One might think getting a charger, which is MagSafe, I mean "really" MagSafe, for your iPhone and which also charges your earbuds would be simple. But trust me when I say that it has not been simple in the least. Why you might wonder? For one, most charging stands you can find out there are actually NOT MagSafe chargers. Yes, they are magnetic, but a true MagSafe charger is MFM (Made For MagSafe) certified and will charge your iPhone at a maximum 15 watts, which is confirmed by the MagSafe Charging Circle appearing once placed atop the charger. Aside from Apple branded chargers, most other chargers really aren't truly MagSafe. But this Belkin charger uses Apple's true MagSafe proprietary technology and is MFM Certified. After buying three 3rd party chargers, which all claimed to be MagSafe, but weren't, I returned them and ponied up the $100 for this Belkin Boost Charge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charger Stand.
Another issue I found with the three chargers I bought was they are all designed for Apple AirPods specifically. I'm not sure why every manufacturer seems to assume you must own AirPods if you want a MagSafe charger for your iPhone? News flash charging stand makers, there are other earbuds out there, some which cost even more, which also sound better than AirPods. Why does this matter you might want to know? My fantastic Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds wouldn't charge on any of the chargers. To be honest, I was concerned whether they would on this Belkin Boost Charge Pro charger. Did they? Read on and I'll tell you.
YES, it charges my Sennheiser earbuds. I actually did a lot of research on this part. And all Belkin would say is they were designed and tested with AirPods. Turns out other than the fact this 2-in-1 charger was for the most part designed to precisely fit the shape of AirPods in their case, and my Sennheiser doesn't fit the spot, they do in fact charge. They charge because the charging pad for earbuds is Qi Standard outputting 5 Watts. My case may not fit (it actually doesn't fit in the space at all), but it charges, which means just about every earbud case which is engineered to charge via Qi Standard on 5 watt chargers will charge on this Belkin stand. So why oh why can't they make the charging plate flat, as opposed to only catering to AirPods? There's more than enough space on the large base to accommodate all sizes of earbud cases. But I suppose to be able to sell this stand in Apple Stores, Belkin chose to emphasize AirPod charging. Trust me however, this will charge ANY earbud case which uses standard Qi at 5 Watts. It also charged my Jabra Elite 85t in the case.
This Belkin Charger is everything it should be for $100. My iPhone 13 Pro Max in a MagSafe Case attaches firmly and charges perfectly. You can rotate the phone easily from portrait to landscape. I like that there is no light when you put the phone on to charge. You don't need a charging light to glow at night. It shows the MagSafe Circle at startup and that's all it needs to show. On the other hand, there is a little light when you're charging earbuds. It's White if it's actually charging properly. It's Amber if it's not charging properly or there's a foreign object which shouldn't be there (like a metal object, such as keys).
Is there anything I'd change? Yes. As already mentioned, there's no reason to make the earbud charging pad fit AirPod's only. AirPods would charge just fine on a flat charging plate. They would charge on any Qi standard 5 Watt charger. I would also have preferred Belkin used a standard USB C to USB C cord with a charging brick. Instead, Belkin uses a proprietary cord with a barrel connector on the underside of the charging stand, which is fixed to an oversized, but clearly perfectly engineered plug for the device. The issue with this is you can't just go out to Amazon or your favorite Best Buy store and buy a replacement cable if for example, your cat or dog decides to chomp their way through the cable. And the base of the stand is large. I imagine part of the reason for this is to make it very stable on your desk, which it is. I can put the phone and off without having to hold the base at the same time. Still, it's a really large base, which could have permitted a larger area for charging earbuds. And one more small nit. The MagSafe charger itself doesn't rotate. While positioning is great, there may be times when you'd like to alter the angle of the phone on the charger, but you can't.
Nits out of the way, there's no question Belkin is a top tier brand. They have to be if Apple sells their products directly. And while there are plenty of 3rd party much less expensive 2-in-1 charging stands, there are NONE as capable and well made as this. There's an old saying, which suggests "you get what you pay for." This experience has proven this to be quite true. The stand is made of high quality materials, does exactly what I needed and should last a long time. I hope this helps you avoid the same mistakes I made. If you're looking for a TRUE MagSafe charging stand which can also charge your earbuds, buy this charger and get on with your life.
