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We’ve longed for a way to juice all our gadgets wirelessly for longer than Bruce Forsyth’s been jiving away on the telly, so when a Powermat board dropped through the doorflap, we thought our sans cable calls had been answered. We’ve put it through its paces to see if it’s the lifechanging bit of kit we’ve been hoping for, so read on and find out with our full Powermat review.
There’s no doubt the Powermat is an incredible bit of whizz bang design: though there are two versions, a folding travel edition and a slick looking board for the house (we tested the former), both work in exactly the same way. You can pop down three gadgets spaced across them and they’ll begin to charge, despite the lack of plugs, via magnetic induction.
Powermat uses the same charging technology as some other gizmos on the market, like the Touchstone Palm Pre accessory, but the twist here is that there’s just one charging station to rule them all: in time, Powermat wants to offer slip-on cases for every mainstream gadget from phones to cameras, so that they can all suckle on the mat’s wireless energy.
The cases on offer already (BlackBerry Curve and Bold, iPhone and iPod touch and Nintendo DS Lite/DSi) work as advertised, and are cleverly tweaked to shut off when the battery is full, but it’s the Powermat’s need for these cases that proves its shortcoming.
Not only are the Powermat cases limited in range, with no Nokia support at the moment, they’re also expensive at around £30 a pop. The iPhone skin is hulking and you wouldn’t want to leave it on as a simple protective frame outside the house. It makes the whole set up no more convenient than a regular wall plug.
Powermat’s solution for as yet supported gadgets is flawed too. It’s selling a Powercube accessory that comes with nine different charging tips to cover most phone manufacturers, but you’ll be left wondering why it’s worth 30 notes when you still have to plug your handset in.
In time though, the Powermat could flourish. Powermat wants to upscale to netbooks and laptops, and if it can reduce the size and price of the cases for a wider array of gear, it’ll only get better. Right now though, £160 to wirelessly charge three items is a bit too much to ask.
The Powermat purchase conundrum boils down to this: do you own an iPhone, BlackBerry and a Nintendo DSi? Then you’ve probably got enough doe spare to buy a Powermat and charge them all painlessly with it. If you’re toting other pieces of kit, this is one to keep an eye out for when support widens and prices come down.
I’ve been using the powermat for few days now, and so far, I am hapy with it. It’s true the cover adds to the size but it’s not that different than the protective cover I used before. I also use it to charge my Nokia phone, one of the tips that came with the powercube is a right fit.
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