A new car mount for your smartphone just launched that offers a rare combo: Qi2 wireless charging at high speeds — and at a reasonable price. The Qi2 car mount, from accessories maker ESR, offers 15W wireless charging to fast-charge your iPhone 15 and 15 Pro at its maximum capacity while you’re en route.
9to5Toys points out that with a launch price of $30.99, the new car mount is less costly than many other 15W MagSafe-compatible chargers on the market. For comparison, Apple’s standard MagSafe Charger (not meant for in-car) is priced at $39. Many MagSafe car mounts (such as this one by Belkin or ESR’s own car mount MagSafe charger that includes a fan) cost twice that amount.
ESR’s new car mount is Qi2-certified by the Wireless Power Consortium, meaning it’ll work with any Qi2-compatible device. The company states its Qi2 car mount can charge an iPhone 15 Pro Max to full battery in just over two and a half hours.
At present, the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro are the only Qi2-certified smartphones. Android smartphone makers appear to still be working on it. According to Android Police, Samsung chose not to include Qi2 in the Galaxy S24 because the product was in development before the wireless standard was complete.
Qi2 was announced in January 2023, but it’s only recently that devices have started to come out that are certified to work with the new charging standard. Even in September 2023, with the standard finalized, the iPhone 15 could only promise it would support Qi2 eventually — the certification process just wasn’t ready yet. But there’s been progress since then, and dozens of Qi2 products from companies like Anker, Belkin, Baseus, and others have since been certified. As more Qi2 charging accessories hit the market, we’ll likely see more lower-priced options.
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