Accessories: Nokia CR-200 Wireless Car Charger Review

A while back I posted an unboxing and first impression of the Nokia CR-200 wireless car charger, and now the time has come for the full review. For the detailed blow by blow check out the video review below; but I’ll try my best to summarize my thoughts in text form too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spbMaxKqwlo

I was really excited to get the CR-200 as it’ pretty much essential for a daily commuter like me, I even bought it  and had it shipped to Jordan just to get one a few weeks earlier. In terms of build quality the CR-200 is standard Nokia, meaning it’s awesome; with sturdy (non-cheap) plastic and a nice design. However I faced some issues, mainly with the dashboard mount not being able to handle the weight of the 920 + the cradle. Another issue was the lack of shock resistance in the “arm” of the cradle, where eventually after 30 minutes or so of driving the cradle would be pointing downwards rather than at you. All these are nuisances rather than major issues however (more like me nitpicking I guess?).

THe major issue with me is slow charging time, in fact my 920 (and 1020) both ended up discharging when connected to the cradle and running Here maps, as apparently the output of the cradle isn’t enough to match the output need to run the GPS + Music.

4 Hours to fully charge (with only Music playing in background)

The other problem seems to be a 1020 related issues, where the phone would stop charging at random times (especially after taking a bump or two on the road); it might have something to do with the Wireless charging cover being a bit loose, or perhaps the connector dots are just too small? Either way it would disconnect and reconnect at random, and sometimes take  while to recognize it was on the cradle (although to be fair these seem to be an issue with the wireless charging cover and not the phone itself).

Enough with the bad, and onto the good; the CR-200 is excellently thought out in terms of details, it comes with little cable clips to keep the charging cable out of the way of your center console and neatly stuck to the side (a beautiful thought in my opinion). And the secondary USB port means you can use this to charge more than one device at once (provided your car’s output can support it).

The CR-200 also comes with it’s own bundled software that gives you quick access to weather, battery percentage, time and three shortcuts of your choice; this app is opened when you pair the phone with the cradle via NFC. The app is pretty cool and helps keep you focused on driving, although I would’ve prefered the NFC tag to be in the cradle itself and not the bottom of the dock, this means that I have to actively tag the NFC thing first then place the phone in the cradle. Slightly cumbersome.

The major obstacle standing in the way of the CR-200’s success (besides the charging times) is the price. Currently it’s still around the $79 mark on Amazon, but I think I got it for around $75-$80 off Mobilefun. Of course if you don’t have a device that has qi wireless charging built in you’ll have to buy a charging cover which are around $30 depending on your phone model, so it all adds up.

So if you’re looking for an answer, should I get this? That’s difficult to answer, the CR-200 has its drawbacks surely; such as the price and slow charging time; but if you want a premium phone cradle that also happens to charge your phone (and doubles as a secondary USB port) then this is your product. Hopefully the 1020 charging issue was only with me and isn’t wide spread, but if you have a 920 go for it!

Grab the CR-200 off Amazon at the link below (associate link):

Nokia CR-200 Wireless Charging Car Cradle Holder – Retail Packaging – Black

Lumia Wireless Charging Covers

Category: Accessories, Lumia, Nokia, Windows Phone