I've been looking out for a Wireless Charger since the Samsung Charging Pad gave up on my S6 Edge+ on the first day itself. I did get it replaced, however, the second one didn't work either. I know there are some good wireless chargers out there, but frankly, the ones I liked were quite pricey. Its just that, I didn't want to spend more than on something I might never use and not to mention, I just spent like 0 on my new phone.
I came across this
CHOETECH Circle Wireless Charger which looked really good. Having seen the reviews of other
CHOETECH products, I expected a descent quality out of the brand and the price tag looked just perfect for what I was looking. So, without further thinking, I just ordered one. I've been using it for a week now and I don't have any regrets at all.
Like most of the product brands,
CHOETECH also reached out to me asking about my experience with the product and if I'm willing to write a review on it. Hell yeah, I'm always ready for a review and since I'm writing one, why not on XDA. So here's how it goes:-
I have set a standard for reviewing any product on following categories:-
1. Packaging & Content
2. Build Quality & Design
3. Functionality
4. Pros & Cons
I'll go through each of them one by one.
Packaging & ContentFrom a user's perspective, this might not be the best category for reviewing, however, a consumer's first impression comes with the packaging of the product. It is definitely one of the reasons for so many unboxing videos that we see on YouTube. Now, the one about this product which didn't really impress me is its packaging. It comes in a sleek soft box as shown below:-
As you can see, the box doesn't really give an impression of a top notch brand as it doesn't even mention the exact name of the product which is
CHOE Circle Qi Wireless Charger [highlighted above]. It also lacks any kind of seal [highlighted above] or mentioning some of the unique features of this product that I read online while ordering. May be I'm expecting too much of a product, but that's just me. This may not even bother most of you.
Looking through the contents of the box, we have the following items:-
- Wireless Charging Pad
- USB Cable
- Instruction Manual
- Service Manual
So, you did notice that we don't have a charging adapter coming up with this one. May be that's why the charger is priced at just . I don't really care for this (since I've plenty of spare chargers) but, for some, it might be a deal breaker because if they want to use it at their office and the original fast charger at home, they might have to buy a spare charger (with atleast 2 Amp output).
Moving on to the next category...
Build Quality & DesignWith an Alumnium back, this product is definitely one of the best out there at this price range. Not just the top, the bottom also has a thick rubber ring to hold onto its ground, no matter where you place it. It has the perfect grip to keep the smartphone in place even without a case on S6 Edge+ and Note 5, which are extremely slippery due to their glass back. The top surface is shiny plastic to provide wireless charging capability. Although it is slightly smaller than Samsung Wireless Charger, the size is just right for any smartphone or smartwatch (Moto 360).
Overall, it might not give you the best premium feel that you would get with brands like Samsung or Google (Nexus), but it is definitely made out of a good quality material and gives feeling of a quality product.
FunctionalityWhere the Samsung Wireless Charging pad failed to charge my S6 Edge+, this one didn't dissapoint me at all. Just like the former, the
CHOETECH Wireless Charger is QI based and it also has an illuminating Blue LED around it which starts glowing once the phone has been placed over it and the charging starts. The blue LED also notifies you when it is unable to charge wirelessly when you place a phone (without wireless charging capability) on top of it. I love the blue illumination since it tells me that my phone is charging alright, but with the Samsung Pad, it used to bother me at night with the illumination being too bright. Thanks to CHOETECH's Smart Light Sensor, this charger dims or completely turns off the bright blue LED depending on the nearby ambient light. That means, if I turn off the light at night, the blue LED around it turns off automatically, but the charging continues.
Another feature that I noticed on this is, even if the phone reaches 100% battery, the charger doesn't turn off (like Samsung's did) and when you get up in the morning, you get your device with 100% Charge. This might be a good thing for some, because I've seen people complaining over it on Samsung Wireless Pad's review that it turns off automatically and the phone charge goes down by the time they get up in the morning. Anyway, this is definitely a matter of personal choice, and I would have preferred an auto-off system against this one.
The charger specification mentions input as 5V/2A, so any modern day charging adapter would do just fine with this wireless pad. The output mentioned is 5V/1A which is same as any other wireless charger available in the market. With this specification, a 3000 mAh battery should charge within 3 hours. So, does it really stand upto it's bold claim? Let's find out...
So, I used a USB power meter to see how much current is drawn when a Nexus 4 and S6 Edge+ is charging. Its hard to tell if the shown current is being drawn by the wireless charger for itself or is it the rate at which, the phone is charging. If I have to take a guess, I would say it's the current that the charger is drawing for itself in order to generate the wireless charging through it's induction coil. Here's a comparison between the Nexus 4 and Edge:-
I also noted down the S6 Edge+ charge time at specific intervals while charging it from 6% - 100%. You can see a constant charging rate from 6%-80% in the graph. And then it takes a little more time from that point to 100%
From the readings above, one can tell that the average time from 0%-100% would be around 3 hours for a 3000 mAh battery (S6 Edge+), which is exactly the time a charger would require if it's output is 1 Amp. And this is where I felt I've made the right choice. A 3 hour charge time for wireless charging is definitely a good sign and I'm 100% satisified with this product. I also ran some tests using different cases for my Edge+ (2 SPG and 1 Arozel) and it didn't make any difference at all. The charger was able to charge my phone through all the cases, which again is a good sign as I read in many of the Wireless Pad's reviews that they don't charge when a case is used.
Pros & ConsHere's a list of pros and cons for Choetech QI Wireless Charger :-
Pros - Solid Build Quality
- Small in Size
- Top & Bottom Grips
- Good Power output
- Smart Light Sensor
- No Beep Sound on charge completion
Cons - Poor Boxing (No Seal on Box either)
- No Charging Adapter
- Doesn't turn-off after 100% charging
So, overall, I'm extremely satisfied with this product. If you're looking for a cheap wireless charger that looks good and gets the job done, this one is definitely for you. However, if your budget isn't limited, you can always opt for a wireless charger from brands like Samsung or Google (Nexus).
Here's a quick video review of the same:
CHOE TECH Circle Qi Wireless Charger - Quick Review