Powermat iPhone 4 wireless charging kit

Dock leaves

Because there's no pass-though dock connector on the case, while it will fit into a universal dock with the plastic adaptor removed, there's no point in doing so because of the connector incompatibility.

The charging case has micro USB for syncing, but that won't help you dock the phone to speakers

If you have to take the phone out of the case for music playback, you may as well leave it out and stick to cables for charging. Indeed, if the iPhone is the only handheld device you charge regularly, you may find it's drop-and-charge approach no more convenient than plugging the phone in in the usual way.

Apple's little adaptor is slightly more power efficient. I measured 4.5W when charging the iPhone 4 this way - the Powermat drew 6W.

Powermat's system really comes into its own if you have other stuff to charge too, but you'll have to pay extra for a bigger mat for that.

Verdict

I like the idea of wireless charging, but there's no advantage to it - but some big downsides - if you have only one device to charge. Multi-handheld households will, however, appreciate having a single point to power up all their kit. ®

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