AirUnleashed is a three-device Qi charging pad with Apple Watch compatibility
AirPower may be gone but that hasn't stopped look-alikes, with AirUnleashed being the latest in offering a simplified version of Apple's unreleased Qi charging mat to consumers.
AirUnleashed
AirUnleashed is a Qi-certified wireless charging mat that can charge iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods simultaneously. With just a quick look, many would confuse AirUnleased for AirPower. It has a rounded, stark white design that is 188mm wide and only 12mm thick.
Founders Hakim Sugito and Gerard Nieuwenhuis saw an opportunity to mimic what Apple was trying to do but with a simplified design. "By taking the technical design of the AirPower, and radically simplifying it, we managed to make a wireless charging mat that can deliver what Apple originally promised," they say.
Simplified is right, as while from a high-level AirUnleashed looks like a dead-on ringer for AirPower, it lacks the biggest features that Apple promised. Instead of 30+ charging coils, AirUnleashed only uses three coils side-by-side, requiring devices to be placed in specific spots to receive a charge. Apple was attempting a charging mat filled with coils so that a device could be placed anywhere on the mat.
AirUnleashed Apple Watch charging dimple
Apple Watch also can't be placed haphazardly as with AirPower, but instead needs to be placed on a subtle dimple in the center.
AirUnleashed does not come bundled with a charger. Users will have to provide their own, or purchase one separately when an order is placed for AirUnleashed.
AirUnleashed
Still, AirUnleashed can charge all three of your daily Apple devices at once with a clean design similar to the defunct AirPower at a price point that is likely below what Apple was going to hit.
If you want to pick one up, you can do so from the manufacturer's website for $99 or $108 with a fully compatible QuickCharge 3.0 wall charger bundled.
Apple canceled AirPower at the end of March citing quality issues meeting its own standards. If AirUnleashed isn't your cup of tea, check out AppleInsider's recommendations for other excellent multi-device wireless charging alternatives.
AirUnleashed
AirUnleashed is a Qi-certified wireless charging mat that can charge iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods simultaneously. With just a quick look, many would confuse AirUnleased for AirPower. It has a rounded, stark white design that is 188mm wide and only 12mm thick.
Founders Hakim Sugito and Gerard Nieuwenhuis saw an opportunity to mimic what Apple was trying to do but with a simplified design. "By taking the technical design of the AirPower, and radically simplifying it, we managed to make a wireless charging mat that can deliver what Apple originally promised," they say.
Simplified is right, as while from a high-level AirUnleashed looks like a dead-on ringer for AirPower, it lacks the biggest features that Apple promised. Instead of 30+ charging coils, AirUnleashed only uses three coils side-by-side, requiring devices to be placed in specific spots to receive a charge. Apple was attempting a charging mat filled with coils so that a device could be placed anywhere on the mat.
AirUnleashed Apple Watch charging dimple
Apple Watch also can't be placed haphazardly as with AirPower, but instead needs to be placed on a subtle dimple in the center.
AirUnleashed does not come bundled with a charger. Users will have to provide their own, or purchase one separately when an order is placed for AirUnleashed.
AirUnleashed
Still, AirUnleashed can charge all three of your daily Apple devices at once with a clean design similar to the defunct AirPower at a price point that is likely below what Apple was going to hit.
If you want to pick one up, you can do so from the manufacturer's website for $99 or $108 with a fully compatible QuickCharge 3.0 wall charger bundled.
Apple canceled AirPower at the end of March citing quality issues meeting its own standards. If AirUnleashed isn't your cup of tea, check out AppleInsider's recommendations for other excellent multi-device wireless charging alternatives.
Comments
For the life of me I don’t know why Apple didn’t just scale back the AirPower to be something more like this. Sure, it would have been a technology breakthrough to have it so that you could place anything anywhere, but an Apple-quality version of AirUnleashed would likely have been priced around the same, and more than done the job.
Still, a single place to charge all three devices that we use daily and continuously would be a great product to have.
Unleashing the Unreleased
More than a year after their announcement, Apple cancelled the AirPower.
The AirUnleashed is for all the disappointed Apple fanboys (and girls); a wireless charging mat that can simultaneously charge three of your favourite Apple devices; an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods.
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 8
- Wireless Charging Case for AirPods
- Apple Watch Series 3
- Apple Watch Series 4
I am not sure what Qi-compatible is??But since the most common devices on the mat (iPhone, AirPods) use Lightning, I'd make the case that this is more useful than the other interfaces, since I have that cable plugged in already, in my travel bag, etc.
The info is on the site, only it's in a none obvious place. Bottom of page. Left hand side. Click Support. There's also a .pdf user guide with more info. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0093/0650/5278/files/airunleashed_user_guide_3044-1-en.pdf?655 Admittedly, their site UX is terrible, but the info is there.
Someone else asked if they were Qi certified. Educated guess? No it is not Qi certified. It does say that it can charge Qi certifiied devices but curiously doesn't say that it is Qi certified. Worryingly, this thing isn't registered with the Wireless Power Consortium. If it's not registered with the WPC it cannot be Qi certified. I think that's why it says Qi compatible. AI article may have inadvertently conflated certified and compatible.
You can search the WPC for any Qi certified product. The database is searchable and sortable. https://www.wirelesspowerconsortium.com/