Most of you will probably agree with me when I say that Samsung is clearly one of the pioneers of wireless charging in smartphones. His phones have been offering it for quite a number of years and since Galaxy The Note5 even learned to charge wirelessly a bit faster thanks to the new pad, which started to make sense. However, there is still room for improvement, not only in terms of efficiency or functionality, but also in terms of design. And it is precisely all these three aspects that Samsung managed to combine in one, really successful product this year - the Samsung Wireless Charger Convertible - which we will look at today.
As the name itself suggests, this is a wireless charger that also offers a convertible design, meaning that it can also be used as a stand. The phone does not have to just lie on the pad, but it can also be placed on it at an angle of approximately 45° and it will still charge quickly. A clear advantage is that you can use the phone in this mode during wireless charging - for example, check notifications, respond to them or watch a YouTube video or even a movie. However, the function of the stand was already offered by last year's generation of the mat, so it will not be new for some.
Packing
In the package, in addition to the charger itself and simple instructions, you will also find a reduction from microUSB to USB-C, which Samsung has been packing with almost all of its products recently. It's a shame that the charger doesn't come with a suitable cable, and especially an adapter, so you have to use the ones you got for your phone, or buy another one. On the other hand, it's quite logical, because the price of the mat is a bit cheaper compared to others from competing manufacturers, so they had to save on packaging.
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Design
By far the biggest change in this year's mat generation is the design. Samsung has finally managed to come to the market with a wireless charging pad that looks really elegant. The Wireless Charger Convertible will thus become not only a useful accessory for you, but also a kind of jewelry or accessory. You definitely don't have to be ashamed of the mat, on the contrary, it fits perfectly on a wooden table, which it decorates in its own way.
The main body on which you place the phone is made of a material that is almost indistinguishable from leather. As Samsung itself states, it is not real leather, so I guess it will be artificial leather. The rest of the body is matte plastic, with a rubber non-slip layer on the bottom to ensure the pad stays in place, doesn't rotate or shift. While there is an LED at the bottom of the front that informs you that charging is in progress, at the back there is a hidden USB-C port for connecting the cable.
As I already revealed in the introduction, the mat can be easily unfolded and turned into a stand. The stand mode is really great, but I do have one caveat. While the main body of the pad is soft, the bottom that you place the phone on in stand mode is plain hard plastic, so if like me you're using the phone without a case, then you might be worried about the edge of it scratching the plastic. Of course, it doesn't bother everyone, but I think that some padding or just plain rubber would definitely not hurt.
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Charging
Now to the most interesting part, i.e. charging. To use fast wireless charging, I recommend connecting the pad to the network via a USB-C cable and a powerful adapter that Samsung bundles with its phones (for example Galaxy S7, S7 edge, S8, S8+ or Note8). It is with this accessory that you will achieve maximum speeds. While during standard wireless charging, the pad has a power of 5 W (and requires 10 W or 5 V and 2 A at the input), it provides a power of 9 W during fast charging (then requires 15 W or 9 V and 1,66 A at the input).
Wireless charging has not yet reached a stage where it can beat wired charging, even if it is fast wireless charging. Samsung says its fast wireless charging is up to 1,4 times faster. According to the tests, this is true, but compared to fast adaptive charging through the cable, it is considerably slower. For example, 69% of Galaxy The S8 gets to 100% via fast wireless charging in 1 hour and 6 minutes, but when using fast charging via cable, it charges from the same value to 100% in 42 minutes. In this case, the difference is 24 minutes, but when charging a fully discharged phone, of course, the difference is much more noticeable, by more than an hour.
I also tried charging a smartphone from another brand, specifically a new one, through the pad iPhone 8 Plus from Apple. Compatibility is XNUMX%, unfortunately iPhone it doesn't support fast wireless charging, so it makes a little less sense with it. Its battery with a capacity of 2691 mAh was thus charged for a really long time, more than three hours in particular. I provide a detailed breakdown for your interest below.
Slow (5W) wireless charging of the 2691mAh battery
- 30 minutes to 18%
- 1 hour at 35%
- 1,5 hour at 52%
- 2 hour at 69%
- 2,5 hour at 85%
- 3 hour at 96%
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The Samsung Wireless Charger Convertible is, in my opinion, one of the best wireless charging pads on the market. It perfectly combines utility and premium design along with fast charging support. The only pity is the absence of a cable and adapter in the package. Otherwise, the pad is absolutely ideal, and it is especially useful that it can also be used as a stand, where you can quickly charge your phone while watching a movie. By its execution or the design certainly won't offend you either, on the contrary, it will serve as a pleasant table decoration.
For some, the price, which is set at 1 CZK on Samsung's official website, may be an obstacle. However, if you are one of them, I have good news for you. Mobile Emergency now offers the pad with a 999% discount, when its price has dropped to 1 399 $ (here). So if you are interested in the Samsung Wireless Charger Convertible, don't delay your purchase, the discount is probably for a limited time.
