Belkin in October came out with the BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Dock, which is designed to charge the iPhone and the Apple Watch at the same time. Though the name is similar to many of the existing chargers that Belkin offers, it actually features one of Belkin's most thoughtful and unique designs to date.
The charger is about palm sized, and it features a flat teardrop-shaped body with a pivoting MagSafe charger on top. The MagSafe charger can lay flat or it can be lifted up and angled to support StandBy on the iPhone. There are a few different angles that it can be set at (0 to 70 degrees), but flat or fully extended are the two most useful.
In the flat mode, you can charge an iPhone or any other Qi device like the AirPods because it's basically just a flat charging surface. When upright, you can only charge a MagSafe-compatible device. At the back, there's a flat Apple Watch charging puck. It's sized perfectly for any of the Apple Watch models, but also the AirPods, so you can charge the AirPods on the Apple Watch charging puck when charging an iPhone.
While this is a 2-in-1 charger, it's versatile and is going to charge up everything you'd want to charge with a similar 3-in-1 charger. I don't think most people charge the Apple Watch, iPhone, and the AirPods all at the same time regularly (at least I don't), which potentially makes this just as useful as a much bigger 3-in-1 charger.
The BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Dock comes in either sand (a light gray beige) or charcoal, and it's covered in a soft touch silicone material that looks nice on a desk or nightstand. The material is unfortunately a fuzz magnet, but that's the biggest complaint I have about it.
In terms of size, the charger measures in at about 3 inches tall (flat) and 2.5 inches wide, so it's fairly compact and doesn't take up a lot of space. It is the smallest Belkin charger I have (and the smallest multi-device charger from any brand) thanks to the removal of a dedicated AirPods charging spot.
Belkin includes a color-matched braided 1.5m USB-C cable and a 30W power supply. The cable cannot be removed from the charger, which is a downside for me. I'd like to be able to swap in a shorter cable for desktop use, but I don't have that option. On the plus side, I appreciate the power adapter because not every multi-device charger on the market includes one.
The BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Dock will charge a MagSafe iPhone at up to 15W, and it will also fast charge compatible Apple Watch models. With the fast charger, I typically only charge my Apple Watch in short spurts throughout the day (I sleep with it on), and that's enough to keep the battery level up. That gives me a free spot for charging the AirPods when I need to.
I did test the charging speeds to make sure I was getting the speeds that Belkin advertised. The iPhone charged at MagSafe speeds as expected, and the Apple Watch Series 9 did indeed fast charge.
Weight wise, this comes in at about a pound, and the same grippy material that's on the body is on the bottom to keep it in place so it won't go anywhere when you add and remove devices.
This is a new charger so it's expensive and there are no sales yet, and the price is the major issue. It's as expensive as some 3-in-1 chargers, but arguably, the versatility makes it worth the cost.
Bottom Line
I have used a lot of Belkin chargers and a lot of wireless chargers in general, and I think this is my favorite to date. It supports all of the most recent iPhone and Apple Watch features (aka, StandBy and fast charging), it's small, and it can also charge the AirPods from either charging spot.
If you have all of the devices that this charger works with and can take advantage of the features like Apple Watch fast charging, it's worth checking out.
How to Buy
The BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock With MagSafe can be purchased from Apple for $130 or from the Belkin website for the same price. It will start shipping out in December.
Article Link: The BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Dock is Belkin's Best Charger Yet
