The Nomad Base Station Stand is the Cadillac of Wireless Charging Stands

Back in November of last year, I took a look at the Nomad Base Station, a killer mat-style wireless charger that packs a big punch for its small size. Now, Nomad is back with the Base Station Stand, a $99 stand-style wireless charger with some tricks of its own.

I’ve been using the Base Station Stand for the last few weeks, but before we get into my thoughts on it, let’s take a quick look at what the regular Base Station has that the Stand is missing.

For starters, the Base Station can charge multiple devices at once: two on the mat and then two more through the USB-C and A ports on the back, for a total of four things at once. The Stand, on the other hand, can only charge one thing at a time—it’s a wireless charger and a wireless charger only. But don’t sell it short, because it still has some features that set it apart from a lot of other wireless chargers.

“But Cam, what sort of features?” I can hear you ask yourself. It comes down to one big one: it’s a dual-coil stand. While it can only charge one device at a time, the dual-coils allow it to be used in either portrait or landscape mode for phones with wireless charging. It can also charge smaller devices like AirPods and AirPods Pro (though you have to turn the Pro case sideways to charge it) by leveraging the lower coil.

While this may not be a truly unique feature that’s exclusive to this one particular charger, it is somewhat of a rarity. Most stand-style wireless chargers assume the user will always put the phone on the stand in portrait mode and only use one coil in the center as a result.

Aside from the dual-coils, it’s also packed with other thoughtful touches. It has an 18-watt USB-C port on the back to provide consistent and efficient 10-watt wireless charging. It also has an LED charging indicator on the front, as well as an ambient light sensor to keep the light dim at night and bright during the day. See? That’s thoughtful.

And all that is on top of how absolutely classy it is. The black aluminum chassis is clean and elegant, while the black padded leather charging pad ties it all together in a refined way. The angled rubber foot at the bottom perfectly angles your phone for maximum contact every time you put it down. It also keeps the phone in place if you accidentally bump the table or otherwise knock the charger.

That may seem like a silly thing to mention, but the last couple of stand-style wireless chargers I’ve used didn’t have the rubber grip, making it more difficult to get the phone aligned just right. I appreciate the additional utility here, especially at night, when I nod off while looking at Instagram and groggily roll over to throw my phone on the charger.

(Yes, I know—looking at your phone before bed is a bad thing. Don’t try to tell me you don’t do it too!)

But there’s the thing: at $99, it’s pricier than a lot of other wireless chargers. At this point, you may be asking yourself if it’s worth it. Or if I think it’s worth it. And if so, why I think it’s worth it.

Simply put, yeah, I think it’s worth it. Why? Because it’s just such a quality product. That’s the thing with Nomad stuff—it’s high quality. This isn’t some cheap plastic charger that will “get the job done,” look like crap on your nightstand, or annoy you because your phone moves slightly when you bump the table and stops charging because it’s no longer on the coil.

It’s a classy, high-quality, absolutely badass wireless charger that works with either landscape or portrait orientations, as well as smaller gadgets like AirPods. All those things combined make this a winner across the board.