A for your or might be a staple in your office or home, but it can also be a useful tool to mount inside your car. Even the best wireless car charger isn’t a totally wireless experience — the charging dock requires power and a cable that plugs into your car’s cigarette lighter or USB port — but a wireless charging car mount is convenient when you don’t want to have to plug cable into your phone every time you get in the car. Further, wireless charging technology is improving all the time, and wireless charging speed is faster than ever.
Note that each wireless charger in this buyer’s guide is compatible with any wireless charging enabled cell phone, whether it’s an iPhone, , or other models (or any other Qi enabled device). And if you’re really attached to your phone case — so long as it isn’t super thick — you can leave it on and still be able to your phone. Most of these chargers even double as a phone holder with an adjustable arm. We update this list periodically and new wireless charging technology comes to market.
Read more:
iOttie finally has an “autosense” automatic clamping wireless car charger with a phone mount — and it’s a good one. The Auto Sense Automatic Clamping Qi Charging Car Phone Mount is available in a dashboard mount version or a CD and vent clip version (I tried the dashboard wireless charging mount). This wireless car charger mount has a nicely designed telescoping arm, a strong suction cup, and the wireless phone charging feature is compatible with most phone cases. You get 7.5-watt charging for an iPhone and 10-watt for Android phones, which is considered fast wireless charging.
This Qi wireless charger comes with a dual charging USB cigarette lighter adapter. My only gripe — and it’s a small one — is that the included cable is Micro USB and not USB Type-C. Once the cable is plugged in to the wireless car charger you can basically forget about it, but if the cable accidentally becomes unplugged (which does happen), it’s easier to plug in a USB-C cable for phone charging, especially when you’re driving.
If you don’t mind going with a no-name brand like ZeeHoo, its wireless car charger has most of the features you want for phone charging, including autoclamping, a secure suction cup, USB-C and 10-watt fast charging for Android phones that support it (iPhones are capped at 7.5-watt charging). It’s not as slickly built as the iOttie — and this fast wireless charger doesn’t come with a cigarette lighter adapter — only a USB-C cable — but it’s $30 less.
This wireless car charger mount is one of the more popular generic wireless car chargers with an autosensing telescopic arm, and I thought it worked well overall, attaching securely to my car vent mount and giving my smartphone a quick charge. I liked that the wireless car charger came with both a phone mount for my dashboard and an air vent mount. Note that to get fast charging, you will need a power adapter that supports it (not included).
If you want to go with a little more discreet-looking wireless charger, a magnetic mount phone charger is a good choice. The iOttie iTap 2 Wireless is available in versions with air vent, CD slot and dashboard car mount. I tried the air vent version, which has a locking mechanism on the air vent clip that keeps the charger mount securely attached to the air vent.
For your wireless phone to work with a magnetic car 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 (stick it toward the bottom so it doesn’t interfere with the wireless charging circuitry in the middle of it). You can even cover the plate with your phone case, but make sure the case isn’t too thick or your phone won’t stick to the charger mount.
The iOttie iTap 2 magnetic wireless car charger mount includes a dual USB car charger that has an extra USB port for charging a second device. The included cable is a Micro-USB cable, not USB-C, which 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 wireless charger options above.
The X-Doria Defense Helix wireless car charging 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 can easily remove it from its charging station with the touch of a button on the dock, which causes the arms to open. It’s compatible to use as a wireless charger for iPhone and Android devices.
This wireless car charger mount comes with an air vent mount, a USB-C cable and dual car power adapter with two USB-A ports (QC 3.0 and 2.1 amps). It powers iPhones at 7.5 watts and offers Android phones fast charging at up to 10 watts.
It’s also well built and relatively inexpensive compared to other wireless car chargers with autosensing powered arms. The only small issue I had with this wireless charger 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.
Climb in the driver’s seat for the latest car news and reviews, delivered to your inbox twice weekly.
More car and accessory recommendations
- Best iPhone charger for 2021