The Zagg Desk Mat with Wireless Charging keeps your iPhone and other gear juiced up while also acting as a nonslip workspace, mousepad and stylus holder.
I put one in my home office and tested it with my iPhone and other accessories. Here’s how it went.
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Zagg Desk Mat with Wireless Charging review
Wireless charging is very convenient — all it takes is placing the iPhone on the right spot. And whether you have a mouse or a trackpad, you need a good surface to put it on. The same goes for your keyboard. And iPad users can appreciate a groove to hold an Apple Pencil. Zagg’s newest accessory combines all of these into one, reducing clutter.
- Wireless charging desk mat merges multiple accessories
- Decent charging performance
- Zagg Desk Mat with Wireless Charging final thoughts
- Pricing
Wireless charging desk mat merges multiple accessories
The Desk Mat with Wireless Charging measures 28 inches wide by 12 inches deep. That’s large enough to extend on both sides of my notebook with enough extra space to act as a mousepad on either side.
The same holds true if I rearrange to have my 75% layout Mac keyboard on the mat instead. If I go for a full-size keyboard, I have to choose to put the mouse on the left or the right side.
The fabric top of the mat is dark charcoal, almost black. The solid color hides some stains, but every light-colored crumb shows up glaringly like an escapee caught in a prison spotlight. That’s not necessarily a bad thing — it encourages me to wipe my desk more often. Good thing the mat is easy to clean with a damp cloth.
The surface is just soft enough to keep my computer or keyboard from sliding around while also making a usable mouse pad. The reverse side is a decidedly antislip material.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
There’s a single, circular wireless charging spot in the middle of the back of the desk mat. To me, that’s a good location — it’s behind my computer and out of the way.
Unfortunately, this is not a MagSafe accessory, so there are no magnets involved. I miss them — as it is, I must ensure I align my iPhone properly or it won’t charge. That’s a habit I no longer have with other chargers thanks to the brilliance of MagSafe.
The wireless charger gets power from an integrated USB-C cable. This is a full 6 feet long, which is plenty for me to plug it into the USB-C port in a wall charger (sold separately) on the floor under my desk.
Grooves on either side of the charging mat hold an Apple Pencil, another stylus or a simple pen or pencil.
Decent charging performance
The charging mat provides up to 10W. It’s compatible with iPhone, of course, but it’s clearly made with other accessories, like the Zagg Pro Keyboard, Zagg Pro Mouse and Zagg Pro Stylus 2. All of these support wireless charging.
I tested it with my iPhone 15 Plus. The full 10W was flowing and half an hour of charging raised the handset’s battery level by 17%.
That’s not particularly fast. MagSafe accessories support 15W charging for quicker powerups. But it’s fast enough to be useful. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago we all charged our iPhones at 5W.
Zagg’s wireless charger also worked fine with my AirPods wireless charging case, sending it about 2.5W, which is typical for these earbuds.
Zagg Desk Mat with Wireless Charging final thoughts
Photo: Zagg
The strength of Zagg’s desk mat isn’t how quickly it powers up your devices, but how convenient it makes the process. Get in the habit of placing your iPhone on the circular charging mat and it’ll always be ready to go.
I prefer to use it with my AirPods case, but it’s the same convenience.
★★★★☆
I like the look and design of the mat, and the long USB-C cable is a plus. But I miss magnets built into the charger. Perhaps in version 2?
Pricing
The Zagg Desk Mat with Wireless Charging is available now. It’s priced at $49.99.
Buy it from: Amazon
Zagg provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out more in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.
