By Alan Pierce EdD
pierceaj@techtoday.us
The Ventev Charge Stand (MSRP $35.00)
    Ventev has just released a new fast wireless charging stand that will work with all smartphones that can be wirelessly charged. See photos 1 & 2. The charging puck can quickly be relocated in the stand to match the dimensions of your smartphone and it can be used by itself as a charging pad. The charging puck is movable and needs to be dead center on the back of your smartphone for proper charging.
     It provides the fastest charging time that current wireless smartphones can receive and it has a built-in 15 watt maximum to meet the needs of next generation smartphones that manufacturers might release soon. Apple is expected to release an iOS 11 update that would allow 7.5 watt charging on iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and the iPhone X. The maximum charging potential of the Ventev Charge Stand far exceeds current Apple and Samsung capabilities. So this Charger should give you years of service even after, sometime in the future, you purchase a new smartphone that allows faster wireless charging speeds.

Reasons to Drool
     Three different wireless charging technologies now exist and this Ventev Charge stand has all three built in so it can work with all the different smartphone brands that can be wirelessly charged. See photo 1 again. The Ventev Charging stand was very easy to setup and the Samsung Note 5 and Note 8, that I use for testing, charged properly without being removed from their heavy duty protective cases. When the phones were fully charged the charging stand stopped transmitting electricity to the phones. This was visible because Samsung phones have their own charging light which is red during charging and turns blue when charging is complete.
     You might need to turn on fast wireless charging on your smartphone to take full advantage of Ventev’s charging capabilities. To switch to fast wireless charging on a Samsung smartphone you open settings, select device maintenance, then select battery, and then open advance settings to switch to fast charging.

Not so Cool
I like everything about this wireless charger except that although it has a charging light built into the stand puck the company decided to have it only flash for seconds when your phone is first placed on the charging stand. Why have a light built into the stand if it won’t tell you your phone is fully charged? I checked this out with my contact at Ventev and she indicated that they “chose to have the LED turned off so that if you are using it in the bedroom it’s not bothersome (and) also chose not to have the LED turn on when it fully charges” for the same reason. You can basically see how charging is going on all smartphones as long as the smartphone is not shut off. Samsung and perhaps some other brands indicate charging with their own charging light even if the phone is turned off.
Important Wireless charging Facts
To use a wireless charger your phone manufacturer needs to have built wireless charging into your device or you need to have purchased a special charging case that adds this capacity to your phone.
How fast your smartphone can charge is built into the software and electronics of your smartphone.
This wireless charger will only transmit to your phone an electrical charge that is in line with the limits set by your phone’s manufacturer.
Fast or slow wireless charging, on Samsung smartphones, is a feature you enable on the phone. If your results are slower than shown below you might need to turn on the fast charging feature on your smartphone.
On the test phones (Note 5 & Note 8) fast wireless charging was a little slower than fast wired charging.
Comparing Wireless & Wired Charging Times (Note 8)
o Wired:       Time to full charge     1 Amp Charger       3 hours 14 minutes
o Wireless:  Time to full charge      Ventev Stand         1 hour 45 minutes
o Wired:       Time to full charge      2 amp Charger      1 hour 6 minutes
Ventev Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln062OpqqdY
Photo 1
Photo 2
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Measured is the time the phone indicated it would take until it was fully charged
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