Wow, I have dealt with countless wireless chargers but besides defying physics this one ACTUALLY does everything I want and expect.
PACKAGING: Lets start with the packaging. Like usual, Anker delivers quality similar to a company named after a fruit. Everything comes gently wrapped in protective film and packed like a jigsaw puzzle for 30 year olds. There wasn't any annoying sticky adhesive or tough to tear plastic in sight and most of the excess can be thrown into the paper recycling.
WHATS INSIDE: I have quite a few other Random Company batteries, chargers etc. and there is usually a very cheap cable and very cheap charger included with the "main product". In this case Anker includes a 1M/3ft Powerline cable that comes from their premium line. This isn't the normal small AWG cable and rightfully so as it needs to deliver 12 volts to the charger. The charger included is a 1 port Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 charger branded as their PowerPort+1 series charger.This will output 5V/9V/12V at various amps shown in my screenshot. This will quick charge any Android phone on the market using the Qualcomm Quick Charge protocol. The 3rd item in the box is the actual fast charger which I will go into next.
WIRELESS CHARGING: As a small warning, if you intend to ever use another power brick with this wireless charger, it will ONLY accept a 12V input. It is NOT backwards compatible to slow charge with a 5V input, and will not quick charge with a 9V input. You can input 12V only, and it will output normal wireless charging or fast wireless charging depending on the phone(With a 12V input). To reiterate, with a 12V input it will output 5V and 12V. Only 12V input will work. With an input voltage below 12V, the LED on the charging stand will gently flash showing an incompatibility. You won't hurt anything with ANY configuration. The worst thing that could happen, with an incompatible power brick, is that your phone simply won't charge.
WIRELESS CHARGING CHARGE RATES AND HEAT: Efficiency is the one MAJOR flaw(limitation due to physics...?) of wireless charging. Being 50-60% efficient, all the extra energy has to be released as heat. This is the main reason this charger has a fan.(Will go into that later). Running a game at full brightness on my S8+ starting at 60% ended up stopping at 70%. The phone regulates the charging speed against heat and dropped the charger to 3.5 watt output. The phone while on and in game, neither charged nor discharged. Currently ZERO fast charger on the market will charge a phone while the phone is on and active with the processor working hard. If you need to utilize fast charging for a LONG period, you must keep the screen off and the phone inactive. My PERSONAL opinion is that wireless charging should really only be used at night while you are sleeping. Heat hurts batteries and during fast charging with the phone on, the temps approach 96 degrees Fahrenheit. This is NOT dangerous but could potentially wear that battery a tiny bit faster than normal. When I had my phone set to only "standard" wireless charge the charger was outputting 6.6 watts, when I switched to "fast" wireless charging, the output went to 8.3 watts. A modest increase but don't expect miracles.Overall this charger outperforms the charging function of OEM chargers and stays much cooler allowing the fast charge rate for longer. This is the literal best performance of any wireless charger I've ever seen. If you want the MAXIMUM charge rate possible for your phone, you must use a fast charging WIRED connection.
FAN: The small squirrel cage fan(It really is called that :) ) exists in the base. Unless you put your ear 1-3 inches (7-9 cm) from the base, it is completely silent. You will notice the slit in the top of the charger that acts as the air inlets. The thing I love about this design is that they took into account phone heat. Not only does the charging circuit get hot but the phone does too. By putting an inlet at the top and an outlet on the bottom rear, this stand is effectively cooling the entire device AND the charging circuitry. Even in the worst case scenario the phone never even came close to overheating.
If you are looking for a upright wireless charger this is literally the one. Quality is amazing, performance is amazing, heat control is amazing. Wireless charging has a way to come, but this charger is on the bleeding edge of performance for current tech. 7/7 with rice.
P.S. While sitting on the stand the S8+'s finger print sensor was fully accessible and not blocked.
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