The 2 charging stands that interested me were the SliceCharge Pro and the WINPOK Plus. I have an iPhone X and just got the AirPods 2, with an Apple Watch possibly in my future. These 2 chargers both seem to require a special cover for the AirPods as the don't seem to be designed for the AirPods 2. I want a wireless charger that allows the iPhone to stand up, wirelessly charge of the AirPods(most chargers use the lightning cable) and have Apple watch charging. I guess I need to be patient!
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Best Alternatives to Apple's Now-Canceled AirPower
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Interesting that this post no longer lists the SliceCharge 2 (which was at #3 on the list).
I (along with lots of other people according to Hard Cider Labs twitter feed) have had trouble with this charger. I've sent 3 emails and not had a single response regarding the power unit with basically burnt out when I was charging all 3 devices. The watch part of the charger is practically useless too.
Here's a review I wrote for their website, which they haven't approved yet:
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I ordered this the day AirPower got killed off by Apple following a review on MacRumors, and waited patiently for it to arrive. Having read the reviews I had high hopes for this charging mat and hoped it could fill the void left by AirPower. It certainly looked the part.
Initially the service was excellent. There were only blue devices available when I placed my order, but when I returned to the site later in the day, white ones were again on sale. I got in contact and Sammy kindly agreed to swap my order with little fuss. After waiting about a week for confirmation of the shipment, I noticed on the site that shipping had been delayed due to demand, although this was only a small footnote on the page, which I missed first time round. No one responded to emails during this period, which was understandable although a little disappointing.
When I eventually got confirmation, the charger arrived fairly quickly which was great. However, my excitement didn’t last long. Once I plugged it in, it soon became apparent that the watch section in the middle was pretty useless. The magnet was very weak and trying to get the watch to charge was intermittent at best. I even tried taking the strap off, which helped a little but was not an ideal solution. In fairness, the side coils seemed to charge my iPhone X and wireless AirPods case okay.
Things got worse when I got the charging mat home and placed it on my bedside cabinet. I put all three devices on the mat and switched the plug on. The watch didn’t charge at all, in fact it lost about 8% in 20-30mins. On top of this, as I picked up my wireless AirPods case off the mat, there was a loud pop and the power unit died completely.
I immediately emailed to discuss my options, but haven’t received a response yet. That was on 16th April and I have sent 2 subsequent requests for an answer but no one has had the decency to get in touch. I wouldn’t normally write a review of this nature, but I’m running out of options.
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I would avoid this charge at all costs. Complete waste of money, and they seem to have little interest in dealing with the issues and sorting out refunds.
I (along with lots of other people according to Hard Cider Labs twitter feed) have had trouble with this charger. I've sent 3 emails and not had a single response regarding the power unit with basically burnt out when I was charging all 3 devices. The watch part of the charger is practically useless too.
Here's a review I wrote for their website, which they haven't approved yet:
-------------------------------
I ordered this the day AirPower got killed off by Apple following a review on MacRumors, and waited patiently for it to arrive. Having read the reviews I had high hopes for this charging mat and hoped it could fill the void left by AirPower. It certainly looked the part.
Initially the service was excellent. There were only blue devices available when I placed my order, but when I returned to the site later in the day, white ones were again on sale. I got in contact and Sammy kindly agreed to swap my order with little fuss. After waiting about a week for confirmation of the shipment, I noticed on the site that shipping had been delayed due to demand, although this was only a small footnote on the page, which I missed first time round. No one responded to emails during this period, which was understandable although a little disappointing.
When I eventually got confirmation, the charger arrived fairly quickly which was great. However, my excitement didn’t last long. Once I plugged it in, it soon became apparent that the watch section in the middle was pretty useless. The magnet was very weak and trying to get the watch to charge was intermittent at best. I even tried taking the strap off, which helped a little but was not an ideal solution. In fairness, the side coils seemed to charge my iPhone X and wireless AirPods case okay.
