I’ve talked about my love of Qi wireless charging many times over the years and I have been worried that the technology is being phased out before it ever really got started. Smartphone makers like Motorola who were among the first to add this feature to their flagship phones a few years ago are no longer doing so with their latest batch of phones. The only company that comes to mind that is still including wireless charging capability in their phones is Samsung. If you’re lucky enough to have a phone with this feature, then you will be interested in knowing that Satechi has just announced their new wireless charging pad which can charge up to 1.4x faster than standard wireless charging pads. This charger is thin, flat and has an LED status indicator, which lights up in blue when the device is charging and green when the device is fully charged.
The Satechi Wireless Charging Pad is available now in silver, gold, space gray or rose gold at Satechi.net or Amazon.com for $24.99.
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As an iPhone user, I’ve always been envious of wireless charging capabilities on other phones. The only way I’d be ok with this kind of tech disappearing is if battery tech improves enough that we don’t have to charge so often!
As I understand it, one of the reasons why we’re seeing so few devices with this capability is the trend towards metal phone casings.
Aaron, Dog&Bone has an iPhone case that allows you to QI charge your iPhone. I reviewed this product http://the-gadgeteer.com/2014/08/20/dog-bone-backbone-wireless-charging-case-pad-and-backbone-battery-review/
Larry g
It’s a marketing hype. There’s still wires from the charger to the outlet. So how much faster is it to lay your phone on a charger plate (and you need to find room for it) or just plug in the wire.
It’s not succeeding because it’s not solving any problem. Plus it costs extra – sometimes a lot.
It’s just more convenient. Especially if you have a wireless charger on your bedside table if you use your phone as an alarm clock. Being able to reach over and grab the phone in the middle of the night to check the time is easier when it’s not tethered to a cable. Most people who scoff at wireless charging have not actually tried it 🙂
@Alan Claver if you travel the QI charging can be very convenient as a lot of airports have QI charging stands so you do not have to pull out your charging cable.
I certainly hope that wireless charging is here to stay. I don’t plan on buying another phone without it!
The other day I was browsing around on the BMW automobile site (yea I really did not need to be doing this, and no I will not be getting a new car anytime soon!) One cool thing that I saw is that you can get several models with an include wireless charging pad base installed. I am not sure how the phone sits in there and what keeps it from moving around as the car moves around. They did not have an actual picture of it on their website. I did think that was really cool because I do hate having to plug my phone in and have that darn wire dangling when charging it in my car.
Well you’re going to buy the car so we’ll know!
I agree with Julie: I’ve used a Nexus4 and a Nexus5 and wireless charging is great. I’ve a charging pad by my bed and another on my desk. It’s just so easy to pop the phone down and pick it up again.
I’m waiting to see the details of the new Nexuses, but if (as I expect) they have no wireless charging, then it’s Galaxy S7 and Touchwiz for me.
I just received the Note 7 and wow it’s making me rethink going with another Nexus if it doesn’t offer wireless charging.