I’ve been using a MagSafe compatible case on my Pixel, and it’s just amazing. It’s great that it’s becoming standard.
What accessories are you using?
Not OP, but I’m using a Pixel 7 Pro with this phone charger in my car. My wife doesn’t have wireless charging through her phone, so she just added a magnetic ring to hold the phone and charge it over USB-C. The magnetic field is quite strong, I don’t have the feeling it will fall by accident.
https://www.esrgear.com/products/halolock-wireless-car-charger-with-cryoboost/
I bought a case with the MagSafe ring builtin because I didn’t want to mess with the ring positioning.
If I could get Android Auto (out whatever it’s called) to attach to my head unit wirelessly, I’d get one of these in a second. But I still need to plug my phone in for directions.
I can recommend the AAWireless dongle. It works great in My 16 Ford, and they’re doing regular updates on the firmware to add things like carplay
I’ve been avoiding it, because my spouse uses an iPhone, and I don’t want to complicate her experience by making her unplug the wireless dongle.
It looks snazzy though.
I have a Magsafe compatible Rokform case for my S23U. It works great except that Samsung only allows 15w charging for Samsung chargers, so I can only charge at 10w. All the same, I have a plug in my USB port and only charge wirelessly.
I’ll be honest, having had something like that in the past and having had it for a kindle… I still don’t get the point.
It’s… “neat”. Neat is how I would describe it. All "ooooh"and “aaaaah”. And then you forget about it 5 days later and it would matter fuck all if I had it at that point or not, my brain never actively differentiates the minute detail of engaging charging any more.
You don’t get the point of MagSafe?
I have a Pixel Stand and a Quad lock MagSafe wireless charger.
The Pixel stand requires me to place the phone perfectly, and sometimes if I’m half a millimeter off, it’ll tell me to align the phone better.
The MagSafe Quad lock snaps into place with magnets and gets full speed charging with no chance of it becoming misaligned.
Would you prefer a screwdriver with a magnetic head, or without? Do you like when your screws fall off?
I just plug a cable in, tbh. Or have a stand the phone sits on, which automatically aligns it with the charging circutry, too.
That’s wht I mean. It’s neat. It solves the problem of needing a specific stand for a specific phone to ensure alignment. Of course in an age of 3D printing, a 3D-printed stand that aligns the USB-C cable actually works exactly as quick when putting the phone down, so eh. So yeah. Neat. But is it in any way transformative? No, not at all. In fact a day after I no longer notice it existing. Which speaks to good technology, sure, but also means I struggle a bit to understand why people make a bit deal out of:
- Wireless charging
- Magneting holders
- Magneting holders with wireless chargers
You’ve never had usb ports fail.
I didn’t either until USB C became standard on phones. I’ve had 3 USB C port failures in 3 years. Wireless charging has saved one phone so far. The others I just replaced.
The other use-case is the car, it’s nice to be able to get in and set the phone on the magnetic mount and have it charge without connecting a cable. Makes getting out simpler too. Just grab the phone and go.
Never had a USB port fail, no. And to be fair, lack of easy repairability is a separate and much bigger problem. On the FP4 I have, I doubt a broken charging port is a big problem, considering how easy the camera was to replace.
I’ve had 3 USB C port failures in 3 years
Then you must be doing something seriously wrong. Are you jamming scissors in here?
Seriously, I’ve never had one
USB-C likes to get full of dust and is impossible to clean out.
I have dust plugs in mine and just wireless charge because I have also had failures.
Wouldn’t say it’s impossible. I’ve done it pretty often at work (tech support) and at home with sim eject tools, pointy tweezers, knitting needles etc. 5 minutes of patience and the port is like new. Just need to avoid the centre where the contacts are.
impossible to clean out
Really? How about gently blowing into it?
Also, do you keep sand in your pocket? Like, just how?
I have a phone that is almost 4 years old and had USB-C only laptops since 2014. Not once did I have a problem with dust or let alone any kind of failure of an USB-C port. This is just absurd.
I’ve been using USB-C on all my phones and most laptops since 2015. One of the phones I used for 4 years and plugged in multiple times per day, and I’ve never had a USB-C port fail.
How the fuck is that patentable?
I really like the idea, but I have no use for it. AFAIU wireless charging is pretty inefficient, and I’m happy to plug my phone in. I don’t need to mount my phone anywhere. I don’t want to stick a wallet on the back of my phone. I don’t want a pop socket.
Again, the idea seems neat, it just isn’t part of any of my use cases.
