Best Wireless Chargers for Samsung Galaxy Note 8 in 2018

What are the best wireless chargers for Galaxy Note 8?

If you ask Apple, wireless charging is the latest and greatest feature for smartphones — and one that Samsung has been perfecting on its line of Galaxy phones since 2015.

Samsung’s big and beautiful Galaxy Note 8 carries on that tradition with the same Wireless Fast Charge abilities as the Galaxy S8, and many of the best wireless chargers available are compatible with old and new Samsung phones alike.

So let’s dive in and take a look at your best options!

• Samsung Fast Charge Convertible Wireless Charging Pad
• Samsung Wireless Charging Pad w/ 2A wall adapter
• Spigen Qi Wireless Charging Stand
• Anker Wireless Charging Pad
• iOttie iON Wireless Qi Wireless Charging Pad

Samsung Fast Charge Convertible Wireless Charging Pad

It’s always best to lead with the accessories made by the phone manufacturer, and Samsung redesigned wireless charging pad/stand sure stands out from the crowd. Launched alongside the Galaxy S8, it features a premium leather-like appearance and ingenious design which allows you to easily convert this pad into an angled charging stand.

The charger also comes with a spare Samsung Fast Charge wall charger which is another accessory that ensures your phone charges safely, and allows you to fast charge your Galaxy Note 8 wirelessly at your home or office. You can snag one of your own from Amazon now for just $46. It’s a great price, considering it’s regularly sold on Samsung’s site for close to $80.

See at Amazon

Samsung Wireless Charging Pad w/ 2A wall adapter

If functionality and cost are your two biggest buying factors, you’ll want to consider Samsung’s old style of wireless charging pad, which has been deeply discounted on Amazon to around $29.

These charging pads look like mini-UFOs and are Fast Charge-compatible for devices that support it such as the Galaxy Note 8. It also comes with a Samsung 2A wall charger — always useful — and comes with a standard one-year warranty.

This is a great option if you’re looking to set up wireless charging at your home and at work because they’re so inexpensive right now. You can also get the older style as a charging stand for $39 if you prefer that look instead. You may also want to consider this bundle which includes Samsung’s car charger along with two cables (Micro-USB and USB-C) for just $37.

See at Amazon

Spigen Qi Wireless Charging Stand

Spigen is one of the best accessory makers, and its Qi Charging Stand is a fine example to back that claim.

This charging stand is angled so you are still able to see your display easily while your phone is charging. If you need a way to quickly top off your phone on your desk or a new place to keep it safe on your nightstand, this may be the choice for you. Pick yours up for under $25 at Amazon.

See at Amazon

Anker Wireless Charging Pad

Anker’s wireless charging pad for Qi-enabled devices is sleek and minimalist, which might jive well with your personal tastes. This one features LED indicators around the perimeter for a futuristic UFO look. The included Fast Charge Mode should charge your phone twice as fast as other wireless charging pads.

With a low profile means that it won’t take up much space on your desk or nightstand, and it’s backed by Anker’s 18-month warranty and friendly customer service.

You can get one for your home or office for just $22.

See at Amazon

iOttie iON Wireless Qi Charging Pad

This wireless charger from iOttie might seem like the bulkier option based on pictures, but it’s actually very intelligently designed. It’s Qi-compatible with a triple-coil charging zone that’s capable of 5V/1A output with a non-slip ring to hold your phone in place on top while it charges. And that hollow opening in the middle isn’t just for the stylish look — it’s also a docking bay for the iOttie PowerPack 3400mAh External Portable Charger which is super convenient and cool.

You can even get a bundle pack that includes the iOttie PowerPack 3400mAh External Battery for just $50, so you can have a fully charged battery pack to take along with you if you think you’ll need it. Otherwise, you can get the wireless charging pad for just $19.99.

See at Amazon

Updated June 2018: This article was refreshed with the latest pricing. These are still the best picks available for your Galaxy Note 8.

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Here’s what we’re reading, watching, playing, and listening to this week

How we’re spending our leisure time.

Everyone has a bit of quiet downtime once in a while. Whether you’re sitting quietly at home or trying to relax on a plane or just giving your busy mind and hands a break, it’s important to relax.

A good way to do that is to read a book, listen to some music or watch a movie or show. See what’s caught our attention for the week of June 2nd.

