The HiRise is one of Twelve South's most popular items, and it's been through a lot of improvements over the years. This time around, HiRise gets Qi support, but that's not all. Like a secret agent, the HiRise Wireless leads a double life. It's also a charging pad that you can lay flat, and its portability rating is through the roof.
Price: $80Bottom line: Anybody can make a wireless charger, but Twelve South made one that charges vertically and lays flat. Two for one!
The Good
- Versatile (3-in-1)
- Sleek look
- Clever design
- Very small desktop footprint
- Wide-coil charging area
The Bad
- Plastic charger holder
- Pad pops out of holder too easy
3-in-1-ish
HiRise Wireless: The features
The HiRise Wireless takes its name from Twelve South's iconic HiRise iPhone stand, which is a vertical stand with a solid base that allows you to charge your iPhone while it's standing upright. It's perfect for FaceTime calls, or if you just want to check something on your phone and don't want to have to pick it up off of the table.
The base is heavy, which helps balance the overall stand so your iPhone is less likely to tumble over when you grab it. It's got a small base; only about 3.5 inches square.
The Wireless version has a Qi-supported charging pad that allows you to set your iPhone up and charge it without having to plug it in. The pad is about 3.25 inches tall by about 2.25 inches wide. It's tiny by most charging pad standards.
The pad is held in place by a hoop style standing mount. It's a hoop because you can pop the pad out of it and use it separately from the stand as a tabletop charging pad.
By removing the pad from the stand, you unveil the second feature of the HiRise Wireless stand; It can also charge your AirPods Wireless case. If you just want to re-up your AirPods real quick before bed or while you're at your desk, pop the pad out of the mount and bam! you're charging with Qi.
With the pad off of the mount, there is one additional feature that makes this the 3-in-1 charger that Twelve South is marketing it as; you can unplug the pad and leave the extra cable behind. The HiRise pad uses any USB-C charging cable. If you're already bringing one for your iPad or Mac laptop, no need to bring a second one.
So many options
HiRise Wireless: What I like
I love charging my iPhone vertically. With Face ID, it's more important than ever to be able to easily look at your screen, and having to pick it up off the charging pad every time you want to check a notification is a bit annoying. The HiRise Wireless lets me just look over at my iPhone when I want to unlock it or check a notification. So. Much. Nicer.
The HiRise also looks good on my desktop. The square base is covered in leather, which gives it an executive vibe, but is also functional; it gives the base a level of grip that keeps your iPhone from slipping off.
The HiRise Wireless lets me just look over at my iPhone when I want to unlock it or check a notification.
Speaking of grip, there is a small bump at the base, which is designed to keep your iPhone in place, flush against the charging pad in the vertical position so you don't have to guess whether it's set up straight. The only problem is that the bump doesn't take into account a thick case. I've been using the HiRise Wireless stand with my Apple Charging Case on, however, and it hasn't caused any issue. The phone just sits on top of the bump instead of behind it.
I love the small footprint of the mount. At less than four inches square, it fits tidily into any small space on my desk or nightstand.
The charging pad itself has a remarkably wide coil range for being so small in size. I don't ever have an issue where I miss the zone and find out later that my phone was never charging the whole time.
Overall, Twelve South came up with a very unique concept of a phone stand that is also a wireless charger that can also be broken down to just the pad for maximum portability with minimum effort.
Clumsy design
HiRise Wireless: What I don't like
I'm not sure why Twelve South made the design choice to make the charging pad hoop mount out of plastic, but it seems like a compromise on quality. It looks great. It actually looks like it's made out of metal. It reminds me of the sides of the space black iPhone XS. It does seem like you could easily break the mount though if you accidentally dropped the base.
To add to it, the charging pad doesn't exactly stay put in the hoop either. With just the slightest bump, the pad would pop out of the mount and sometimes struggle to go back into place seamlessly. The mounting system for the charging pad could use some tweaks to perfect the overall design.
Bottomline
HiRise Wireless: Conclusion
The HiRise gets a 10 out of 10 for being small and versatile and having a very reliable wireless charging range. It looks good and really shines as being an ultra-portable charging pad.
Where it loses points is in its pad mount design. This feels like a first-generation product, which it is. Hopefully, the design team will be able to perfect the way the pad rests in the mount in the next iteration. Maybe a nice magnetic mounting system with a satisfying click when they connect?
Even with the small flaw, it earns my approval for that small footprint and surprisingly wide charging range.
Price: $80Bottom line: Anybody can make a wireless charger, but Twelve South made one that charges vertically and lays flat. Two for one!
