Best Qi Wireless Portable Chargers Android Central 2020

The best Qi wireless portable chargers allow you to charge whenever, wherever, and however you want. Did you leave your cable at home? Charge wirelessly! Do you need a quicker burst of power for an almost dead phone? Plug in for a faster charge. While Qi power banks aren't quite as popular as traditional power banks, the best wireless charging portable chargers will keep you topped off and ready to roll no matter where you've camped out during your daily errands.

Affordable reliability: Aukey Wireless Power Bank 8,000mAh

Staff pick

Aukey's Wireless Power Bank is the same physical size as its popular 10,000mAh power bank, but it shaves off a fifth of the capacity to make room for a Qi charging coil. This is a trade-off I'm more than willing to live with in order to get an affordable name-brand Qi bank.

$30 at Amazon

Upgrade pick: OtterBox OtterSpot Wireless Charging System

It's great to have a few OtterSpot Qi batteries to swap around and use on the fly, but building up that system is going to cost you big. The base system comes with one charging base and one portable OtterSpot battery.

From $55 at OtterBox

At home and on the go: Samsung Super Fast 25W Portable Wireless Charger

When it's at home, this phone-sized charging pad works just like any other. When you unplug it, it turns into a 10,000mAh power bank that you can use to charge your phone wirelessly or wired while out on the road.

$80 at Amazon

Go big or go home: Omni Mobile 25,600mAh

If you need to plop down your phone to charge while you also charge your laptop and some accessories while running around a convention, Omni's portable power station will let you charge all your gear quickly, including a 10W pad right on top.

$123 at Amazon

Name brand power: Mophie Powerstation Wireless External Battery Charger

Mophie is known for its battery cases, but it's also recognized the value of a battery booster that you don't have to keep stuck to your phone at all times. This 10,000mAh battery gets dinged for still using Micro-USB instead of USB-C, but this name-brand battery pack will easily charge your phone wirelessly or wired.

$34 at Amazon

Fancy fabric: Moshi Porto Q 5K Portable Battery with Built-in Wireless Charger

This portable battery may only be 5,000mAh and its USB-C port may only be for input charging rather than output, but this bank is high quality and high-class, with a lovely heather grey fabric covering the front. Use it on the go or leave it plugged in as a nightstand Qi charger.

$85 at Amazon

Wirelessly charging your phone is still worse than wired charging

Wireless charging by its very nature will lose more power during the charging process than regular wired charging. Qi charging has a lower transfer efficiency, so more energy is lost generating the wireless charging current than would be lost through wired charging, and it will be slower than wired charging on almost any wireless charger on a power bank today. That's just how the science involved here works. That said, charging with a Qi bank rather than a wire sticking out of your pocket or tangling around your desk can be a very beneficial thing, especially on the go.

On the note of pocket charging, wireless charging generates heat, so if you intend to slap your phone on a wireless charger in your pocket you need to be mindful of that heat and its possible buildup. You should also make sure the phone stays properly aligned on your power bank instead of sliding around and charging nothing.

What are the best wireless charging portable chargers for your phone?

We have some Qi power banks from traditional power players like Mophie's Powerstation Wireless Charger, and more mainstream names are finally in the portable Qi game. The Aukey 8,000mAh Wireless Power Bank is the best blend of compactness and capacity while keeping things affordable, but there's also options from Samsung and OtterBox that perform well.

Meanwhile, Moshi is a smaller capacity but also a smaller, more premium look, which makes it great for travelers looking for a power bank that will draw the right kind of attention during that four-hour boardroom meeting during your business conference.

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