Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe review: Power on the go

Apple introduced MagSafe charging with the iPhone 12 lineup, a wireless charging system with powerful magnets so you can charge your iPhone wirelessly even in a vertical position. It's quite a convenient way to charge your iPhone, both at home and on the go, and Belkin's BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe lets you take the power-juicing feature on the road.

If you have the iPhone SE, iPhone 11, or an older model, don't bother with this charger. It won't work at all. This is only for iPhones with the MagSafe feature, i.e. the iPhone 12 or newer.

Typically, car chargers top out at 7.5W or 10W of power, which means they charge fairly slowly. This beauty charges at 15W, which promises a faster charge. In my testing, it charges faster than most car chargers, but not as fast as my Apple MagSafe charger or a good old Lightning cable and an 18W wall charger. Your mileage may vary.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe: Price and availability

Apple trusts Belkin products and carries them in their brick-and-mortar stores as well as online. You can buy the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe at Apple for $99.95 or on Belkin's own site for $99.99. It comes in just the one gray and white colorway.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe: What I love

Your car is an expression of your personality, so you'd probably like it to look a certain way. A clunky car charger or mount for your best iPhone might not fit into your personal aesthetic. The Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe is sleek and good-looking. In fact, its aesthetic is very Apple-like. It still has to be plugged into your car charging outlet, so it has a cable, but nothing else is left sticking out.

It's very much a plop-it-and-forget-it charger. The MagSafe magnets are powerful, and I had no issues with my iPhone 14 Pro sticking to the charger while using many different (MagSafe-compatible) cases on my iPhone 14 Pro. No awkward arms or anything that needs adjusting. 

You can angle the charger how you'd like, and it stays in place nicely. I've had other car vent mounts fall right off the vent, but I've been using this one for weeks and had no issues. It works great in both portrait and landscape orientation.

While there are plenty of good MagSafe car charging mounts out there, this one has Apple's official Made for MagSafe certification. When it comes to charging your iPhone, using only Apple-certified chargers is always safest.

I've tested a number of wireless car chargers and found this to be one of the fastest, with its 15W of power, and most convenient, with its MagSafe-compatibility. It does have a cable-management strap, so you can neatly tie up any loose cabling as needed.

Many car chargers are large and bulky, but not this Belkin offering. It takes up about as little space as a charging mount possibly can. And since it's not just wireless, it's MagSafe, your iPhone snaps into place with perfect alignment every time.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe: What I don’t love

The real question is this: is the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe worth the premium price tag?

The biggest downside of is the price, in my opinion. It's more than double the price of Belkin's own previous model, not to mention other models out there. Granted, at 15W it's more powerful than other models, which is important if you have to do a lot of charging in a short time. 

There are two different compatibility issues, but these may or may not affect you. First of all, no one else in my family has an iPhone 12 or newer, meaning that none of them has a MagSafe-compatible iPhone. So I'm the only one who can even use the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe. And I have to remember to use only MagSafe-compatible cases, or else my iPhone would just fall right off.

Additionally, my car doesn't have wireless Apple CarPlay, so if I want to use that feature, I have to plug my iPhone in with a Lightning cable anyway. This renders the MagSafe charger fairly pointless when I'm using CarPlay.

What this all means is that I have to keep a Lightning cable and a regular car mount in my car, in addition to the Belkin one. They may be niche issues unique to my setup, but it's worth remembering that different cars and lifestyles may be better served by a good ol' cable charger.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe: Competition

There is plenty of competition on the market when it comes to in-car chargers. You can find inexpensive car chargers that don't require MagSafe compatibility at all, holding your iPhone in place while charging it (some of which have you plug in your iPhone with a Lightning cable.) Some of them are wireless car chargers, such as the Totallee Wireless Car Charger. I reviewed it and found that it works great with any wireless-compatible phone (i.e. the iPhone 8 or newer.) Since it's wireless but not MagSafe, it does have arms to hold your iPhone in place. This does make it bulkier, but also makes it compatible with more iPhone models and cases.

However, I think the main competition for this particular charger is the Belkin Car Vent Mount PRO with MagSafe. It's quite similar, only it's not quite as powerful so it won't charge your iPhone as fast. Yet it's less than half the price, so it might be a better option if you don't need the extra speed.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if…

• You want a sleek, fast, easy-to-use MagSafe car charger
• You want a 15W charger
• Apple certification is important to you

You shouldn’t buy this if…

• You or a family member have a non-MagSafe phone or case
• You use Apple CarPlay but your car requires your iPhone to be plugged in
• It's out of your budget

Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe: Verdict

I love using the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe. It's so fast and easy and it looks great in my car. Unfortunately, I am also keeping a plain car mount and a USB-A to Lightning cable in my car as well. I need it for times when I'm using Apple CarPlay or someone else is driving my car and wants to mount their phone. 

If you're all in on the MagSafe ecosystem and you want a fast, safe charge, you'll love the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe. Just think about keeping a cable handy, just in case...