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The Asus ROG Phone 8 and ROG Phone 8 Pro mark a significant design shift for the company's gaming phones. While the internal hardware is as absurdly powerful as expected, the exteriors lean closer to the design language of the most popular Android phones with muted LEDs and a pinhole camera.
How to accurately measure your smartphone's charging speed
Demystifying smartphone charging once and for all
Android devices have several charging technologies and techniques, from wireless charging to the fast charging protocols smartphone manufacturers offer. It can get complicated when determining what to look for in your next phone charger. The different wattage and amp numbers from specific Android device models add another level of confusion. Grabbing one of the best smartphone chargers will steer you in the right direction.
Does the Google Pixel 8 support Qi2?
Now that the new Pixel 8 has been released, how does the phone's wireless charging perform? Will it support the Qi2 standard?
The new Google Pixel 8 has captured the attention of Android users across the board. It's already claimed a prominent spot among the year’s best Android phones, and it’s packed with new technology and improved functionality. From the AI integrations that are powered by the Pixel 8’s new Tensor G3 chipset to the immaculate 120Hz display, the phone is sure to tempt any Android fan looking for a new phone.
Ikea lets you turn virtually any table into a wireless charging pad
The Sjömärke is powerful enough to charge devices from underneath the table
Ikea is known for its affordable and nicely designed furniture. The Swedish brand has more recently adapted its offering to the modern era by integrating wireless chargers into lamps and nightstands. It also offers standalone wireless charging pads that are amazingly cheap. Unfortunately, these products need to be placed atop a desk or table, meaning they take up some space. To free it up, Ikea has imagined a wireless charging module that you can mount under a desk or table, making it invisible and freeing up some precious space on your desktop.
Leaks regarding the Pixel 5 were prolific in the lead-up to today's announcement, but two specific details left folks in the know confused: How could Google's phone sport a metal body and have wireless charging? Usually, you can't have both. Either a phone has a metal back, and you give the feature up, or another material is used that won't interfere with it — hence the rise of glass-backed smartphones. Well, the solution is pretty simple: Technically, the phone doesn't have both a metal back and wireless charging.
Android warns you when your phone isn't properly aligned on a Qi pad (Updated)
Only on the Pixel 4 with the March 2020 monthly security patch
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Every few weeks, there's that one night where I either plug my phone loosely or place it slightly wrong on a Qi pad and I wake up to an empty battery. Scrambling to get a bit of power in before I hit the road is never fun, so I always wish my phone could warn me when it's not charging properly. In Android with the latest March security patch and Feature Drop, one of these situations is resolved as the always-on display shows a message when the device is misaligned on the Qi pad.
There is no shortage of true wireless earbuds nowadays. Although new, this product category has taken the audio world by storm and appealed to most users thanks to a combination of convenience, portability, and longer listening time between charges. The first generation of products was expensive and riddled with issues, but with time, we're seeing more and more good affordable options, like Anker's Soundcore portfolio.The company first dipped its toes in this market less than two years ago with the Zolo Liberty and Liberty+, but has since done what it's wont to do by releasing model after model across many price points and form factors. Its new line-up, announced in September, forges on in the same direction, with a few noteworthy additions: USB-C and wireless charging on many models, and a high-end option for picky listeners. Here, I'll be looking at the latter, the 0 Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro as well as the more affordable 0 Soundcore Liberty Air 2.
With the new iXpand Wireless Charger, SanDisk is onto something. The charging pad doesn't just fill up your device's battery, it also makes a local backup of photos, videos, and contacts to its built-in storage so you know you always have a second copy of your most important data.
Smartphone cameras have come a long way in the last decade, and for many people, they've completely replaced dedicated cameras. They're smaller and lighter, easier to travel with, and you don't have to offload the photos before doing something with them. But that doesn't mean we don't miss a few things from DSLRs or point and shoots, like a comfortable hand grip or a physical shutter button. Plenty of companies have released smartphone camera grips, but Adonit has updated its original version with a new design and packed in wireless charging so you can get more pictures without worrying about your phone dying mid-trip.
The Wireless Power Consortium is a group of companies with the goal of developing and promoting the Qi wireless charging standard. Some of the members include Apple, Samsung, Huawei, ZTE, Panasonic, and Sony. Oppo has now joined the organization, possibly indicating that future Oppo and OnePlus phones will have Qi wireless charging.
A number of Android flagships support Qi wireless charging, including the Galaxy S9/S9+, Note 8/8+, LG V30/35, LG G7, and others. Even Apple has joined the fun, as the iPhone 8/8 Plus/X work with Qi chargers. If you don't have a wireless charger, or you're looking for an upgrade, we're giving away 30 of BrexLink's 10W Qi charging pads to our readers in the US.
The Wireless Power Consortium was formed in 2008, to promote the Qi wireless charging technology in consumer products. It looks like someone at the WPC has messed up, as the unannounced Galaxy S8 Active has appeared on the site.
A number of users on Samsung's forums and XDA have been reporting issues with some Qi chargers, including those manufactured by Samsung. Some devices aren't able to make use of Qi's Fast Charge feature, and in some cases they are failing to charge at all. The chargers made by Samsung specifically for the S8 and S8+ seem to be working fine, but it's strange that other Qi certified chargers, including Samsung's older ones, aren't having the same success.
I have never thought of power strips as sexy or gorgeous. To me, all power strips were unavoidable tools that did their job while hiding behind a desk or under a cabinet. The fact that they all looked like cheap pieces of plastic was a necessary evil, a price to pay for their convenient functionality. But that all changed when I saw the Woodie Hub project on Kickstarter.
Earlier today (well, maybe one or two hours ago today, we're not entirely aware of time anymore), we brought you the sad news that both of Google's new Nexus devices won't have a MicroSD card slot. But don't put away your sad trombone just yet. The sad news stretches a little bit more because we're about to let you in on another difficult decision Google had to make: there's no wireless charging on either of these phones.
Samsung makes some really cool monitors. Aside from looking nicer than your usual plastic-wrapped panels, they have versions with 4K resolution, curved screens, and advanced gaming sync tech. And now they've got one with a built in wireless charging port for your Samsung phone. Well, it'll work with any phone with Qi-compatible wireless charging. But I'm sure they'd prefer you to use it with a Samsung phone, preferably a new flagship model bought at full price.
One of my favorite innovations that has started to become more mainstream over the past several years is wireless charging. I'm bummed that every phone doesn't have it at this point (looking at you, Motorola - the Moto X should've been qi-compatible!), because it's easily one of the most convenient changes of all time. OK, maybe that's a little hyperbolic...but really, I do love it.
Wireless charging is one of the cooler advances we've seen in smartphone tech in recent years, and truth be told, it isn't all that expensive if you know where to get a charger (such as, in the past, here, here, or here... or right now, here, here, or here). No, it's not nearly as fast as Qualcomm's Quick Charge technology or even as rapid as a standard 2.1A wall wart, but it's just so dang convenient. Not messing with wires to charge your phone makes you more likely to do it in the first place, I find. Not to mention most Qi chargers just look kind of cool.
Here's one we haven't done before for the weekend poll - wireless charging. As Qi wireless charging slowly becomes more and more popular, more handsets and tablets are supporting the standard. The big barrier to entry for many, though, are the charging pads that such devices require in order to take advantage of the feature. They aren't usually cheap if you choose to go with official OEM accessories, and even 3rd party solutions don't exactly come in at bargain-bin prices, and the few that do yield less than consistent results.