Marc Lagace

I think I’ve recommended the 30 for 30 podcast before, but I just binged through Season 3 on a recent flight and I highly recommend it.

The five-part audio documentary examines Bikram Choudhury, an Indian yoga teacher who brought his brand of “Bikram hot yoga” to America in the 1970s and made millions offering grueling nine-week training session to impassioned devotees. I remember checking out a hot yoga class for the first time and hearing the instructors preaching about the brilliant Bikram and his teachings. It all felt a bit too “cult of personality” to me and I definitely felt some creepy vibes — sadly, the podcast confirms my suspicions.

It’s a finely produced podcast that had me engaged throughout, and you can enjoy it with or without having practised yoga before.

Joe Maring

After a lot of nagging from one of my friends, I decided to pick up Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombie Chronicles this past week when it was on sale for about $20.

I don’t plan on touching the campaign and can already tell I’m not a fan of the multiplayer, but the remastered Zombies maps from the older Black Ops games are phenomenal.

Reliving the claustrophobic bunker of Nacht der Untoten and rocking out to the hidden song in Kino Der Toten while running away from Hell Hounds in their remastered glory has been loads of fun, and it’s been exciting to check out maps like Moon and Origins that I previously missed out on.

Tom Westrick

One really cool thing I did last week was attend a songwriter’s circle at the Irving Theater in Indianapolis. At first, I thought it would be a chance for me to try out some of the songs I’ve written, but I was incorrect. Instead, it was something even cooler: four local musicians came and took turns singing and telling stories. I bought CDs from Meg Williams and Joe Shelton. If you’re interested in country music at all (or even if you just have an hour to kill), give them both a listen.

Elsewhere, I finished watching Frasier, and I’m glad the last season was just as good as the first ten. Instead of working through other Netflix series, I’m going to spend some time with my Plex library, namely Static Shock since the final DVD of that series was just released. When I’m through with that, I’ll probably start the latest season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Andrew Martonik

We’re less than two weeks out from the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and that means I’m deep into a depression surrounding the United States not being in the tournament. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be watching — oh no, I’ll be catching as many games as possible through late June and July. In the tune-up for the tournament, I found a great podcast from Gimlet Media called “We Came to Win”.

It’s a podcast series all about telling the greatest stories of the World Cup, across multiple countries and various decades of the competition. Each episode is a different story following a certain team, match, person or storyline, and ranges from 20 to 50 minutes. You can pick up just an episode here or there, or jam through the current list of eight episodes available — they’re releasing a new one each Wednesday.

The show is available on the Gimlet website but also in the Pocket Casts app. If you’re a fan of soccer, you’ll want to give it a try while we get ready for the World Cup to kick off.

Essa Kidwell

This week is crazy busy for me. Between all the writing and filming I have to do, I’ve been trying to get back to my roots and reconnect with the things I’ve loved since childhood. So, this week I’ll be reading the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Which, awesomely enough, is actually available for free on Amazon if you have Prime. I remember picking it up for the first time in my elementary school library and haven’t touched it since. I’m excited to read it again, as an adult, and see if I have any different opinions or notice anything I may not have before.

Real talk for a minute. I’m not someone who complains that the “movies don’t stick to the books” or “how dare they mess up one tiny detail to the story” unless it’s major. But let me tell you how heartbroken my younger self was when it came to watching the Goblet of Fire in theaters and they didn’t include the House Elf Kitchen. It was, for some reason, my favorite part of the book. I just wanted to see the gang tickle a painting of a pear until it laughed so hard it opened into a door that lead to the kitchen.

Alright, rant over. I’m going to get back to my books and music now. Have a good week!

Your turn

What are YOU reading, watching, or listening to this week? Let us know in the comments!

Update, June 2, 2018: This is a weekly series where we tell you what we’re into, so check back every weekend!

The Pixelbook is on sale at Best Buy and it starts at just $750

Save $250 and get free shipping on the coolest Chromebook ever.

If you love deals and have been wanting to get your paws on a Google Pixelbook you need to hit up Best Buy, where you can save a ton of money right now.

The base model Pixelbook normally sells for $999 and is now on sale for $749, and you can save the same big money if you opt for one of the more powerful upgrades — the 256GB storage model can be had for $949 (normally $1199) and the 512GB version is just $1,399 (normally $1649). And these prices include free shipping. Even the Pixelbook Pen is on sale and you can snag one (and you totally should) for $89 and save ten bucks.

