Anker Qi2 charger hands-on: MagSafe charging rates at lower prices.

Anker was one of the first companies to announce Qi2 chargers, back in August 2023, and while it seems like everyone in the world is launching them now, Anker is the first company to get them.

For iPhone users, the Qi2 is already an easy sell: with a compatible iPhone, it’s less expensive than certified MagSafe chargers and just as fast. It’s less convincing so far for Android users or mixed-platform households, though, as it’s slower than regular Qi charging on non-certified devices.

I’ve spent a few weeks with three Anker Qi2 devices, all of which are available today: the $109.99 MagGo Wireless Charging Station (3-in-1 foldable), the $69.99 MagGo Power Bank (6,600 mAh capacity), and the $99.99 MagGo Magnetic Station Charging (8 in 1), commonly known as Orb. All three charge at the rate they’re supposed to, hold the iPhone at least as strong as a real MagSafe, and look pretty good. They are less expensive than MagSafe certified chargers; The Orb and the power bank don’t have direct competition, but the three-in-one charger is about $40 less than the going price of a MagSafe-certified triple charger.

The MagGo Power Bank is much larger than its 6,600 mAh capacity suggests. It’s more of a portable charging stand than the kind of thing you put on the back of your phone while on the go. At 266g, it’s 55g heavier than my iPhone 14 Pro and over 100g heavier than the 5,000mAh Anker 622 magnetic battery I own. But its hinge is much stronger than the flexible kickstand on the 622, recharges your phone twice as fast, and supports pass-through charging. If you plug it into the wall when the battery is full, it charges the phone at full speed; If the battery is empty, it will charge at approximately the same rate.

I don’t know why Anker made the Qi2 foldable three-in-one charging station look exactly like the Qi2 foldable power bank. I keep mixing them up. Regardless, this thing is neat. The Apple Watch dial flips off the base, so it’s not always dangling if you don’t have an Apple Watch, and the angle of the Qi2 stand can maintain its position anywhere from about 15 to 85 degrees. Opening the stand reveals a 5W Qi charger inside, perfect for charging AirPods or other wireless earbuds. It’s thick, like a power bank, but at least its shape makes using it on the go a little easier than the MagSafe-certified 3-in-1 cube.

The three-in-one comes with a 40W AC adapter; Depending on the specifications, it can output up to 15W via Qi2 and 5W for both Apple Watch and Qi chargers.

The Anker MagGo 8-in-1 Magnetic Charging Station, also known as the Orb, costs $99.99 — about $30 more than the regular magnetic Qi version. It has two USB-A ports and two USB-C ports and can support up to 67W of total power output, including up to 15W from a Qi2 charger (it can support that much more with its three AC ports). You can get a real desktop octopus here, or replace full power strip chargers. Think about it, if you will.

Anker also announces:

• Wireless charging pad with five-foot cable and AC adapter for $20.99
• 10,000mAh Power Bank with Kickstand and LCD Display ($89.99, available January 8)
• The three-in-one charging stand looks a lot like the Belkin charging stand ($89.99, available in February)
• Three-in-one charging pad with pop-up Qi2 chargers and Apple Watch chargers ($99.99, available April 2024)

Up to 15W with Qi2 certified iPhones: From my limited testing, the three Qi2 chargers seem to charge the iPhone 14 Pro at up to 15W, just like Apple’s MagSafe charger. Apple and charger manufacturers always say “up to 15 watts” because the iPhone won’t always use all that power. It will go up to 15 watts a little if the battery is particularly low, then the rate drops when it’s full or if the phone gets too hot. In my experience, this mostly meant charging rates of around 12 or 13 watts.

Up to 7.5W with uncertified iPhones: The iPhone 13 and 14 series became Qi2 compatible with iOS 17.2. My wife’s iPhone 14 Pro, which was still running iOS 17.1, reached 7.5 watts — the maximum rate for Qi v1 wireless charging, magnetic or otherwise — until I updated the software.

Up to 5W with Qi v1 devices: I also tested the three-in-one foldable charger with the Samsung Galaxy S22. The S22 can charge at up to 10W with a standard Qi charger – or a MagSafe-compatible charger like the Anker 313 charging pad – but maxes out at 5W with Qi2. So, if you’re someone who, like my editor Dan Seifert, puts magnetic loops on the back of Android phones so you can use magnetic Qi accessories, you don’t need to rush to upgrade to the Qi2 just yet.

Qi v2.0 also has an “improvement to wireless charging’s Extended Power Profile (EPP) that doesn’t include magnets but is compatible with the Qi v 2.0 standard,” and all Qi v2.0 devices will be interoperable, so it’s conceivable that older devices could Non-magnet devices obtain Qi v2.0 compatibility via software update. the edge I’ve reached out to the Wireless Power Consortium to ask if this is possible.

The appeal of the Qi2 to iPhone users is that it gives you true MagSafe charging rates for less money, and it does A lot more Qi2 chargers are more advertised than ever before as official MagSafe certified chargers.

The current price for a MagSafe-certified three-in-one charger is around $150, excluding sales. Anker’s Qi2 three-in-one ranges in price from $90 to $110. The basic Qi2 charging pad costs $21 with an AC adapter; Apple’s MagSafe charger is $40 without it, and Belkin’s MagSafe pad is $30 without an AC adapter and $40 with it.

The only thing I can think of that the official MagSafe does that the Qi2 doesn’t is which backup display you want and on which charger. But we’re already seeing sales on some MagSafe-certified chargers to bring prices closer to the Qi2, so perhaps this tide will lift that boat.

Photography by Nathan Edwards/The Verge