Feb 12, 2018
Ventev Wireless Charging Car Kit REVIEW Brings Fast Wireless Charging to Your Car
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I find it funny that some people have an amazing nightstand charging system but simply rest their phone on the dash or center console of their car. Changing speeds, abrupt stops, etc. can cause the phone to slide or to become a projectile. Additionally, cables tend to be hidden/maintained in bedside/office systems and run amok inside of our vehicles. Cable management is a must as my wife is very anti-cable. I have been a fan of Ventev for the past few years, enjoying the quality of the craftsmanship and the overall appearance. Their wireless charging car kit is my favorite Apple wireless compatible system. Although not as fast as cable charging, I was excited about this charging system.
Unboxing/Packaging:
The universal wireless charger arrived in a vibrant orange and white retail box. I appreciated the attractive color scheme, intelligently using a mixture of orange and black fonts. The cover displayed a very useful exploded image of a phone, wireless charger, and vent mount. The text was full, rich and multi-lingual (English, French, Spanish). The dash-mounted unit supports the main wireless standards of Qi, PMA, and Samsung Wireless Fast Charge, and promises a charge that is “3X Faster” at 15W. Rotating the box 90 degrees counterclockwise, you will see a list of supported phones (Apple, Samsung, LG, Google, Motorola, HTC, Microsoft, Kyocera) and another mention of the supported charging standards (Qi, PMA, Samsung Wireless Fast Charge).
The front panel attached to the box via magnetic closure and opened towards your right. The internal panels demonstrated the 360-degree rotation of the vent clip, the included cable management clip, spring-loaded arms and the mechanism to attach to your car vent. The universal vent clip will conveniently rotate to accommodate vertical or horizontal car vent arms. Since the vent clip and the stabilizer arm are two distinct units, this car charger will still allow the lower stabilizer arm to absorb the weight of the device. Ventev impressively utilized clear external plastic and internal orange/white plastic to portray a realistic/installed product. Their display could not have been better; it provided a great visual image of how the device will look inside your car.
The back of the packaging was quite busy, but provided some great information about the charger: mounting information, charging standards, phone size limitations and the compact, low profile charger. Included within the packaging, you will find the wireless pro, vent clip, dashport rq1300 and a generous 3 foot chargesync USB-A to USB-micro charging cable. I previously reviewed the single USB A output dashport r1240 mini and was excited to test the newer, more powerful 12VDC input, 24W output device. My only complaint about the packaging was the difficulty to remove the components. Start with lifting the small posterior tabs and then lift the top panel forward, each of the side panels outward, inner panel backward and then lift out the internal plastic shell. Each of the components was nestled securely inside of the internal plastic.
Setup:
Once you find the most opportune vent location, insert the ball of the vent mount into the back of the wireless charger. Located behind the charger, you will find a tightening compression screw, which will maintain your chosen position. Make sure that the Ventev logo is easily read, as this will position the micro USB-input port towards the bottom. I appreciated the three-foot cable but found this to actually be too long for most people. The cable length ensures that you can reach to the far right passenger vent and the far left driver vent if desired. Most users would likely use the vent just to the right of the column or just to either side of the car power adaptor port (lighter port). Installation was easy, thanks to the plastic clips. The vent clip, atop a rotatable base, will rotate 360 degrees and will allow you to universally match the product to your car. The lower stabilizing arm may be the most important part of the entire product, especially for horizontal vents.
The vent clip is rubberized and tight, providing a very secure fit. However, when you add a phone to the compression arms of the charger, there is quite a bit of downward drag on the device. The lower stabilizing arm inserts into the vent and provides a lower shelf/leg. If you do not insert the leg, the entire weight of the device is held by the upper clip. By inserting the lower support leg, there was hardly any movement to the entire structure, regardless of installed phone or not. The single USB out car charger inserted easily and securely into the car 12V adaptor port. The included flat Chargesync USB cable fit snugly into the car charger and into the base of the wireless charger. Setup took under five minutes and did not require any installation tools. I was pleased with the appearance, with the ease of setup and with the stability of the 3.9-ounce clip/charger.
