Samsung released a Genuine Samsung Galaxy “S4 Wireless Charging Pad” and an associated Galaxy “S4 Charging Cover“. The wireless pad plugs into the wall in the same way your phone does with the wall adapter and micro USB. This being said a wall charger, adapter or cable are not part of the wireless charging pad when you purchase it although the charging cable you were plugging into the phone will just plug into this.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Wireless Charging Pad Design
The charging pad has a slim design and is about an half an inch or so longer and wider than the GS4. As far as thickness the pad is only slightly thicker than the GS4 and weighs even less. Even with its size and light design its a very sturdy and solid accessory with curved edges that cradle your device. This is a very well designed charging pad that is very easy to use.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Wireless Charging Pad Features
The wireless charging pad uses an electromagnetic field for inductive charging by placing your device on top of the pad. The inductive charging pad actually charges the SG4 through even the thickest of cases, we tested the wireless charging through Otterbox cases and even decided to lift the phone up about a quarter of an inch and still kept it charging. We aren’t sure if the charging strength is effected by the distance of a case but it does’t seem to effect it much. Over-charging protection is also a very important feature of the pad in that it will stop charging the device when its at 100%.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Qi Wireless Charging Cover
The charging cover for the GS4 is solid compared to its stock counterpart although it is a little bit thicker. The thickness is barely an issue when using the device without a case although we have noticed that some cases that are perfectly designed for the GS4 don’t fit quite right. If you aren’t worried about the case or use a soft case you will be fine. The charging cover has the inductive coil in the plastic and is to Qi standard.
Some other Testing of Devices and Adapters
We also decided to grab a few Qi Wireless Adapters for the GS4. We installed the Qi Adapter using the standard back and it fits a little tight but it does fit. Once we put the adapter over the battery and replaced the standard cover we tested the charging on the Official Charging Pad and everything it functioning exactly the same as the replacement cover so there are options. On a side note we tried just setting random devices on the charging pad without actually modifying them in any way and the LG Spectrum 2 charges very quickly on the pad. What this tells us it that if you have a device that has inductive charging standard the pad mentioned above will work very well without any modifications.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Wireless Charging Pad and Cover is one of the most useful and just plain cool accessories you can get for your phone. It seems to charge as fast as being plugged in with no effort since all you have to do is set your phone down to charge it. Also with the testing of the Qi Wireless Adapter being successful with the charging pad there are options to mix and match these accessories. We would like to hear your opinion on the wireless charging pad and cover.
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