If you have a phone with wireless-charging capabilities, you may have already picked up a wireless charging pad for your home or office — but maybe not for your car. Here’s a look at a few of our favorite wireless car chargers, all of which include a mount option. As with wireless charging pads, wireless car chargers require power and have a cable that runs into your car’s cigarette lighter — so they’re not totally wireless. However, it’s nice not to have to plug a cable into your phone each time you get into the car.
Note that all these wireless chargers work with any wireless-charging-enabled phone, whether it’s an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel or other models. And if you have a case on your phone, as long as it isn’t really thick, you can leave it on — wireless charging will work.
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The X-Doria Defense Helix Car Mount with RoboGrip has powered “robotic” arms that automatically open when you place your phone near the charger and then clamp shut after you dock it. You touch a button on the dock and the arms open and you can easily remove it from the charger.
This includes an air-vent mount, a USB-C cable and dual car power adapter with two USB-A ports (QC 3.0 and 2.1A). It charges iPhones at 7.5W and Android phones up to 10W.
It’s well built and relatively inexpensive compared to other wireless car chargers with auto-sense powered arms. The only small issue I had with it is that while the air-vent mount locks down pretty securely, if you go over a big bump and your car bounces, it will sometimes slip off.
Read more: The best USB-C PD charger of 2019
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iOttie finally has an “auto-sense” automatic clamping wireless car charger, and it’s a good one. The Auto Sense Automatic Clamping Qi Wireless Charging Car Phone Mount is available in both CD/vent and dashboard mount versions (I tried the dashboard version). It has a nicely designed telescoping arm and the wireless charging feature is compatible with most phone cases. You get 7.5W charging for iPhones and 10W for Android phones.
It comes with a dual charging USB cigarette lighter adapter. My only gripe — and it’s a small one — is the included cable is Micro-USB and not USB-C. Once the cable is plugged in to the charger you can basically forget about it, but if the cable accidentally becomes unplugged (which does happen), it’s easier to plug a USB-C cable in, especially when you’re driving.
Read more: Best iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max cases you can get now
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If you don’t mind going with a no-name brand like ZeeHoo, its Wireless Car Charger has most of the features you want, including auto clamping, USB-C and 10W fast-charging for Android phones that support it (iPhones are capped at 7.5W charging). It’s not as slickly built as the iOttie — and it doesn’t come with a cigarette lighter adapter — only a USB-C cable — but it’s $25 less.
It’s one of the more popular generic wireless car chargers with auto-sensing powered arms and it I thought it worked well overall, attaching securely to my car vent mount. I liked that it came with both a dashboard mount and an air-vent mount. Note that to get fast charging, you will need a power adapter that supports it (not included).
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If you want to go with a little more discreet-looking wireless charger, a magnetic mount is a good choice. The iOttie iTap 2 Wireless is available in versions with air vent, CD slot and dashboard mounts. I tried the air vent version, which has locking mechanism that keeps the mount securely attached to the vent.
For your phone to work with a magnetic mount, you either need a case with some metal built into it (which I have) or you can attach one of the included slim stick-on metal plates to the back of your phone toward the bottom so it doesn’t interfere with the wireless charging circuitry in the middle of it. You can then place a case on your phone, covering the plate; just make sure the case isn’t too thick or your phone won’t stick to the mount.
The iOttie iTap 2 includes a dual USB car charger that has an extra USB port for charging a second device. The included cable is Micro-USB, not USB-C, and this doesn’t have accelerated charging capabilities. My iPhone 11 Pro stayed on the charger securely, but those with larger phones like the iPhone 11 Pro Max and and Samsung Galaxy Note 10 would probably do better to go with one of the options above.
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