Redefining Premium
The ESR Tidal Wireless Charger I would feel comfortable saying is a premium product...without the premium price tag. It's pretty standard as far as wireless chargers go with 5VDC/2A or 9VDC/1.7A input and 5VDC/1-1.5A or 9VDC/1.1A output which equates to 5W/7.5W/10W (max) of charging power. Now, what dictates that is going to be the charging bricks, cables, and the power supply feeding the charging pad as well the device being charged. Apple has made some changes to allow faster wireless charging in the newer iPhones which will allow the 7.5W charing, however, you need a fast charge capable cable and brick to use the fast wireless charging. That being said, wireless charging is slower than plugging in with a cable and that's not the point of a wireless charger currently. A wireless charger right now is for convenience, which the Tidal offers gracefully. It is a sleek and elegant look with you only seeing a gray ESR logo in the center of the pad against the black pad. I'm not entirely sure what the pad itself is made of, it feels like plastic, but a little softer, however, the center of the pad has two rubber semi circles for you to place your devices on so they don't slide around. The perimeter and underside of the charging base is made of gray aluminum while the underside offers information and FCC stamps as well as another rubber ring to prevent the base from sliding around wherever you place it. As this is now 2019, you would hope to see a USB-C port on the base for power. Well, there is indeed a USB-C port to plug in the power for the charging base. It's nice to see companies moving forward with USB-C so we get closer to finally having a real universal cable for all our devices.
I have been using the ESR Tidal for around a week now. I use it in my living room at home and there have been a few times I did need to just let my phone charge for a bit. It really is unobtrusive and doesn't take up too much space. It's nearly impossible to place your device on it wrong and you would know immediately. I did not mention yet that when you place a device on the Tidal and it starts charging the base has an LED ring on it that lights up green when your device is charging. That sounds like it would be distracting while you're trying to sleep, but ESR thought of that though too, and the LED will turn off after one minute. ESR has also put in foreign object detection so the charger will stop charging if it detects a metal object between your device and the pad. There is even some cooling built-in, some of that is from the aluminum frame staying cooler and cooling the device passively. As with any reliable power fed device, there is short circuit protection as well so you don't have to worry about any accidental power damage. The most amazing part about the Tidal wireless charger is that it's a fraction of the cost of the name brand wireless chargers.
The Good
The Bad
Conclusion
I had already bought myself a wireless charger for my phone and I wish I hadn't bought the name brand one that I did buy now. There is no reason to spend $60, $80, or more on a wireless charger, not when you can find a great quality charger for much cheaper. The ESR Tidal Wireless Charger is listed as $25 on ESR's website but you can find for $19 on Amazon sold by ESR. $19 for the same exact thing you will get from the name brand offerings and some of those might not even have fast charging capabilities built-in. If you're still looking for a wireless charger, you really should check the Tidal out. It has done nothing but impress me and be even more amazing considering how affordable it is. You can find it on ESR's website here, or on Amazon here. Through February 3, 2019 you can get 17% off on Amazon using code WIRECHARG dropping the price to $16.
The ESR Tidal Wireless Charger I would feel comfortable saying is a premium product...without the premium price tag. It's pretty standard as far as wireless chargers go with 5VDC/2A or 9VDC/1.7A input and 5VDC/1-1.5A or 9VDC/1.1A output which equates to 5W/7.5W/10W (max) of charging power. Now, what dictates that is going to be the charging bricks, cables, and the power supply feeding the charging pad as well the device being charged. Apple has made some changes to allow faster wireless charging in the newer iPhones which will allow the 7.5W charing, however, you need a fast charge capable cable and brick to use the fast wireless charging. That being said, wireless charging is slower than plugging in with a cable and that's not the point of a wireless charger currently. A wireless charger right now is for convenience, which the Tidal offers gracefully. It is a sleek and elegant look with you only seeing a gray ESR logo in the center of the pad against the black pad. I'm not entirely sure what the pad itself is made of, it feels like plastic, but a little softer, however, the center of the pad has two rubber semi circles for you to place your devices on so they don't slide around. The perimeter and underside of the charging base is made of gray aluminum while the underside offers information and FCC stamps as well as another rubber ring to prevent the base from sliding around wherever you place it. As this is now 2019, you would hope to see a USB-C port on the base for power. Well, there is indeed a USB-C port to plug in the power for the charging base. It's nice to see companies moving forward with USB-C so we get closer to finally having a real universal cable for all our devices.
I have been using the ESR Tidal for around a week now. I use it in my living room at home and there have been a few times I did need to just let my phone charge for a bit. It really is unobtrusive and doesn't take up too much space. It's nearly impossible to place your device on it wrong and you would know immediately. I did not mention yet that when you place a device on the Tidal and it starts charging the base has an LED ring on it that lights up green when your device is charging. That sounds like it would be distracting while you're trying to sleep, but ESR thought of that though too, and the LED will turn off after one minute. ESR has also put in foreign object detection so the charger will stop charging if it detects a metal object between your device and the pad. There is even some cooling built-in, some of that is from the aluminum frame staying cooler and cooling the device passively. As with any reliable power fed device, there is short circuit protection as well so you don't have to worry about any accidental power damage. The most amazing part about the Tidal wireless charger is that it's a fraction of the cost of the name brand wireless chargers.
The Good
- Affordable
- Premium build
- Fast charging
The Bad
- Doesn't come with charging brick
- May need to buy fast charge capable cable and brick
- Gets dirty easier than expected
Conclusion
I had already bought myself a wireless charger for my phone and I wish I hadn't bought the name brand one that I did buy now. There is no reason to spend $60, $80, or more on a wireless charger, not when you can find a great quality charger for much cheaper. The ESR Tidal Wireless Charger is listed as $25 on ESR's website but you can find for $19 on Amazon sold by ESR. $19 for the same exact thing you will get from the name brand offerings and some of those might not even have fast charging capabilities built-in. If you're still looking for a wireless charger, you really should check the Tidal out. It has done nothing but impress me and be even more amazing considering how affordable it is. You can find it on ESR's website here, or on Amazon here. Through February 3, 2019 you can get 17% off on Amazon using code WIRECHARG dropping the price to $16.
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