What's the best way to charge your iPhone X or iPhone 8?

Charging your iPhone used to mean finding a cable (and hoping it wasn't frayed) and hooking it up to the nearest charger. But the iPhone X and iPhone 8 bring with them new charging features.

Here's everything you need to know about charging your new iPhone.

First off, the standard USB Lightning cable and charger is the same old fare, and will charge the iPhone X/8 no slower or faster than chargers that Apple has been shipping with new iPhones for years. It charges at the usual 4.85V/0.95A (give or take) and will take about two hours to charge the iPhone 8, and about three and a half hours to fully charge your iPhone X or iPhone 8 Plus (about 15 minutes faster than the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus because the batteries are smaller).

Using a higher-power USB charger -- such as the Anker Premium 5-port 60W USB charger -- predictably results in faster charging.

Alternatively, you can charge the device faster using a 24W charger, such as the charger supplied with the iPad (this feature was introduced with the iPhone 6). If you don't have an iPad charger, you can pick up a third-party charger, such as the Anker Elite Dual Port 24W. This can shave a good 30 to 60 minutes off a full charge, and is handy if you don't do an overnight recharge or require regular recharges throughout the day.

But regular old charging is old-school for the iPhone X/8, because built into these devices are two new features.

The first is wireless charging. Basically, what you need for this is a Qi-compatible wireless charging pad and you're ready to go. Apple will be releasing its own charging pad in 2018 called the AirPower, and this mat will allow hardcore Apple fans to charge their iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods (as long as they buy the new wireless charging case) all on the same mat.

Until then, you have to rely on third-party wireless charging pads, which, to be honest, aren't bad at all. I've tested a number of cheap fast charge wireless pads -- such as this $15 pad from RAVPower -- and found them to be acceptable.

Here are some observations I've found using wireless charging.

• Standard plastic/silicone/rubber/leather don't seem to affect wireless charging. In fact, I've found that charging can be faster on some wireless pads when the iPhone is in a case.
• Charging using third-party 15W wireless pads is faster than using the bundled charger.

All in all, wireless charging works, and it works well.

Then we come to the fast charge feature. And this is where things get interesting.

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