up Charge Magnetic Portable Wireless Charger Pad ($29.99 as tested) joins dozens, if not hundreds, of third-party MagSafe chargers. Belkin is one of the few-third party manufacturers that offers a handful of products with Apple’s “Made for MagSafe” certification, which means the products can charge iPhone 12 series at their fastest speeds. Unfortunately, the Wireless Charger Pad is not among them. With a maximum wireless charging output of 7.5W, it’s neither as powerful nor as stylish as the Apple MagSafe Charger ($39). It makes up for its shortcomings, however, with an extra-long charging cable and a most affordable price tag.
A Chunky Puck
The Wireless Charger Pad consists of a pad 2.4 inches in diameter and 0.5 inch tall, attached to a long cable. By comparison, the Apple MagSafe Charger is 2.2 inches in diameter and 0.2 inch tall. You can use the phone while the charger is connected, though carrying it around sometimes gets a little awkward.
Belkin’s plastic charging pad is available in black or white. The top is made of a thinner plastic than the body and accumulates semi-circular scratches after you’ve put your phone on it a few times. A nylon disc on the bottom prevents slips off desks and nightstands, though it doesn’t have enough grip to keep the puck in place without the extra weight of an iPhone. There’s a very bright LED to let you know your phone is connected. You won’t find any fans or vents, since the charger maxes out at 7.5W.
A 78-inch fixed USB-C cable extends from the puck. The cable is thick and flexible, so you shouldn’t have to worry about damaging it with normal use. A rubber strap with snaps is affixed to the cable, letting you easily coil the cable before throwing the charger in your backpack. The strap is such a simple addition, but if you’ve ever opened your bag to find a snarl of cables tangled around other objects, it’s one you’ll appreciate.
Belkin sells its Wireless Charger Pad either without a power adapter ($29.99) or with a 20W adapter included ($39.99). Since the iPhone 12 doesn’t come with a charger, you probably already purchased an 18W+ power adapter with a USB-C port to charge your phone; if you did, you can use it to power the Wireless Charger Pad. For the fastest charging speeds on the Wireless Charger Pad, our recommendation is to use Apple’s 20W power adapter.
Room to Roam
At 78 inches, the cable on the Wireless Charger Pad is twice the length of the one you’ll find on the MagSafe Charger, and much more versatile. It’s long enough to reach from your nightstand to an outlet behind a king-size bed, and you’ll have plenty of room to roam around your desk if you need to top off your battery while you’re on a call.
The Wireless Charger Pad’s magnetic array is strong enough to grab an iPhone from about half an inch away, and it stays in place. It’s not powerful enough, however, to act as an iPhone fishhook; if you vigorously shake, swing, or yank the cable, your phone will fly across the room.
I tested the Magnetic Charging Pad’s bonding ability with an iPhone 12 both in and out of a case. When I connected the pad directly to the iPhone 12, the magnetic force was noticeably weaker than when the phone was protected by a Nomad Rugged Case with MagSafe. Non-MagSafe cases may prevent the iPhone from attaching to the pad.
Slow to Finish
The Wireless Charger Pad is compatible with the iPhone 12 series, but it doesn’t have Apple’s Made for MagSafe seal of approval. That means it offers a maximum power output of 7.5W. The Apple MagSafe Charger and other Made for MagSafe products can deliver up to 15W of output, charging a phone much faster.
I used the Wireless Charger Pad over several weeks while I tested chargers extensively for our best MagSafe chargers roundup. The review unit didn’t come with an adapter, but I attached it to a 95W adapter that was lying around and it worked just fine. Occasionally I noticed that my phone had stopped charging despite being securely attached to the pad, but disconnecting and reconnecting the power adapter fixed the problem.
Charging with the Wireless Charger Pad is a slow affair. When I snapped the pad to my depleted iPhone 12, the battery took 1 hour, 38 minutes to reach the 50% mark, and nearly 5 hours to recharge completely. By comparison, when I charged the phone through a wired connection to Apple’s 20W charger, a depleted battery inched up to 50% in just 28 minutes and hit the finish line in 1 hour, 50 minutes.
After a few days, I longed for my old Lightning cable. I found the whole Wireless Charger Pad setup cumbersome as well as incredibly slow. I often accidentally knocked the puck off the nightstand by jostling it or snagging the cable. If I used the phone while it was charging, it felt strange to have a half-inch protrusion sticking out from the back, and if I rotated the cable to extend from the side of the phone rather than the bottom, I would bump my hand into it and disconnect the charger.
By and large, it seems like MagSafe charging cables are a solution in search of a problem. Sure, wireless charging frees up your Lightning port for headphone attachment, but if you own an iPhone 12, there’s a good chance you have a pair of AirPods or at least some Bluetooth headphones. And there’s still a cable extending from your phone, so the pad has no obvious advantage over plugging your phone in directly, unless you’re prone to dropping your phone while it’s charging and don’t want to risk damaging the Lightning port with an unexpected yank.
Power to Go
The Belkin Magnetic Portable Wireless Charger Pad is an adequate backup charger to throw in your bag or backpack. It’s durable, and the long cable is useful for hotel rooms, airport terminals, and cafes with inconvenient power outlet placement. Just don’t expect to use it for quick top-offs.
If you’re looking for the best MagSafe charger for your nightstand or desk, the Belkin Boost Up Charge Pro 2-in-1 ($99.99) is a much better option. It’s considerably more expensive, but it has a more practical design, charges AirPods, supports up to 15W output, and is the winner of our Editors’ Choice award.
