Nomad Base & Stand review: High-end, but budget friendly magnetic chargers

Nomad's accessories always draw your eye and the same goes for its elite line of wireless chargers. We've already taken a look at the Stand One and the Base One.

Those two chargers use Apple's official MagSafe modules for up to 15W of wireless power. Now, we're looking at Base and Stand which, while looking similar, instead use Qi.

Qi will charge your iPhone at a maximum of 7.5W, half the maximum of the MFi versions. If you use your charger overnight or you mount your phone on it during the day, that speed reduction may not mean a lot.

It's more affordable to opt for the Qi version when you don't need MagSafe performance levels.

Nomad Base review

Both chargers use similar materials and shared design but one has your phone flat on a surface — the Base charger — and the other props your phone up for easier viewing — Stand.

Base has a weighted metal body in either a black or silver finish. We have the black model on hand.

The metal has been bolstered by additional weight to tip the scales at over a pound. If you lift your phone from the middle perfectly straight up, you can still lift the Base but if you pull at any angle, the charger will stay on your desk.

There is glass along the top, painted from the underside to create this depth effect where you can see through the glass but it is fully opaque.

Unfortunately, the power cable is integrated into the charger itself. That means if anything happens to your cable, your $80 charger is going in the trash too.

Make sure no kids, pets, or water gets anywhere near that cable to compromise it. The good news is Nomad uses a high-quality, braided-nylon coating to help protect its custom cable.

The benefit of the flat design is that it makes it compatible with more devices. Headphones, Android phones, and other Qi devices can charge on the Nomad Base.

If you have a shared household with Android devices, many of them will charge on Base at up to 15W versus the 7.5W for iPhone.

Nomad Stand review

Our preferred model though, is the Nomad Stand. It elevates your phone into the air and holds it at a perfect 21-degree pitch.

Place your iPhone on the Nomad Stand and you can power up while you keep an eye on your Twitter feed or rotate it to watch a video.

The Stand weighs even more than the Base, increasing by 14 percent. This one stays put even more so than Base, thanks to that extra weight.

An exceptional set of chargers

As has been the trend for the last few years, Nomad doesn't include a power adapter in the box. The integrated two-meter USB-C cables must connect to a proper USB-C power supply.

We're torn at this point on if this is a good or bad thing.

On one hand, we are flush with chargers and we don't need the added e-waste or cost that comes with bundling a charger in the box. At the same time, some people don't have USB-C chargers handy, and it sucks having to pay even more for a power supply.

Nomad has its own 20W USB-C power brick it would love to sell you that is compact and roughly the same size as Apple's 5W USB adapter. Any charger will work, including a USB-C multi-charger for powering your Mac and iPad.

Another benefit to the Nomad Stand will launch later in 2023. It will be compatible with StandBy Mode in iOS 17.

StandBy Mode turns your iPhone into a photo display, shows a pair of live-updating widgets, or lets you check in on Live Activities. It's an incredible feature that we're very excited for people to use.

Stand is perfect bedside to show the clock and alarm at night, in the kitchen with your timers or photos, or on your desk with your calendar and other widgets.

We love to see Nomad out with two offerings. It has a full MagSafe version with top performance and a more affordable Qi version that shaves off 20% of the cost while keeping the same high-quality materials.

Whichever is right for you, Nomad is bringing something different to the market.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Nomad Base & Stand - Pros

• Amazing build quality with all-metal base and glass top
• More affordable than Nomad's MagSafe models
• Charging pad is color-matched to body
• Nylon-braided 2M cable
• Stand works great with StandBy Mode

Nomad Base & Stand - Cons

• Cable is non-removable
• Doesn't have the performance of MagSafe
• Power adapter not included

Where to buy the Nomad Base & Stand

Grab the new Nomad Base and Stand from the company's website for $70 and $80 respectively in black and white.