Tesla’s wireless smartphone charger returns, and it’s $16 cheaper than before

By Trevor Mogg September 12, 2018

Tesla

With more and more smartphones offering wireless charging capability, it’s no surprise that an increasing number of third-party firms are coming up with compatible devices to try to persuade you to part with your hard-earned cash.

Tesla, a company better known for electric cars than smartphone extras, recently launched its own wireless charger, but the $65 device soon sold out.

Related Videos

The good news for those who missed it the first time around is that it’s back on Tesla’s website. Even better, it’s available for the lower price of $49.

Now, if you’re one of the original buyers and you’re already bristling with anger at the sheer audacity of Tesla cutting the price in the space of just a couple of months and … well, take a deep breath and read on. The company promises it’s going to refund credit cards used for the earlier purchases to the tune of $16. So everything’s good.

Sleek and stylish, the charger is available in black and white flavors, and offers a standard 5W of output. To use it, you simply place your Qi-enabled phone on the wireless base, and then press and hold the power button for three seconds to begin the charging process.

The charger’s integrated USB-C cable and USB-A port mean its 6,000 mAh battery can also power other mobile devices, and on the go, too.

While it’s true that there are plenty of cheaper wireless chargers on the market with higher output, maybe that Tesla logo will be too hard to resist for some. Digital Trends recently highlighted some of the best options on the market today, ranging in price from just $13 all the way up to $80. But be sure your phone supports wireless charging before you hit the order button.

Solutions do exist for phones without built-in support, with most options consisting of special attachments, cases, or stands that have the necessary components to transfer the energy.

Interested in Tesla’s wireless smartphone charger? You should probably act fast. The listing says that due to high demand, shipment is currently taking between three and four weeks, which, if you’re also waiting for one of the company’s cars to be delivered, should be easy enough to handle.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Mobile

What is 5G? Speeds, coverage, comparisons, and more

The 5G UW icon on the Samsung Galaxy S23.

It's been years in the making, but 5G — the next big chapter in wireless technology — is finally approaching the mainstream. While we haven't yet reached the point where it's available everywhere, nearly all of the best smartphones are 5G-capable these days, and you're far more likely to see a 5G icon lit up on your phone than not.

There's more to 5G than just a fancy new number, though. The technology has been considerably more complicated for carriers to roll out since it covers a much wider range of frequencies than older 4G/LTE technology, with different trade-offs for each. It's also a much farther-reaching wireless technology, promising the kind of global connectivity that was once merely a dream found in futuristic sci-fi novels.

Mobile

The Google Pixel Fold may not be as expensive as you thought

Alleged renders of the Google Pixel Fold in black.

Google’s long-in-development foldable phone — the Pixel Fold — is reportedly eyeing a late June launch. A recent leak predicted that the Pixel Fold will hit the European shelves priced at 1,700 Euros, which equates to roughly $1,800 based on current conversion rates. That’s not easy to digest, especially for a first-gen foldable phone and considering Google’s own shaky history with its Pixel hardware and software.
But it appears that the Pixel Fold’s price won’t be inexplicably exorbitant at all. Leaker Yogesh Bear shared on Twitter that the foldable phone could actually cost anywhere between $1,300 and $1,500. Assuming that turns out to be true, the Pixel Fold could undercut the Samsung Galaxy Fold 4 and its successor by a healthy $500.

In fact, such an asking price would put the Pixel Fold in roughly the same ballpark as the higher storage configurations of phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max. Of course, Google won’t be able to match the asking price of foldables from Chinese brands, but it would at least look competitive in the Western markets.
Now, a price of around $1,300-1,500 makes a lot of sense. First, the biggest deterrent for foldable phones is their high asking price. There’s a reason Samsung managed to sell bucketloads of its flip-style foldable phones because they cost nearly half vis-a-vis the phone-tablet hybrids in the Galaxy Z Fold series.

Mobile

6 years later, the iPhone X still does one thing better than the iPhone 14 Pro

iPhone X.

I’ve been an iPhone user since the very beginning, starting with the original iPhone. You know, the one with the 3.5-inch display that was perfect at the time, making it super easy to use a phone with one hand? As the years go by, the iPhone — and every other smartphone out there — just get bigger and bigger. We now have phones that with almost 7-inch displays, and honestly, I don’t understand how anyone can comfortably use these giant phones — especially if you have smaller hands!

With the iPhone, we’ve gone from 3.5-inch to 4-inches, then 4.7-inches to 5.8-inches, and now the standard 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch of the iPhone 14/iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Plus/iPhone 14 Pro Max, respectively. I personally use an iPhone 14 Pro as my primary device, and while I have gotten used to the 6.1-inch size over the past few years, I still think it’s too big. In fact, the last perfect size iPhone was the iPhone XS with the 5.8-inch display ... and I really wish Apple would bring it back.
5.8 inches was a perfect middle ground