Anyone used one that

a) doesn’t cook the phone and it’s battery

b) delivers enough power to to run the satnav app and charge the battery at the same time?

I’ve got an iPhone SE, that doesn’t have built in Qi, and a new car that has a wireless phone box. I bought an external wireless case so as to use it, and a wireless charge pad for home.

My research suggested that iPhones only charge at the slow rate, whereas Android ones are faster.

it may also be because mine is an external Qi case, but I find my phone screen stays on whilst charging unless I physically turn it off.

b) may be pie in the sky IME

Can you not just hide a cable / clip a cable?

Of course the charger itself needs a cable, so I still need to hide a cable which I have done.  I’d just rather not faff with cables all the time.  I just want to grab and go.

There are different ‘grades’ of charger – they have more or fewer coils I think.  Some are described as ‘fast’ so I’m going to give one a try that had good reviews.  I’ve also been told that better quality chargers heat up less, but I’m not sure about this.

If you have a fixed phone holder, why does it need to be wireless charging? I can’t see the advantage.

Say, for example, a Brodit holder – they are exactly the same in use whether they have a charging cable or not.

Rachel

Because it’s quicker to put it in the cradle and drive of if you don’t have to fumble around with a cable first.

Take a look at the Brodit holders – you don’t need to connect the cable as it is held so it connects as you put the phone into the holder. Works really well.

Rachel

So there’s a plug in the holder?

i reckon you’ll spend more time on this thread talking about not plugging a cable in, than you would plugging a cable in for the next year 😉

Yes – well, there was in the one for my iPhone. They have a *lot* of models.

Brodit + magnet + Sugru’d cable here – cable is within a few cm of phone.

Would get rid of the problem regarding charging speed and heat, but they aren’t cheap and you’d need a new holder for each device, and if you changed device.

https://www.brodit.com/product.html?id=521666&pn=prod&brand=Apple&model=iPhone+7

https://www.brodit.com/product.html?id=521662&pn=prod&brand=Apple&model=iPhone+7

depending on your preference of holder.

Regarding car charging, I bought a decent cigarette lighter socket charger and it’s a staggering good cheap upgrade.

https://www.gearbest.com/iphone-cables-adapters/pp_269157.html

The car USB was less that 100mah and I’ve clocked this at 2800mah on a rapid charge battery!

Of course the charger itself needs a cable, so I still need to hide a cable which I have done.  I’d just rather not faff with cables all the time.  I just want to grab and go.

As people have said above, phone specific Brodit active cradle and vehicle specific Brodit mount.

Looks factory fitted, solid as a rock and works for years.

No real need for wireless (slow) charging in a vehicle really.

I don’t fancy the Brodit clips for my car.  They all seem to cover vents.  Also don’t like the fact it’s £45 and it’s specific to the phone.  If I’d have bought one for my last phone I’d have had to buy another for the new phone.

I’ve never found a non phone specific holder that does as good a job as one that is phone specific.

(without sticking things to the phone or using a specific case)

Brodit cradles and mounts in all my cars for years now. Nothing else works as well. I spend a lot of time travelling on the road, so it’s a small price to pay for simplicity and something that actually works.

What car? (Please tell me it’s not a Skoda Octavia)

Rachel

Passat, obvs.

I’ve not had a problem with generic holders actually holding my phone.  I have had a problem with cheapies not sticking to the windscreen though, and the suckers breaking.

https://www.scosche.com/collections/magic-mount-wireless-charging

….I have had a problem with cheapies not sticking to the windscreen though, and the suckers breaking.

Cant’t stand anything that sticks to the windscreen. Dash mount only for me. Windscreens are for looking through.

And it must be a one handed job to fit/remove,

https://www.brodit.com/product.html?id=855069&pn=prod&brand=Volkswagen&model=Passat&year=2018

sorted

Sorted?

Funny how differently people can think 🙂  I don’t want to be looking down there for satnav directions…

As for sticking stuff to the windscreen – yes, I agree, but I can stick it way down to the right of the instruments and only lose a couple of inches out of the bottom corner.  Or, if I can fix it to the dash, I won’t lose any.

Scosche one looks good but apparently only available in the US.  And pricey – but possibly worth it.

Ok, so  ordered this one from Amazon.

It’s labelled ‘fast wireless charger’.  So I looked into this a bit – turns out that ‘fast’ isn’t just an adjective, it’s a different Qi standard, and includes handshaking and temperature monitoring, so it reduces power when the battery gets too warm.  Apparently Li-ion batteries are ok if kept under 45C

It is a little plasticky, but it’s quite well designed – holds the phone very well although I haven’t fitted it in the car yet.   The side clamps are well below both the power button and the Bixby button.

When I put the phone (an S9) in it, the phone displayed ‘fast wireless charging’ and said something like  1h52 to charge from 32%.  So I left it in satnav mode for a bit, and checked the battery temperature with an app, it got warm but never seemed to go above 39C which seems ok.  Just left it for about an hour doing satnav and it went up to 39% and the battery was still at 38C  So it charges whilst using satnav, but it’s clearly holding back a bit to keep the temperature under control.  Which is perfect.

So it looks like the ones labelled ‘fast wireless’ are decent.  Let’s just hope this one stays on the windscreen or dash wherever I put it.