Things got worse when I got the charging mat home and placed it on my bedside cabinet. I put all three devices on the mat and switched the plug on. The watch didn’t charge at all, in fact it lost about 8% in 20-30mins. On top of this, as I picked up my wireless AirPods case off the mat, there was a loud pop and the power unit died completely.
I immediately emailed to discuss my options, but haven’t received a response yet. That was on 16th April and I have sent 2 subsequent requests for an answer but no one has had the decency to get in touch. I wouldn’t normally write a review of this nature, but I’m running out of options.
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I would avoid this charge at all costs. Complete waste of money, and they seem to have little interest in dealing with the issues and sorting out refunds.
A previous version of this article recommended (as #3) the SliceCharge from Hard Cider Labs. I waited months for mine to ship. While it does charge the iPhone and AirPods fine, it actually uncharges the watch. After charging my cellular large-screen Apple Watch once, now whenever I place my Apple Watch on the SliceCharge, it looses 1% battery every 1-2 minutes with no other use. I've tried repeatedly over the past few days to get it to work so I wouldn't have to return it (it was a gift), but so far no success. After attempting to use it, I'm concerned that I'd really rather actually have something that props my watch up at an angle so I can use it as a night clock on my bed-side stand, which I can't see when it's lying flat. I also hadn't considered how much horizontal space the watch band would take up, since I've been using an Elago side-ways charger (the beige mac-plus version), and the band naturally curves around it.
I'm also very concerned about how well-aligned the AirPods have to be to charge, it seems that in the dark at night, reaching my hand blindly over to find a phone or watch to pick up to see the time, I would easily knock them out of alignment when putting them back. I find I'm not saving any time over careful aligning a port to plug in wire-full charging, and I have to be more careful in the middle of the night, a problem I don't have with wire-full charging.
I'm also very concerned about how well-aligned the AirPods have to be to charge, it seems that in the dark at night, reaching my hand blindly over to find a phone or watch to pick up to see the time, I would easily knock them out of alignment when putting them back. I find I'm not saving any time over careful aligning a port to plug in wire-full charging, and I have to be more careful in the middle of the night, a problem I don't have with wire-full charging.
I went back to all wired. The alignment issues and difficulty in determining a good quality device were too much hassle.
Have you guys had issues with the Apple Watch discharging much faster using the Unravel charger? Monday, after unplugging at 6 am, my battery only lasted until 3 pm. Today I had to put my watch in theater mode at 1pm as it was draining so quickly. Monday after I had to charge my Watch at work with the official charger it lasted for 28 hours until I had to charge again. I've also noticed the Apple Watch charges quite a bit slower using Unravel than the official charger.
Also, are you able to charge your iPhone in portrait orientation with the stand in the triangle layout and the iPhone on the kickstand? Several of the press photos and videos show it charging this way but my iPhone only charges in landscape orientation on the kickstand. It charges in portrait orientation without the kickstand, sitting lower against the charging pad, but since it doesn't have any support that way it feels risky. I wrote Unravel's support about both issues two days ago but haven't gotten a response.
That's weird. My AirPods Pro and iPhone charge fine, but my Apple Watch has issues (see above). I wonder if we have lemon units or they just have really poor quality control.
Hmm. I'd think that charging is charging. There isn't different types of electricity that would cause a battery to discharge faster based on how it was charged. I had issues with my Apple Watch discharging quickly, and started deleting apps. Apparently one was waking up a lot, and draining battery charge. It worked great, deleting apps I never used. My battery lasts, on a good day, over two days.
I would think so, too, but of the two days this week I charged my AW with Unravel, one day the AW lasted 9 hours and the other day it lasted 15, but I had to put in theater mode after seven. Of the two days I charged with the OEM adapter, one day it lasted 28 hours and today it's lasted 10 hours so far and still has 65% charge left. It's also only charged to 99%, not 100%, with the Unravel and discharges 11-12% an hour after charging versus 3-3.5% an hour with the OEM adapter.
Nice and everything works for you now? Maybe I did get a lemon.