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Wireless Charging Plate ReviewWhen I played with my brother's Nexus Wireless Charger, I thought it was very cool that I could charge the Google LG Nexus 5 on it without wires. But for $50, the Nexus Wireless Charger was a tad pricy. Plus, I wasn't thrilled with its magnetic attachment. I decided to scour Amazon to see if I would be able to find a cheaper universal Qi charger. And I did. That was the Wireless Charging Plate. Yes, even the name is generic, as you can see on the box below. And I will be reviewing this Wireless Charging Plate thoroughly in this article. 
For a simple generic box, it actually looks quite pleasing. Maybe it's the highly contrasted yellow on the black background. It looks quite elite. 
The box content includes the Wireless Charging Plate, a white micro-USB cable, and the instruction sheet (see photo above). Notice that the USB AC adapter is not included. Also, the Wireless Charging Plate I order is black (white version is also available), but a white micro-USB cable is included. That's not a big deal to me, because I have plenty of black micro-USB cables laying around. But if color is important to you, you will want to keep this discrepancy in mind. The instruction manual isn't very useful at all. There are a number of unspoken "rules" on using this Wireless Charging Plate that isn't mentioned in the instruction manual. Luckily, I will tell you all about in this article, so you can use this article to serve as instruction manual. 
The Wireless Charging Plate has a single micro-USB port for you to supply power via a micro-USB cable (see photo above). Without including a USB AC adapter, the Wireless Charging Plate tempts you to connect it to your computer. But I have found that the current supplied by monitors and computers are generally insufficient to charge the Google LG Nexus 5. Instead, you'll need to use this Wireless Charging Plate with the USB AC adapter that is included with your SmartPhone 
Once you plug the Wireless Charging Plate into a power source, a red LED will glow from within the Wireless Charging Plate (see photo above). I think that's a nice touch. It is very cool, because you can't tell there is a LED there. 
Once you place the Google LG Nexus 5 or other Qi-enabled SmartPhone on the Wireless Charging Plate, the red LED will turn off and the blue LED will turn on (see photo below). The changing in LED color indicates the phone is being charged. PitfallsI have found that using the Wireless Charging Plate is not as easy as I would expect. Just throwing the phone onto the Wireless Charging Plate will not necessary charge your phone. And the instruction manual doesn't explain these details to you. I will go through each pitfall that I learned, so that you can charge your phone properly every time. Pitfall #1: Use a strong USB AC adapter. The Google LG Nexus 5 actually needs fairly high current to charge. My monitor and computer has barely enough power to charge it via the micro-USB cable. The Wireless Charging Plate could not charge the Google LG Nexus 5 when the Wireless Charging Plate is plugged into the USB port on a monitor or a computer. In addition, any insulation, like the GMYLE Wallet Case Classic will affect the charging rate. The Google LG Nexus 5 USB AC adapter, which provides 1.2 amp, was sufficient to overcome the wallet case and charge the phone promptly. You can see, from the bottom of the Wireless Charging Plate (see photo below), that it actually wants 2 amp input. Unfortunately, the USB AC adapter does not come with the Wireless Charging Plate. In addition, USB AC adapters that serves 2 amps are rare. The only 2 amp USB AC adapter that I have comes from the Google Asus Nexus 7 tablet. See "Related Links" below for good deal on 2 amp USB AC adapters. 
Pitfall #2: The SmartPhone has to be centered on the Wireless Charging Plate. I have hoped that I can just lay the phone on the Wireless Charging Plate for it to charge. But it seems that it is just off a bit, then the blue LED will glow, but the phone will not be charged. I have learned to center the phone and listen to the Google LG Nexus 5 wireless charging indicator to tell me that I have placed the phone properly. DissassemblyThe Wireless Charging Plate plastic enclosure is quite soft and comes apart readily with slight twist. Photo below shows the internal components. 
The photo below is a close-up of the circuit board and the charging coil. 
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