Belkin BoostCharge Pro Pad review: Faster speeds, fewer worries

There are lots of nice things you can say about the new Belkin BoostCharge Pro Pad, but very few of those verbs couldn't apply just as equally to its predecessors. This is far from the first sleek, minimalist 2-in-1 wireless charger that Belkin has brought to the Aussie market.

That said, it is the first to feature both MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging for Android devices. This specific upgrade might not be a reason to trade in your existing wireless charger but if you're coming to things afresh it makes for an experience that's clear-cut above most of the competition when it comes to speeds and much less finicky to boot.

The Belkin BoostCharge Pro Pad isn't quite the wireless charger of your dreams, but it gets pretty close.

In Australia, the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Pad starts at $149. That makes it pretty pricey by the standards of wireless chargers. It's not as affordable as I'd like but there aren't that many Qi2 chargers on the market so the premium price seen here isn't exactly coming out of nowhere.

Plus, you can always save by shopping around. Check out the table below for a round-up of deals for the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Pad.

The Belkin BoostCharge Pro Pad keeps things simple. Compared to Belkin's past charging pads, it's a little slimmer, sleeker and willing to cut away at the corners. The final result takes up less space on your desk but is far from an eye-sore or paperweight, though there is a surprising amount of heft involved.

As you'd expect given the Belkin brand, there are a handful of thoughtful touches here that feel borne of practicality. The underside of the unit is armed with a set of rubberized grips that help keep it grounded. Meanwhile, the charging surface here is broken out into two circular zones. The left-most of these is a raised surface with magnetic coil alignment for both MagSafe and Qi2 devices. Its counterpart is a shallow depression with an LED light that helps you line up the charging coils. I wish there were magnetic coils on both but it is what it is.

Last but not least, the back end of the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Pad is adorned with a 30W USB-C port that's used to make the magic happen. Setting up the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Pad is as simple as plugging it in. Making use of the charger is just as intuitive. You simply need to glide your device over the charging zone until the magnets snap everything into place. This works with iPhones, Android devices with MagSafe cases and even AirPods.

For the most part, the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Pad does what it says on the tin. You chuck your devices on top of it, the charger does its thing and you're ready to go sooner rather than later. That said, there are a few pitfalls that you'll want to keep in mind.

The first of these is that wireless charging might be faster and more intuitive, but it still doesn't always play nice with phone cases. Depending on your setup, that might undercut the value here. All the clever design in the world can't balance out the frustration of having the remove your phone from its case every time you want or need to charge it.

The other potential tripping point here is the power supply. While Belkin does include a USB-C cable and charging brick in the box that is designed to help you get the most out of the BoostCharge Pro Pad, neither are particularly visually distinct and if you store all your cables and charging gear in the same place it's very easy to lose track of them.

Should that happen, nothing is stopping you from substituting another USB-C cable or charging brick. However, if either of those components isn't built for the 30W of throughput that the BoostCharge Pro Pad promises to offer you'll end up in a situation where you aren't able to charge at the best speeds or even limited to only charging one device at a time. In either case, you're missing out on what you're paying for.

Even if these issues aren't necessarily things that Belkin is in a position to directly address, it is worth understanding that some of the pain points of wireless charging remain stubbornly intact even though the product involved looks like it might have moved beyond them.