Review: OPPO AirVOOC 50W Wireless Charger — wireless speed at its best

Qi charging was a revolution when it arrived in 2010.  Since then, we saw it stagnate until Apple introduced their MagSafe charging.  Sure, it still used the same Qi charging standard for speeds, but it introduced the magnetic part of the charging.

The magnetic attraction between the phone and the charger allowed them to attach in the exact position required for optimal charging.  Eventually, the Wireless Power Consortium, which controls the Qi standard, introduced Qi2, which introduces the magnetic feature to the standard.

Unfortunately, it has taken a long time.  As such, some manufacturers, including OPPO, have introduced not only their own wireless charging protocols but also magnetic solutions.  

OPPO introduced their AirVOOC wireless flash charging a few years ago, with a massive 4%W charging speed possible.  This though, does require a wireless charger from OPPO. OPPO’s wireless charging stands have been available in Australia for a while now, but OPPO have now switched from using the stand to a new, more portable, AirVOOC 50W charger.

The new OPPO AirVOOC 50W Wireless Charger also includes the magnetic feature to allow easy connection of your phone, thanks to the magnetic cases OPPO provide for some of their phones – you can also buy aftermarket MagSafe cases that will work if OPPO do not make one for your phone.

OPPO sent me the OPPO AirVOOC 50W Magnetic Charger to test out, and I was super excited to test it out.  Read on to hear my thoughts on it.

Design

The OPPO AirVOOC 50W Magnetic Charger looks just like a hockey puck with a rubbery side to attach the phone to.  This is where the magnets must be located under the surface.  The sides and the back of the charger house vents help move the heat around because, as you can imagine, charging at 50W wirelessly creates quite a bit of heat.

For some reason the top/rear of the charger includes a knob in the middle that does not seem to do anything aside from making the charger not able to sit flat on your table/desk.  I suspect this was a deliberate choice, as if it sat flat on the rear of your desk, there would not be as much heat dissipated, as the vent on the rear would be blocked.

The side of the charger includes the USB-C port where you need to plug in your 80W SUPERVOOC charger.  You do need to use the OPPO charger to get the most out of this wireless charger.  

I tested it with a Thunderbolt/USB-C cable (pulling more than 50W) and it was unable to charge at the full 50W AirVOOC speeds.  This is where I’m a bit confused with the wireless charger from OPPO.

For me, the advantage of this charger is that you can take the wireless charging puck with you wherever you go and get the highest possible speeds, depending on the input source.  Unfortunately, you need the SUPERVOOC charger for that.

Now, the charger will charge your phone at decent wireless charging speeds using a non-SUPERVOOC source, but it just won’t be the full 50W that the charger is capable of.  

The dilemma as I see it is this, if I have to take my SUPERVOOC charger along with me to use AirVOOC at full speeds, why wouldn’t I just plug the SUPERVOOC USB-C directly into my phone and get 80W instead of the 50W AirVOOC?

I suspect the main advantage of using this charging solution is a portable fast wireless charging solution that allows you to use and interact with your phone while it is charging without trying to avoid dislodging the USB-C cable and damaging the port?

I think this is something I’ll use on holiday, as I can easily take the charger with me and use my phone while charging at the same time.  At home, I think the 50W AirVOOC charging stands (that are no longer being manufactured) are more functional and useful.  

Use with iPhones (and other non-OPPO phones)

The charger delivers close to 15W to your non-OPPO phones that support speeds that fast.  I tested it on my iPhone 16 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Pixel 9 Pro XL and for each of these, the charger clipped into position accurately (I have a MagSafe case for the Pixel 9 Pro XL).

The speeds started close to 15W when the phones were at low percentages.  Remember, charging follows a logarithmic curve where it charges fastest at the lowest percentages.  At the battery gets closer to full, the speeds slow down.

Should you buy this charger?

Firstly, do you have a phone that supports AirVOOC, then there is a case where you should be buying this charger. It allows you to charge your phone at close to 50W wherever you are — but you will need to take your SUPERVOOC charger with you to be able to charge at those speeds.

If you do have a phone that supports AirVOOC and plan to use the wireless charger on the desk at work, I would suggest you quickly head over to OPPO and buy one of their 50W AirVOOC wireless charging stands. If you want the flexibility to use wireless charging anywhere, then this is the charger for you.

Even if you don’t have a phone that supports AirVOOC, you can still use this charger to wirelessly charge wherever you are. The problem with suggesting this though, is that there are some wireless chargers that are wireless powerbanks and I would suggest that solution over that before this for your non-OPPO phone.

The OPPO AirVOOC 50W Magnetic Charger is available from OPPO’s online store for $129.