Best answer: The Galaxy Watch Active supports Qi wireless charging, but won't work with all wireless chargers. To ensure optimal compatibility, charge your watch with a Galaxy S10 or buy a Samsung Wireless Charger Pad.
- The watch: Samsung Galaxy Watch Active ($179 at Amazon)
- The best charger: Samsung Wireless Charger Pad ($39 at Amazon)
Stuck in the cycle
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active was announced alongside the Galaxy S10 lineup earlier this year and is turning heads. The smartwatch is thinner than its predecessor, while still sporting 4GB of storage, along with 5ATM + IP68 water resistance and even NFC for Samsung Pay.
Additionally, the Watch Active includes quite a few fitness-focused features such as stress-level monitoring, and the ability to track their blood pressure. What's really awesome about this new smartwatch is that Samsung is making it extremely easy to keep it charged up.
One of the more interesting features of the Galaxy S10 lineup is called Wireless PowerShare. This makes it possible for your smartphone to actually charge other devices due to the Qi charger built into the phone. Unfortunately, the company seems that it wants to take the Apple route by forcing users to still use its own chargers with the new Galaxy Watch Active.
While the Watch Active is Qi-compatible, many of the wireless chargers available from the likes of Amazon will not work, mainly because the charging coils are not located in spots that the small ones on the Watch Active can come into contact with.
To ensure top compatibility, make sure that you're either using a Galaxy S10 or one of Samsung's first-party chargers, like the Wireless Charger Pad, which costs just $39 from Amazon.
Getting the ball rolling
Previously, smartwatches relied on proprietary chargers, which caused frustrations for many who had to deal with missing or broken chargers. However, with the Galaxy Watch Active, Samsung is pushing the notion of using standard Qi charging as an option for smartwatches.
This is evidenced by the release of the Galaxy Watch Active 2, which also works with standard wireless Qi chargers. That means you won't have to rely on dealing with manufacturers for proprietary chargers and can just use any that follow the Qi standard. Hopefully, we will see more smartwatch and fitness tracker manufacturer's follow Samsung's suit in the years to come.
Still a solid smartwatch
The Galaxy Watch Active is a stunning example of what smartwatches for Android users should look like. At just $200, the smartwatch includes everything one could want in a smartwatch, along with a few extra goodies.
Faster charging for all
This slim wireless charging pad from Samsung will be your best bet to ensure that your Galaxy Watch Active stays charged if you don't want to use PowerShare with the Galaxy S10.
