It's past midnight, sleep is nowhere to be found, and my phone is propped on the bedside table playing a show quietly. A wired pair of earbuds runs from the phone's open USB-C port, saving me from the 3 AM indignity of fishing a lot AirPod out from the sheets and waking up my partner.
The older flat wireless pads always demanded a bit of a fumbling precision to get the coil aligned perfectly and the juices flowing. This wireless charger is certified to Qi2.0 standards and has a magnet to make it easier and keep everything securely in place.
I've kept it beside for six weeks now, charging my iPhone overnight. It does the one job a bedside charger has to do and it does it without any extra glowing LED beside me at night.
The VÄSTMÄRKE is IKEA's answer to cheap and sexy wireless charging. It's out now - although out of stock in a lot of places. It's priced at just $24.99 AUD.
Essentials
- Price: $24.99 AUD. One of the cheapest ways to get Qi2 magnetic charging.
- Output: 5W to 15W - depending on the wall plug you attach it to
- Weight: 170g
- Materiality: Plastic (smooth polycarbonate) charging face, resting on a cork pillar.
- The Cable: 1.2m
Using It
This magnetic pad of the VÄSTMÄRKE gets the tactile snap just right. It holds the phone at a perfect, glanceable recline. Turn your iPhone onto its side and your iPhone will drop into StandBy mode, transforming it into a small, quiet bedside clock. It's also the perfect angle for me to watch things while lying in bed.
VÄSTMÄRKE's cork does three quiet things: it warms up an object that would otherwise be completely plastic, it protects your phone from scuffs and makes the whole thing look much more considered rather than disposable.
There's one honest quirk - because the unit is so feather-light (170g) and the magnet is eager, pulling your phone straight up in a morning rush will lift the entire stand off the table. It's a two-second friction easily solved by learning to slide the phone down and off the pad instead of yanking it up.
It doesn't come with a plug
It's got a 120cm USB-C coming from the base - that you can't actually detach or replace - but IKEA deliberately omits the wall plug. This isn't a stingy catch, it's a brilliant, unglamorous win against e-waste. We all have a drawer somewhere of cables and power adaptors. I paired mine with a 20W adaptor from an old iPad.
To unlock its full 15W charging speed, you need to plug it into a 20W USB-C plug. If you pair it with an older 18W plug - it will silently cap things at 10W - although that's probably still perfectly adequate for overnight charging.
If you genuinely need a plug, IKEA's $6.50 SJÖSS 20W charger is the cheapest way to guarantee maximum speed.
Price and Availability
The VÄSTMÄRKE is $24.99 AUD and available worldwide now from IKEA - online and in-store.
Optional plug: SJÖSS 20W 1-port USB-C charger, $6.50 AUD, if you don't already own a 20W-plus source.
Tech That Fits Take
The VÄSTMÄRKE isn't the fastest or the most premium wireless stand, and it doesn't try to be. It's one of the cheapest, most honest routes to Qi2 magnetic charging on a bedside table, and one of the few at this price that actually looks sexy doing it. It sits just as happily on a desk, and the angle it holds your phone at keeps the screen useful the whole time it's charging.
The magnet is willing but gentle, and most of the grumpy reviews online come down to phones or cases with no magnets for it to grab. If your case isn't magnetic, either switch to one that is or drop a universal MagSafe sticker inside it. Do that and the complaints will disappear.
Disclosure: I bought this unit myself. Editorial Policy.
