On my last post about the Galaxy S3 I had discussed the setup I was using, software wise, on my new phone. I haven’t posted much since then, as I am using the same setup. The CarbonROM has really matured and I am completely problem free on it. I’ve been looking at various hardware upgrades lately and found the first product I’mn really digging – wireless charging!
Wireless charging never really got off the ground, I don’t think, with the launch of the phone. But the phone is ready for it, we just need a kit of some sort. I found one that works great, and that I am really happy with. A company I have never heard of, Vive Alive, is offering this kit here. I got mine for $44.99. That is the current price over there, but it looks like it might jump up to $78 at some point.
The kit consists of the receiver, basically an adhesive coil that attaches to your battery with contacts that are designed to fit onto the port on your phone near the battery. Installation really just takes seconds. After I installed the coil, the back cover was slightly more difficult to get back on and I could feel a slight bulge in the cover. This is all very minor and it presented no real issues or bother to me. Also, after installing the coil and putting the cover back on, I had no problems putting my Otterbox back on.
With the coil in place, the second piece is the charging mat. Nothing to talk about here, plug it in and it works! Now I just drop my phone on the mat and it charges, end of story! The wireless charging setup doesn’t appear to be real picky – the phone could be crooked or off centre on the mat and it still charged just fine.
I looked aroun on Amazon and you can piece together your own kit. You can find the receiver here ($16) and a mat here ($35 and up). There are various mats you can buy – the important thing to remember is that the mat must be Qi technology compatible with the receiver I use.
I really like the wireless charging setup. I use my phone as my alarm clock, so I can just toss the phone on the mat when I go to bed and it is charged in the morning. No fuss, no cords.
