Forgive me if this is old news to some but while strolling around the mall, I saw the Powermat being sold in Anson. I’ve heard of Powermat more than a year ago and I was intrigued by its concept. Basically, you just drop your device onto the Powermat which is the one connected to your wall outlet and it will instantly charge itself. No more fiddling with cables or reaching below to plug and unplug different chargers.
Ok it’s not as straightforward as it sounds. First, only iPhones and other selected smartphones can be placed on the mat for wireless charging and you need a case with a built-in receiver to do this. The case with the receiver will be the one to get power from the mat onto your phone. However, for other devices like PSP’s, Nintendo DS and other phones, you need a receiver called the Powercube which has interchangeable connector tips so it’s not really a wireless solution. Still, it’s a good way to keep your charging clutter-free and organized instead of dealing with a handful of chargers, adapters and their snaking cables.
The Powermat plus the Powercube bundle costs Php4,977. The Powercube supports popular devices like Apple products (except the iPad), Nintendo DSi/Lite, PSP, phones from LG, Samsung and other devices that uses microUSB and miniUSB for charging. The mat can accommodate two receivers but there’s only one included so you need to get another one if you wish to do some multiple charging. Sadly, the sales guy doesn’t know how much an extra Powercube costs.
If you want the true wireless charging, the only thing that I saw was the Powermat plus an iPhone 3G/3Gs receiver bundle and it costs Php4,095. For an additional iPhone receiver, it will set you back Php2,228.
So do you think it’s a nice investment? Or would you rather stick to your power strip, chargers and adapters and use the money elsewhere? Any Powermat owners out there?