The dashport rq1300 measured 2 1/4 inches long by 1 inches wide by 5/8 inches thick. The spring-loaded tip and side contact points proved to be secure and well made. As noted above, the USB A cable securely installs into the back of the dashport rq1300. The wireless charger measured 3 1/4 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches tall by 1 7/8 inches thick. The compression wings, located at both sides of the charger, start out with 2 3/8 inch gap. You can open the arms to an internal span of 4 3/8 inches and 5 1/8 inch external width. The side wings provided a very secure grip for my phone, but I really missed having a lower pair of legs or shelf. Many of us have dropped our phone trying to get it into or out of compression arms. This product did a great job and securely held the phone, but again I really like to see some form of lower ledge for the phone. Testing the product over the last two weeks, I have not dropped my phone, and I did not notice any sagging/dropping of the phone. With winter weather, there has been rain/snow/ice, and I have unfortunately found quite a few pot holes. I did no notice any changes in the position of my phone over time.
Charging:
This wireless charger is capable of Quick Charge 3.0 and promises very impressive charging speeds. Apple has not yet come on board with the QC system but has allowed for wireless charging with the newest iPhone 8/8 plus and iPhone X devices. I did not notice any issues with charging, but my phone did feel quit hot to touch. My iPhone X lives inside of an amazing Catalyst Impact case, which does not impair wireless charging. Using an infrared thermometer, I found the back of my phone to be 77.5 degrees at rest. To test the output and the temperature of the phone, I plugged the dashport rq1300 into the carport, the DROK USB multimeter into the dashport rq1300 and the flat USB 3-foot cable into the DROK Multimeter and then into the wireless charger. Without an installed phone, the device provided 12V/0.03A output. Starting at 85% power, I put my iPhone X onto the charger and waited 10 minutes. With my phone installed on the wireless charger, the phone charged at .78-.9 Amps. The phone power read 84% at 10 minutes, which did not make since. At 10 minutes the back of the phone case attained a temperature of 88.5 degrees Fahrenheit and 92.4 degrees at 20 minutes. I did not find any increased temperature beyond that point.
There is a blue LED along the bottom of the wireless charger, which will flash while charging. I liked that this was included behind the phone as it did not provide a nocturnal driving distraction. With my phone on the charger for a total of 20 minutes, not using the phone, the phone did gain power but slowly. At 20 minutes, the phone gained 8% power. I let my phone drop to 20% and tried the above test again, and it did charge faster 1.3A and gained about 14% power in the same time. I found that plugging my phone directly into a lighting port generated 1–1.5Amps and charged my phone faster than wireless charging. Nobody would find it odd that wired charging worked better than wireless charging. I have tested multiple wireless chargers, and the Ventev device worked great. The only negative, as above was the lack of a lower shelf to rest the phone upon.
Summary: I did not have the ability to test and evaluate the claim of 0–80% in 35 minutes thanks to QC 3.0 nor the 15W charging, nor the ability to charge from 0–50% in 60 minutes. I did find that the Ventev charger gave a good steady charge and allowed me to go from 20% up to 60% in about an hour. Unfortunately, much of the ability to charge is limited by Apple. Only recently has Apple allowed Wireless charging at 7.5W with iOS 11.2. Wired charging using the 29W USB-C brick and USB-C to Lightning cable can rapidly charge the iPhone 8/8Plus and X nearly 80% in 1 hour. I was pleased with the device and with the tests. I would definitely consider this device if you are considering wireless charging. I did not have an Android device to test the Ventev device further, but this did not detract from my enjoyment of this kit. It is a really nice 4-in-1 device (vent clip, wireless charger, QC 3.0 compatible car adaptor, 3-foot tangle-free flat cable). I would rate it at 4/5 stars, losing points for the lack of a phone shelf.
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Originally published at macsources.com on February 12, 2018.
