Night Time Charging of Apple Devices comes courtesy of the Nomad Base Station Apple Edition
Apple Devices Need Charging
For those who love Apple’s mobile products, there’s no such thing as too much. That’s why many don’t stop at just having an iPhone but added an Apple Watch to their daily life. So that means daily maintenance, which today isn’t about cleaning so much as it is about keeping the devices charged up. This has led to the “overnight” idea where cables get connected to said devices so that they’re fully charged by morning. But that has led to far too many cables cluttering up a night table (not to mention the devices themselves taking up lots of room). There’s also the too-real possibility of one of the cables getting snagged by an inadvertent hand reaching out in the middle of the night and causing the device it’s attached to to fall. That’s especially true for the Apple Watch due to its small size and weight.
So the solution is to have something on the night table that can handle charging of both an iPhone and Apple Watch and do it not just with ease, but also in a safe way that obviates the chance of either (but especially the Apple Watch) getting knocked off the table. So the solution is Nomad’s Base Station Apple Watch Edition.
Charging With Ease
If the name seems to indicate that the Base Station is only for the Apple Watch, then forget that — it handles iPhone’s at the same time just fine. Of course it’s not just any iPhone, but one of the newer models that can charge wirelessly using the Q1 standard (as Apple does). Looking like a high-tech mousepad, if ridiculously denser, the horizontal pad can accommodate an iPhone at pretty much any angle, although horizontally or vertically will make the most sense. This surface is also of a padded leather so looks aren’t its only calling card — it can cushion the iPhone if plopped down a bit too sudden (those who add cases to their iPhones know that the wireless charging works through just as well). The pad also has an adjunct near its back edge where the Apple Watch is placed so that it can be charged up also.
Doing all that charging comes from a)the Base Station being plugged into a wall outlet, and b)a series of charging coils (in the case of the iPhone) in the pad. These overlap the pad and so avoids the iPhone having to be placed “just so” to charge. As the Apple Watch does not use Q1 for charging, a contact point is there for the Apple Watch so it too can charge wirelessly (the Base Station is compatible with the Apple Watch series 5 and earlier models), and being magnetic means it aids in keeping the watch in position. Being provided is 10 watts of wireless charging power.
Continuing the charging theme, there are two ports on the back — one being USB-A and the other USB-CD PD (18 watt capacity) for use with additional devices. Their use is of course optional and those that choose to ignore them won’t be losing out.
And for those wondering, the Base Station has rubber feet that aid in gripping the surface its placed on.
There’s The Outside Too
If this sounds like all the good stuff about the Base Station is hidden away, let’s dispose of that idea right now: the Apple Edition has surface mounted LED charging indicators to soothe the mind of any doubts that there’s power being transferred. And since being stared at by LEDs doesn’t exactly make for a restful night, a built in ambient light sensor automatically dims those LEDs when the darkness prevails. The Base Station also supports Apple’s nightstand mode, where the Apple Watch doubles as a “clock” that many once had on their night table. This happens automacally and changes the face of the watch to one that fills the entire screen and mimics that of a digital clock. Of course the nightstand mode can also be turned off if desired, and automatically turned off when the watch is removed from the charger (i.e., Base Station).
The Nomad Base Station Apple Watch Edition can charge up to 5 devices simultaneously, which means if you have the charging case for the AirPods, it’ll work fine (Nomad makes such a charging case, btw). It retails for under $130.00 and is available now. Further details can be found by going to Nomad’s website at https://nomadgoods.com/products/base-station-apple-watch
