Belkin’s Boost Charge Pro is a $60 MagSafe puck with a kickstand and braided cable

Belkin’s new Boost Charge Pro wi-fi charging pad takes Apple’s MagSafe puck and … properly, makes it “pro” with a 2-meter-long braided cable and a kickstand for propping your cellphone as much as make it simpler to see whereas it’s charging (via MacRumors). It additionally is available in black, a should for any accent sporting the professional moniker. There is a little bit of a catch, although — like many equipment with official MagSafe certification, it doesn’t come low-cost.

At $60, which it’s listed at in each the Apple and Belkin shops, the Boost Charge Pro prices considerably greater than Apple’s $40 MagSafe charger, which was already seen as a bit on the expensive aspect. Yes, you do get that kickstand, and having an extended cable is certainly a plus. But is it actually price an additional $20, particularly contemplating that you could be have to price range for a USB-C charging brick, because it’s not included with both choice?

This is a well-known story with MagSafe; regardless of the know-how launching with the iPhone 12, MagSafe licensed charging equipment aren’t notably widespread. Amazon is filled with MagSafe appropriate wi-fi chargers that’ll magnetically connect to your cellphone (a few of them actually have a kickstand!), however they’re nearly actually going to max out at 7.5W of charging as a substitute of the 15W that MagSafe affords on non-Mini iPhones. (It’s additionally price noting that some Amazon distributors nonetheless promote their charging pucks as being able to placing out 15W, however the listings often admit that quantity is simply achievable on Samsung telephones.)

When producers do come out with MagSafe equipment, the costs are sometimes eye-popping. Perhaps probably the most notorious cases is Belkin’s $40 Car Vent Mount Pro with MagSafe, which just isn’t able to charging your cellphone. But Belkin is way from the one firm placing out pricy MagSafe equipment — Mophie just announced a $150 three-in-one journey charging mat that has a MagSafe cellphone charger, an Apple Watch charging puck, and a (presumably Qi) charger for AirPods. Apple’s personal MagSafe Duo Charger, which doesn’t embody that further AirPod pad, will set you again $130.

Compared to these merchandise, Mophie’s $90 three-in-one stand that’s meant to remain at house nearly appears cheap — aside from the truth that it’s a must to deliver your personal MagSafe puck, placing its value in step with Belkin’s similar $150 home charging mat.

This isn’t to say that MagSafe is dangerous or that these producers ought to really feel dangerous. It’s simply that over a yr since they had been first launched, MagSafe equipment are nonetheless fairly costly. And whereas Belkin’s newest puck doesn’t buck that development, it’s at the very least good to have a MagSafe charger with an extended, braided cable that you simply received’t have to purchase a separate stand for. It’s nonetheless not as cute as Belkin’s charging tree, although.