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Posts tagged with "Qi"

Native Union’s Voyage Charger: A Versatile Travel Companion

The Native Union Voyage with USB-C cable and canvas pouch.

The Native Union Voyage with USB-C cable and canvas pouch.

Last week, I abandoned the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Charger because of a recent recall. Fortuitously at about the same time, Native Union sent me its Voyage 2-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger to test. Although I preferred having the Apple Watch charging puck integrated with the power source for charging, as the Belkin battery did, the Native Union’s Voyage has proven to be an excellent replacement and far more flexible in how it can be used.

The Voyage consists of two charging disks joined by a soft rubberized strip that allows the two halves to fold into a compact, magnetically connected unit. The device comes in sandstone or black and is made of plastic, with the soft-touch rubbery hinge extending around the exterior edge of the disks. When folded, the Voyage is about the thickness of two iPhone 16 Pros, which may be too thick for some pockets but works well in a bag with your other gear. Overall, the device feels sturdy, and the build quality is excellent.

Charging an iPhone and AirPods Pro 2.

Charging an iPhone and AirPods Pro 2.

There are a few ways to use the Voyage. If you want to charge your iPhone and Apple Watch at the same time, you can fold the Voyage flat, push up on the Apple Watch charging puck so it’s perpendicular to the rest of the device, and start charging both. The Voyage is a Qi2 charger, meaning it can deliver 15W of power to an iPhone. The Apple Watch puck delivers 5W of power. Qi2’s power delivery is a step up from the original Qi standard, but it’s worth noting that you can get faster charging from Apple’s official iPhone MagSafe charger and Apple Watch charger.

Charging an iPhone and Apple Watch at 15 and 5W, respectively.

Charging an iPhone and Apple Watch at 15 and 5W, respectively.

That said, there’s a benefit to the Voyage’s integrated design that Apple’s faster chargers don’t offer. Not only can you charge your iPhone and Apple Watch (or AirPods Pro) simultaneously, but you have other options, too. First, if you fold the Voyage back on itself, you can charge just your iPhone. In this configuration, the Voyage is thick enough to double as a landscape-oriented stand, allowing you to use it to watch videos whether you’re charging your iPhone or not. If you’re charging in this configuration, you’ll also have access to the iPhone’s StandBy mode.

Using the Voyage in StandBy mode.

Using the Voyage in StandBy mode.

Another option is to flip the same configuration over and drop your Apple Watch or AirPods Pro on the Voyage’s flat surface to charge. Alternatively, you can flip the charging puck up and use your Apple Watch in nightstand mode as it charges. That’s a total of four ways to charge your devices with a charger that has a footprint not much bigger than an official Apple MagSafe charger.

Using the Voyage as a stand.

Using the Voyage as a stand.

The Voyage comes with a fabric-covered USB-C cable that matches the color of the device. There’s also a canvas bag in the box for storing the Voyage and its cable, although I’ll probably use it for storing small dongles and other odds and ends instead.

So far, the Voyage has been a good substitute for the charger I was using before. I’d prefer it if the Voyage supported faster MagSafe charging, but its compact size makes up for the slower charging in most contexts. The device has been equally handy having around the house whenever I need to top off my iPhone, Apple Watch, or AirPods Pro as it’s been easy to keep in my backpack for working away from home. So while the Voyage won’t replace faster charging solutions I have connected to my desk, it’s filled the role of having a charger handy at all times very well.

The Voyage 2-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger is available directly from Native Union for $99.99.

The AirPods Pro MagSafe Charging Case with USB-C Can Now Be Purchased Separately→

The MagSafe charging case for second-generation AirPods Pro that comes with a USB-C connector is now available as a separate purchase. When the updated headphones were introduced in September, many users expected the charging case would be available separately, but it wasn’t. That came as a bit of a surprise because when Qi charging was first introduced in the AirPods line, the case was offered as a separate purchase immediately. But with today’s listing on Apple’s online store, if all you want to do is swap your old Lightning case for the USB-C model, you can.

The new case is available to order on the Apple Store for $99, although deliveries in my area aren’t expected until after Christmas, and there aren’t any available for pickup in my local Charlotte, NC retail store.

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Apple Contributes Magnetic Coupling Tech to the Qi Charging Standard→

Sean Hollister of The Verge reports that Apple is contributing aspects of its MagSafe charging technology to the Qi wireless charging standard, which will bring magnetic coupling to Qi2-compatible mobile phones, including Android phones. According to Hollister’s interview with Paul Golden, a spokesperson for the Wireless Power Consortium:

There’s no reason to think a future Qi2 charger wouldn’t work seamlessly and identically with both Android and iPhones, Golden says when I ask. That’s because Apple, a WPC “steering member” (and chair of the board of directors) is contributing essentially the same “magnetic power profile” as MagSafe to the new Qi2 standard.

Hollister also reports that faster charging speeds are next on the Wireless Power Consortium’s to-do list:

That’s not all the WPC is working on, either! While the Qi2.0 release is largely just about adding magnets — it’s still primarily for phones, still tops out at 15 watts, still has the same foreign object detection, etc — the WPC intends to take advantage of guaranteed magnetic coupling to give us faster charging speeds, too. “When we finish with the spec for Qi2, we’ll immediately start working on a significantly higher power profile level for the next version of Qi2,” says Golden.

I’m glad to see Apple contributing to the Qi standard. Very few third-party manufacturers are using the official MagSafe standard, which usually means they charge more slowly. By standardizing the underlying magnetic connection and focusing next on charging speeds, we’ll hopefully see broader adoption of faster wireless charging across mobile phone accessories.

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