More often than not, mobile devices are a permanent dash from power socket to power socket. Mophie is the #1 brand in extending your range between charges, and with the launch of “Charge Force”, the brand wants to remove incessant plugging and unplugging from your life, too, with a brand new wireless ecosystem.
The system is pretty straightforward. Dress your phone in a fetching little electronic tuxedo in the form of a Mophie Juice Pack battery case and you’re good to go. The case includes wireless charging technology, enabling you to just plonk your phone down on a charger pad, and it’ll merrily charge away.
The charging pad and battery case kit costs $99. And, on closer inspection, maybe I should have given the phone a quick wipe before taking photos. Don’t use the fingerprints to steal my identity, please.
The system uses “preferential charging”, which charges the phone first (that’s where you’ll need the power the most, after all), before topping off your Juice Pack.
The ecosystem is more than just a pad that lives next to your desk, however. For your home or office, you can purchase a desk mounts with powerful magnets in it; it keeps the phone securely mounted, and you can use it while it’s charging, or pick it up and walk off with it to make a call or run off to lunch.
More interestingly, even, is the vent-mounted car charger pad. It both holds your phone firmly in place and charges it at the same time. Of course, you still need to plug it into a cigarette lighter or a USB port in your car, but the advantage with having the charging pad permanently installed is that you can tuck away the wires out of sight. That has a safety bonus, too: The cables don’t end up getting entangled in your gear stick, and it’s possible that car thieves are less likely to break in to steal a permanently installed thing. Maybe.
Mounting the charging pad in a car, you can connect your Juice Pack-wearing phone to a car vent using the built-in magnets, making it very quick to put your phone on charge as you’re on the go.
Starting today, Mophie is shipping out all of its battery cases with wireless charging built-in, at no extra cost compared to the old price tag. The company is eating the extra cost for the additional technology in the cases, and the hope is that once you’ve installed a charging pad next to your bed, on your desk in the office, at home next to the television and in your car, you’ll keep coming back for new charger cases whenever you upgrade your phone.Â
For a fun little surprise for people who bought Mophie Juice Packs for the recently launched Samsung phones; your case already has all the tech wizardry built in to be able to use wireless charging. Sneaky, eh?
For the wireless charging geeks among you: The charging pads are Qi pads running at about 1 amp of charging power, so you shouldn’t see a huge drop the charging speed you’re used to with your cables — but the Juice Packs support both Qi and PMA standards, so if you find yourself in a bar, restaurant, or hotel that has wireless charging pads installed, you can drop your phone on one of them and giving your phone’s battery a much-needed spoonful of electronic love.
The kits retail at $99 and are available from Mophie, Apple and Best Buy, with Apple retail stores and Best Buy stores following in a few weeks.