This Might Be the Prettiest MagSafe Charger We’ve Seen

The Nomad Base One Max is a beautiful new 2-in-1 wireless charger that fully supports MagSafe. But this beauty comes at a pretty steep price.

By Tucker Bowe

Published April 12, 2022

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Nomad announced its first official MagSafe charger, the Base One ($130), just over a month ago. It’s a pricey option considering that it charges at the same ultra fast speeds (15-watts) but is way more expensive than Apple’s MagSafe Charger ($39). Of course, the reason you’d buy the Base One over basically any other MagSafe charger is its premium build; it looks gorgeous (thanks to a floating glass panel) and, weighing at over a pound, its metal body won’t lift up off your desk each time you pick up your iPhone.

Today, Nomad has announced its second official MagSafe charger, the Base One Max ($150), and it’s cut from the same ~~cloth~~ metal as the Base One. It has the same premium build and glass panel, but adds a longer and soft touch base for an Apple Watch charging puck. The 2-in-1 wireless charger weighs just over two pounds.

The Base One Max can wirelessly charge any iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 at the fastest possible charging speeds, but it does come with a slight catch when it comes to the Apple Watch. The new Series 7 can charge 33-percent faster (0-to-80-percent in just 45 minutes) than previous Apple Watches, but there are actually very few Apple Watch pucks that support this new charging speed. This includes the puck on the Base One Max, unfortunately. It’ll charge your Series 7 at the same standard charging speeds as previous Apple Watches, but not any faster.

tech — The Nomad Base One Max comes in two different finishes: carbine or silver (shown).

The other caveat with the Base One Max is that you’ll need to buy a 30-watt (or higher) wall adapter for it to work properly. Nomad doesn’t include one on in the box, but does sell one for $30. (Note: although annoying, this is pretty standard when it comes to wireless chargers. A lot of manufacturers, including Apple, don’t include a wall adapter to help keep the price down, but also to be environmentally friendly — they assume you likely have an unused wall adapters lying around your home.)

Just like the Base One, Nomad is offering the Base One Max in either carbine (black) or silver finishes — meaning you can get one to match your desktop setup. Each model comes with a matching nylon braided USB-C charging cable, as well.

The Nomad Base One Max costs $150 (or an extra $20 from the Base One), making it also a pretty expensive option considering you can buy much cheaper options (many of which are able to charge a third device as well). But again, you’re buying it because you like the way it looks and feels.