Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Charging Stand Review: Future-proofing power

The Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Charging Stand does what it needs to in charging terms, though right now there’s precious few Qi2 phones around to take advantage of it.

Pros	Cons
Charges three devices at once	Apple watch charger has a slippy grip
Qi2 for wider device compatibility	Right now, Qi2 devices are basically just iPhones
Charger included in box	Pricey, especially if you don’t need all three chargers

Score: 3.5/5

 

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In this review

Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Specifications
Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Design
Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Performance
Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Conclusion

The Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 is one of the first wireless charging devices on the market to support the new Qi2 charging standard.

So what’s Qi2, I hear you ask? It’s a slightly-faster-than Qi1 charging standard with support for up to 15W charging, as well as (effectively) bolting on Apple’s Magsafe technology to hold supported devices in place for more efficient charging throughput.

Wireless charging is necessarily less efficient than wired charging, but keeping a phone absolutely aligned with magnets can do a lot to not only improve power delivery but also minimise the build up of heat, which you really don’t want in your phone batteries. It’s a nice evolution of the Qi standard, in other words.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Charging Stand is itself an evolution of existing Belkin (and competitor) designs, throwing in both Apple Watch and general Qi device chargers into the mix. Qi2 is what makes it interesting, though at the time of writing, it’s really only applicable to iPhone owners.

Design

The concept of a three-in-one Apple-centric charger certainly isn’t new in the market, and Belkin’s been here before.

The Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Charging Stand comprises a solid base plate in either black or white – my review model was the black one, and I’d suggest it’s the smarter buy because over time it’ll show less dust or marks, but it’s nice to have the choice, I guess – with a fixed arm that splits out to a smaller Apple Watch charging plate and larger phone charging plate.

The Phone plate can be rotated at up to 90 degrees for your preferred placement and viewing angle, but it’s the only adjustable part of the whole deal. If you wanted to have the Apple Watch at a different standing angle, that’s not supported.

The back of the Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Charging Stand houses a fixed power cable leading out to a USB-C plug; I would have preferred if this was a plug-in cable, because unless you’re particularly keen and handy with a soldering iron, if that cable frays or breaks in the future, the whole unit is rendered useless.

It’s an interesting play here from Belkin, because while the whole unit is impressively made from a minimum of 75% of post-consumer recycled plastic – a real win for the environment there – it feels like it could have been just that little bit more consumer-friendly if you could plug in a replacement cable down the track.

It could be worse if the cable ended in a fixed plug of course. You do get a plug in the box with up to 36W of charging power, which means that at least you could use that even if the actual base unit or cable dies somewhere along the way.

Performance

One of Qi2’s big selling points is that it ups the officially supported charging rate for connected devices up to 15W, faster than original Qi’s 5W rate.

The reality in market is that a number of devices have already jumped way beyond this, albeit via generally proprietary chargers. If you’ve got one of those phones that jump up way beyond 15W wireless, odds are that it’ll only charge that way via a very brand-specific charger.

That’s not Qi2’s only trick, however, because it also picks up the magnetic attachment technology found in Apple’s MagSafe design – and that’s not by accident, because Apple sits on the Qi Wireless Power Consortium Board.

Magnetic charging means that you can drop a Qi2 compatible phone onto the charging plate and it’ll stay in place even if the plate isn’t in its flat orientation.

That’s not just visually cute – though it does provide support for the iPhone’s StandBy clock modes – but also a matter of better efficiency for charging and less heat buildup, which can impede or outright stop wireless charging working under certain circumstances.

As an example, on my recent road trip from Sydney to Adelaide in an EV, I pretty constantly found my phone stopping charging due to overheating while using a Tesla Model 3’s wireless charging plate. Were it Qi2, it should lessen or outright stop that kind of problem occurring.

From a charging standpoint the Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Charging Stand works well, though you should bear in mind that it’s Qi2 for the phone charging plate only. The Apple Watch charger and base plate are more simply rated for 5W charging only, but then the idea for this particular device is pretty clearly that it would be your desk or bedside charging companion.

While the inclusion of an Apple Watch charger does point towards this being an Apple ecosystem centric device, there’s a bigger challenge for Qi2 right now. The existence of the standard and of chargers like this is great because it moves that kind of connectivity beyond dodgy magnetic phone cases and into the wider Android ecosystem… if only there were Android phones with Qi2 built in.

At the time of writing, the compatibility list for the Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Charging Stand comprises only of iPhones – basically the iPhone 12 or better for Qi2 rates, though the 12 Mini and 13 Mini can only get up to 12W of power that way. You could – and can -- charge other devices if you position the charging plate perfectly flat, though that’ll drop it to simpler 5W rates, which naturally isn’t optimal.

Charging from the other plates is fine, though I did notice that the Apple Watch charger is a little on the slippy side, especially if you're charging a larger Apple Watch and especially the Apple Watch Ultra. It doesn't mean that it falls off easily, but it will slip to an odd looking angle to charge if that kind of aesthetic is important to you.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Charging Stand: Alex’s Verdict

As an update to what Belkin already does in the wireless charging space, adding Qi2 is no bad thing, and this charger sits amongst a range of other Qi2 options, including a travel-compatible charger I’m in the process of reviewing right now.

However, it is very Apple-centric specifically, given the inclusion of an Apple Watch charger, and the wider reality that 100% of the market for Qi2 devices right now are iPhones.

That may well change later this year, with many tipping Google’s next full Pixel release – not likely the Pixel 8a but possibly the Pixel 9 – as the first widely available Android Qi2 phone. We’ll have to wait and see on that score.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Charging Stand: Pricing and availability

The Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Charging Stand retails in Australia for $229.95

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