Wireless Charging Case for IPhone 7 Finally Arrives
Mophie , a manufacturer of mobile phone batteries, presented the only thing I wanted to buy from them after a while: a wireless charging case.
Its new Mophie Charge Force case is a battery-less leather case that houses a Qi-compatible wireless charging receiver. You’ve likely seen wireless chargers in places like IKEA or Starbucks, round inserts in tables or lamps that you can place your phone on for charging. Inside is a built-in Lightning (or USB-C) connector that plugs into your iPhone 7 or Samsung Galaxy S8. From the front, it looks like a traditional battery compartment, but at 0.46 inches thick, it is as thin as a regular body cover.
The case has magnetic points to which the Mophie Charge Force rechargeable battery attaches, which charges your phone wirelessly while sticking to it. You can also leave the battery on a table and, since it supports pass-through charging, use it as a stationary charging point.
This is a great implementation of a long-awaited feature for iPhone owners. Samsung Galaxy S8 already supports Qi charging; in this case, the housing is simply a magnet holding device.
Qi wireless charging has become a standard in IKEA furniture and Starbucks stores all over the place, so it sucks that Apple doesn’t get involved in the wireless charging footstep. After ditching headphone jacks and traditional ports in favor of Lightning cables and USB-C ports, it’s only natural to assume the company wants to further rid the world of cables by making everything it can wireless, including charging the damn phone.
“But Patrick,” you lament, “is it safe?” Well fine commenter, I reached out to Mofi to find out how safe this thing actually is, especially since Apple does not exactly support the Qi wireless charging standard (although it did join the Wireless Power Consortium earlier this year). My guess? I’m sure everything is okay. Doubt this will blow up your phone, but I am always a little wary of unauthorized charging methods.