TOCHIC ME103S Fast Wireless Charger Review

With the introduction of Apple’s iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X in 2017, there’s no better time than now to own a wireless charging dock for your shiny new iPhone. Wireless charging isn’t anything new — you have all the Qi enabled Android chargers to thank for that. So with Apple joining the wireless charging party, there are a wealth of wireless chargers out there to choose from.

The TOCHIC ME103S from GearBest.com is a rather slick–looking fast wireless charger that will look just at home on any office desktop or bedside table, thanks to its monolithic-looking stature and its simple, clean lines. From afar, and in pictures, it looks like it will be a weighty dock, but I was surprised how light and plastic it all feels. I was disappointed at first, but let’s face it, how often are you picking these up.

With your smartphone placed on its lower shelf, it begins to look and feel the part. The ME103S props up your iPhone at a decent angle to easily allow interaction with it whilst still docked and charging. If you’re using an iPhone X, the shelf can at times interfere with the swipe up home gesture, but it isn’t so intrusive to not make it impossible once you get into the habit of not flicking up from below the device, and start at the bottom of the display. The angle also works well with FaceID — a common problem mostly found with flat–facing wireless chargers.

With a width of 8cm at the base; narrowing to 7cm at the top, and an overall height of 12cm; for a portrait standing wireless dock, it sits pretty neat and tidy on the desk. Even with the narrow width of my iPhone X, you can barely see the back plate behind it.

The ME103S is touted as a fast wireless charger; meaning that it supports up to 10W of fast charging, once its USB cable is plugged into a compatible 5V/2A+ charger. Sadly there is no wall charger supplied with this wireless charger, so you have to use your smartphone’s power adapter or purchase a QC charger if you don’t have one and you wish to get the most charge out of this unit.

Paired with just a standard power adapter, this wireless charger will give a standard 5W; enough to charge your smartphone wirelessly over night or for light charging use during the day. If you require more juice, then purchasing a QC 3.0 charger, such as the QC 3.0 Power Charger and you’ll be charging at the maximum output of 10W (or Apple’s restricted 7.5W on iPhone).

Once docked, a thin blue LED light along the shelf of the wireless charger illuminates to tell you that your smartphone is being charged. This LED turns green once your smartphone is fully charged and then turn off; the dock will also let you know that your smartphone is incorrectly placed by flashing the blue LED. At night, this blue LED strip — albeit small — can be surprisingly distracting for anyone sleeping close to it. This is nothing a little tape or black pen over the light can fix, to help reduce or mask this effect during the night.

I didn’t have any problems charging my iPhone X in its leather case over night, and I also didn’t experience any heat to the dock or iPhone X after a whole night’s charging at its maximum 7.5W. You’re not limited to portrait either with this charger; simply rotate your smartphone onto the shelf and the charging continues whilst it is in landscape. It may take a little positioning to begin charging than the more straight forward portrait orientation, but its a nice feature if you wish to simultaneously charge your smartphone whilst watching movies in landscape mode.

Having already owned a flat–facing wireless charger, I do prefer this ME103S with its upright design much more. It makes using the iPhone X with its FaceID much more convenient to use, without the need to pick up the device or tower over it to unlock it when a message or notification comes in. The ability to charge whilst your smartphone is propped up in landscape mode is also a bonus.

Retailing currently at just £14.82 ($19.99) with FREE shipping at GearBest.com, you would be hard to find any cheaper vertical standing charger with fast charging capability, whilst all wrapped up in a sleek design too. It is cool to charge and it will allow up to 10W if Apple decides to increase its charging capability any higher than 7.5W. If you’re on the market for a fast wireless charger, the TOCHIC ME103S should certainly be on your consideration list.

CarPlay Life has partnered with GearBest to bring you our impartial reviews of their products. CarPlay Life has affiliate linked to the reviewed products, which means by clicking on any linked products you also help support CarPlay Life by allowing us to receive a commission from your purchase at GearBest.com.

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