Charging your smartphone to wired wall outlets or even to power banks and USB powered chargers is so 2014. Wireless charging is the way to go now. Well this can of course only work if your device supports it or if you have a case that lets your smartphone be charged wirelessly. mophie is one of the trusted brands when it comes to this technology and now they are bringing even more convenient accessories to help your Qi-enabled devices stay juiced up wirelessly, even when you’re traveling. You can now bring along the charge steam pad mini which is small and portable but still powerful or you can get the whole charge stream travel kit which has all the accessories you may need when it comes to powering up your smartphone.
The charge stream pad mini is just 2.4 inches long so you can easily slip it into your bag and bring it along for when you need to charge wirelessly. Just plug it in with the included charging cable and then place your smartphone on top of it and it should begin charging. It can also charge through cases up to 3mm thick so you don’t need to remove your case every time you need to charge. It has a “safe, reliable 5W charge” and it has fail-safe circuitry so it won’t overcharge. In case you’re worried about your smartphone suddenly slipping, mophie says it has a non-slip surface to protect your device. The charge stream travel kit meanwhile has the charge stream pad mini, a 2.4A wall adapter, a 2.4A car adapter, a 1.5m USB-A to micro USB cable, and a carrying pouch to place everything there. The charge stream pad mini costs $24.95 while the charge stream travel kit is $49.95.
mophie has a whole other range of wireless charging devices whether what you need is a battery case, a charging case, a charging dock, and even a charging battery. You have the various juice packs for when you need extra battery on the go and they have several built specifically for devices like the Samsung Galaxy S7, S8, and S9 lines and the Galaxy Note 8 (and newer iPhone models as well). The charge force cases are for when you don’t want the bulky traditional battery case and is available for the Galaxy S8, S8+, and Galaxy Note 8. Aside from the aforementioned charge stream mini, you also have the charge stream pad+ and the wireless charging base for if you need a bigger charging pad that you can permanently place in your work station. If you want to wireless charge your juice packs, they also have the charge force powerstation which can also serve as a wireless charging pad for Qi-enabled devices.
People have embraced wireless charging because of its convenience. The fact that you have a static charger pad rather than those charging cables that get easily busted is pretty convenient. Qi wireless charging pads in airports, hotels and coffee shops are becoming more popular so if you ever need to juice up, finding a pad is much more “dignified” than having to scrounge around for a socket to plug into. Eventually, you can just use one set of chargers for your phone, smartwatch, tablet, etc since wireless charging is a universal standard.
Of course there are still disadvantages to it. For one, it can be slower and less energy efficient, but OEMs are currently working on fixing that. It can also cost more to implement and it can be an engineering challenge, especially now that smartphones are getting slimmer and slimmer. Not a lot of devices especially in the mid-range category are currently supporting it as well, so it may take some time before wireless charging gets a wider reach. But you can be sure that more smartphone manufacturers will eventually adapt it.
