【My Sinful Valentine XXX】

Here's the problem with wireless chargers: One is My Sinful Valentine XXXnever enough. Most households have several smartphones that need to be charged daily, and if you're a demanding user, like me, you'll sometimes have to charge your phone at work as well.

So I wondered: What if I could switch to going completely wireless, wherever I go? Would that make the process of charging so effortless that I'd completely forget about it?

In order to do this, I had RAVPower send me three of its super-fast wireless chargers, each with a different design and use case: a classic pad-type charger, a wireless charging stand, and a portable wireless charger.

I installed RAVPower's 7.5W 2 Coils fast wireless charger -- a wireless charging stand on which you position the phone vertically -- in my home office. The RP-PC066 charging pad went on the couch in my living room, replacing the multi-pronged IKEA wired charger I normally use. Finally, I put the 10,400mAh wireless portable charger in my backpack and carried it everywhere I went.

All three chargers support 7.5W charging of the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus. If you have a Samsung Galaxy S8, or a different Qi-enabled device, even better: These devices will charge it at 10W.

I made a habit of placing my iPhone X (I also occasionally used an LG V30S, which also supports wireless charging) on a charging surface whenever I wasn't using it. I did it even when traveling -- I kept the portable wireless charger by my side whenever I could.

The experience

I did this for roughly two weeks, but it took me just a couple of days to realize that my phone is never going to run out of juice. It felt weird always being at or near 100% battery, but I couldn't bring it to under 50% no matter what I did.

To increase my battery consumption, I started playing a lot more PUBG, a popular battle royale-style third-person shooter that had recently launched for phones. But even then I never ran into any battery issues. Even when I managed to drain the battery well below 50% and had to quickly leave the house, I'd place the phone on the charging pad, and by the time I was dressed and ready, the battery indicator would be more than half full again.

Traveling was a different story. RAVPower's portable charger did the job nearly as fast as the stand and the pad (see stats below), but at 10,400mAh, it was a significant downgrade in capacity from the 16,000mAh, non-wireless portable battery I normally use.

Plus, the benefits of the wireless charging are lost when you travel: With a wire, you can easily charge your phone in a backpack or in the car (note that RAVPower does give you a handy little bag with a pocket that lets you squeeze the phone against the charger). When you go wireless, not so much: I placed my iPhone X on the wireless charger on the passenger seat of my car, but it flew away the first time I braked for a traffic light. Finally, don't forget you need a microUSB cable to charge the portable charger itself.

Thankfully, RAVPower's wireless portable charger also has a USB port, so you can charge your device the old-fashioned way.

The stats

So how fast are these chargers, anyways? Well, don't expect miracles: The best of them is still a lot slower than a wired fast charger and just a little faster than a regular iPhone X charger (remember, the iPhone X supports fast charging but you have to buy a fast charger separately).

Note that the portable charger is significantly slower than the other two, especially when the battery is nearly full.

The Ravpower stand:

30 min: 24%

60 min: 40%

120 min: 74%

3 hours and 29 minutes: full charge

Ravpower pad:

30 min: 24%

60 min: 39%

120 min: 69%

3 hours and 42 minutes: full charge

Ravpower portable charger:

30 min: 19%

60 min: 33%

120 min: 59%

5 hours and 16 mins: full charge

The way I used these chargers, however, made these charging times more or less irrelevant. If you leave your phone on a charging pad most of the time, you will never have to worry about battery life.

Out of the three, I preferred the RAVPower stand the most. It was the fastest, and it was nearly impossible to place the phone on it incorrectly (it has two coils, so you can even place your phone on it in landscape mode and it'll still charge). Plus, since it was placed atop my work desk, I could see the phone's screen while sitting and even interact with it. The positioning was harder to get right on the other chargers, the pad and the portable charger, which made the experience a bit annoying.

Note that I tested all three chargers with my iPhone X in a thin, plastic case, which didn't seem to obstruct the charging at all. Obviously, you may get even better results without a case, but I reckon most people will have a case anyway on the slippery, expensive iPhone X.

I've also tried charging with a fatter Speck case, and it worked, but it took a little bit more time for the charging to start.

The conclusion

Living with three wireless chargers has been a pleasant experience -- not a life-changing one, but definitely something I'd recommend. I never ran fully out of battery, and I was able to almost completely forget about cables and wires. This was especially great when I used a bulky case that has a flap protecting the iPhone X's Lightning port, making it a major pain to charge the phone with a cable.

Since wireless charging is fast -- faster than with iPhone X's regular cable -- there's really no downside to going wireless. However, the portable wireless charger, while nice, definitely wasn't necessary. You can find cheaper, smaller non-wireless options (with much larger capacities), including from RAVPower itself.