The Pixelbook is one of Google’s most ambitious products ever, and one if its best. Beautiful hardware matched with Chrome’s simplicity and security make for one awesome Chromebook. But the price has always been a barrier to a lot of folks and knocking a couple of hundred dollars off — this is the lowest we’ve ever seen any of the models — is even more awesome. Awesomer, if you will.

Don’t miss out on the best price the best Chromebook has ever seen!

See at Best Buy $749

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OnePlus 6: Which RAM and storage size should you buy?

We all like big numbers, but the extra cost doesn’t always make sense.

OnePlus has grown a bit from its days of only offering one phone in single color with no further configuration options. The OnePlus 6 now comes in three different colors, and with three distinct models that have different amounts of RAM and storage. Most people will just buy the base model to keep the cost down, but if you’re considering paying a bit more to increase the memory or storage on your new purchase, you’ll want to start right here.

Choose a color first

There are three different colors of the OnePlus 6 — Mirror Black, Midnight Black and Silk White — but unfortunately not every storage option is available in every color. So whether you care more about your storage or your color doesn’t really matter, you still need to be aware of the color options before you settle on your desired storage. Here’s how it breaks down:

• 64GB storage: Mirror Black
• 128GB storage: Mirror Black, Midnight Black, Silk White
• 256GB storage: Midnight Black

The color you’ll see most often is Mirror Black on account of it being the only color available for the base model, so if you want to have something a bit unique you’ll need to up your storage to open up the Midnight Black and Silk White options. Silk White will be extra-exclusive on account of technically being a “limited edition” run, though we don’t know how long it’ll be available.

What color OnePlus 6 should you buy?

Pick a storage size

Once you’ve picked your desired color, or at least come to terms with the color options you have, it’s time to pick a storage option. Getting 64GB in the base model is enough for most people, particularly because OnePlus is pretty light with its software and gives you a lot of free space — less than 10GB is used out of the box. Just keep in mind that if you’re used to a phone with an SD card slot, like a Samsung Galaxy, that the OnePlus 6 doesn’t have that capability. You’re stuck with the storage you buy.

Most people will get by fine on 64GB, and 128GB will be extra comfortable — only hardcore users need 256GB.

Keeping that fact in mind, you may consider bumping up to the 128GB storage, which will most likely be more than you’d need in the life of the phone even without active management. The 128GB storage model is just $50/€50/£50 more than the base device — so if you can afford it and have have any reservations about how much storage you may need, go for it. And, as we’ll discuss below, you get 8GB of RAM as part of the upgrade.

Now, who should buy the 256GB model? Well, not that many people. Unless you intend to use your OnePlus 6 to store tons of local media and massive games, you aren’t likely to fill up even 128GB. But if you know that you need 256GB based on where your current phone’s storage stands, then you don’t need this guide to tell you — just spend the extra money and get the storage, you won’t regret it. The 256GB model is another $50/€50/£50 above the 128GB, and has the same 8GB of RAM.

More RAM is just a nice bonus

You’ll notice we’re talking about RAM last in this equation. That’s because you can’t pick the RAM you want independently of the storage — if you pick the 64GB storage you get 6GB of RAM, and both higher storage options jump to 8GB.

Don’t pay $50 extra just to get more RAM — 6GB is plenty.

Do you really need 8GB of RAM in the OnePlus 6? The short answer is “no, but it’s nice to have.” With the base model phone having only 6GB of RAM and a vast majority of Android phones released today still having 4 or 6GB, there’s very little that the extra memory can do for you because software and apps just don’t expect it. It’ll come in handy if you’re running multiple intensive apps in addition to a game, under some circumstances, but really it’s just preparing your phone for the (distant) future where apps and software become even more memory intensive.

Paying $50 more just to get 2GB of extra RAM isn’t worth it, but it’s a nice addition if you do decide to make the move for more storage. So again, pick your storage first and don’t worry about RAM.

OnePlus 6

• OnePlus 6 review
• OnePlus 6 vs. OnePlus 5T: How much changes in six months?
• OnePlus 6 vs. OnePlus 5: Should you upgrade?
• These are the official OnePlus 6 cases
• The OnePlus 6 doesn’t work on Verizon or Sprint
• Join the discussion in the forums