My iPhone started charging noticeably faster after a tiny change.

The little tweak that makes a big difference

For weeks my bedside wireless puck seemed fine — until it didn’t. The phone would sit on the pad and trickle up in charge, not the quick top-ups I’d come to expect.

Wireless charging is convenient, but sometimes that convenience masks poor setups.

Kayla Solino recently explained a simple fix called the “Plus 5” rule in her hands-on write-up. The idea is straightforward: feed your wireless pad with a wall adapter that supplies a few extra watts above the pad’s rated output.

That surplus helps make up for wireless losses — heat and magnetic leakage — so your phone actually gets more usable power.

That’s partly why a pad advertised at 15 watts won’t always deliver 15 watts to your phone. If the power brick feeding the pad can’t keep up, the charger will throttle back.

Why chargers underperform

Wireless charging never hands every watt to the battery. Some energy becomes heat, some gets lost in fields around the coil.

The adapter feeding the pad is just as important as the pad itself. Plug a 15W pad into a weak or uncertified brick and you’ll often get less than the pad’s top speed. Swap in a stronger, higher-quality adapter and the pad can reach its advertised numbers — or at least come closer.

Kerry Wan, Editor-in-Chief at ZDNet, said swapping to a higher-output Anker brick or using the charger that shipped with the pad made charging noticeably quicker at home. Wan noted that many households keep a jumble of adapters and cables, and it’s easy to grab the wrong one in a rush.

Another practical point: quality matters. Cheap, uncertified wall bricks — especially those bought from shady marketplaces — may work but often don’t deliver stable power. That instability is what forces chargers to slow down.

What the ‘Plus 5’ rule actually means

The shorthand “Plus 5” comes from choosing a wall adapter that delivers roughly five watts more than the wireless pad’s maximum output. For a 15W pad, that means using a 20W wall brick. Many people will already have a 20W phone charger in a drawer; if you don’t, it’s worth buying one.

Mastheads

Kayla Solino’s testing also points to GaN (gallium nitride) chargers as a good option. GaN bricks are smaller and can pack higher output into a compact package. If your pad is capable of 15W wireless charging, a 20W GaN adapter is a sensible match.

Another plus is that using a charger slightly above the pad’s rating helps prevent the adapter from becoming the weak link, especially with multiple devices or less-than-ideal cables. You get a little headroom, and that translates into more consistent fast charging.

Real-world checks you can do

First, check what wattage your wireless pad is rated for. The number is usually in the box or the manual. If you’ve lost the paperwork, the maker’s website will say.

Next, look at your wall adapter. It should list output, like 5V/3A (15W) or 9V/2.22A (20W). Match the numbers and then add about five watts to your adapter choice if you can.

A simple USB power meter can help, too. The ZDNet team used one to read output while testing a 65W Ugreen wall brick and watching the pad’s behaviour. Those little meters cost roughly the price of a modest accessory and tell you exactly what current and voltage are flowing into the pad.

Finally, if your device supports it, pay attention to on-screen indicators. Kerry Wan said his Samsung phone displays “fast wireless charging” and shortens the remaining time estimate when the setup hits the right numbers. Your iPhone may not show the same messaging, but you'll see charge percentage climb faster during the first 30–60 minutes when things are best.

MagSafe, alignment and accessories

MagSafe improved wireless charging for iPhones by using magnets to align the coils precisely. That helps with efficiency, because coils that line up lose less power to stray fields.

But MagSafe only solves part of the problem. If the pad is fed by an underpowered adapter, perfect alignment won’t restore full speed. If you’re using third-party cases or wallets, make sure they’re MagSafe-compatible and not too thick; extra material between the phone and puck adds distance and increases losses.

Solino’s piece also flags the basic reality: wireless charging is inherently less efficient than wired charging. Still if you need the fastest possible refill — say 0 to 50 percent in a hurry — a wired connection still wins. Wireless convenience trades speed for tidiness.

What to buy and what to avoid

If you have a 15W pad, begin with a solid 20W wall adapter. If you have a higher-capacity pad or charger, match it and add a small buffer — the Plus 5 thinking. GaN chargers are a modern pick because they’re compact and reliable at higher outputs.

Avoid cheap, no-brand adapters. They’re tempting, but they often lack the regulation and safety features of name-brand chargers. Solino cautioned against off-brand purchases from marketplaces with unclear quality controls — those bricks sometimes can’t keep voltage stable under load.

Also: use good cables. The cable between your wall brick and the pad matters. A flimsy USB cable can bottleneck power even when the brick itself is plenty powerful.

The takeaway for everyday users

Point is, bottom line: your charger setup is a chain. The pad, the adapter, the cable and the phone all play a role. A weak link drags the whole chain down.

If your wireless charging feels slow, try the Plus 5 approach: feed the pad a wall adapter with about five watts more than the pad’s rated output. Often that’s enough to turn a slow trickle into a useful, faster top-up.

For many people, the fix is cheap and quick. Swap in a 20W adapter, check your cables, and pay attention to alignment. You’ll probably notice the difference within a single charge cycle.

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"Switching to a higher-output Anker one or using the original charging brick for the pads (which usually deliver five watts more than needed) made things noticeably quicker," Kerry Wan, Editor-in-Chief at ZDNet, said.

This article was created with AI assistance.