ZENS AirPower-Like Liberty Wireless Charger With 16 Coils Now Available to Order

[ghostface147]

I got an Anker PowerWave+ with Watch holder wireless charger for Christmas. Works fine and I use it for charging my stuff overnight. However I also have a traditional wired cable for the times I want to lay in bed and use my phone. When I'm done using it, I just leave the cable plugged in.

 

[manu chao]

OK, if "place anywhere" is genuinely worth $140+ to you, then carry on and please yourself with one of these.

Personally, I'd rather spend $140 on something a little more useful or interesting.

Changing the topic doesn't help cover up your untruths. It doesn't matter whether something is worth something to me or you.

You incorrectly implied that having three individual Qi charging mats "glued" together is technologically a similar achievement to having free placement of two QI devices on a charging mat (the product reported on in the Macrumors article) or having a charging mat where an Apple Watch and standard Qi devices can be charged in the same location (though not necessarily at the same time).

BTW, in regard to charging I'm a simple guy, the most I spend is about $10 on a new charging cable. But I'm not shy to go beyond the $1000 barrier on iOS devices. Just because I'm not interested in buying a specific product, I don't go around and talk down its capabilities or imply that they are completely irrelevant just because they aren't high on my list of priorities.

 

[jmgregory1]

It’s a lot of money to pay for the ability to be careless in where you set your phone or AirPods charging case. And whether you’re using a charging pad bedside or on your desk, the biggest drawback is that you have to either pick up your device to look at it (for time, notifications), or crane your neck to see it. Stands are far more functional, in my opinion, and you can get some with additional pad (for AirPod case charging) and a bracket for Watch charging to boot. I’m using an inexpensive stand for my iPhone and actually have my Watch charging puck stuck to the side of my bedside lamp (an IKEA white metal lamp) that is perfect for holding the watch at night and hiding the charging cable.

 

[Abazigal]

Is it really that hard to place your phone on a fairly broad location?

Well, I am using their Zens wireless charger as linked below.

Dual+Watch Aluminium Wireless Charger - Black | Zens

This Wireless Charger has an ultra-thin design and is designed to (fast-)charge two devices and an Apple Watch simultaneously.

www.makezens.com

Maybe it's just me, but there have been times when I place my phone on the wireless charger (and it starts charging), then wake up the next morning to find my phone not charged at all. As I don't use a case on my 8+, it is possible that the phone may have slipped off the sweet spot to enable wireless charging.

The funny thing is that I don't recall ever having experienced this on my previous Anker wireless charger before.

I know - people will just say - just use wires and you won't have this problem either, though that's not really the point here. Wireless charging as a basic technology is fairly inexpensive. It's the incremental improvements that cost a lot more, because of the sheer amount of engineering that goes into solving what seems to be a fairly minor issue for most people.

At the end of the day, I see the price of the Liberty wireless charger as a fair indicator of the amount of effort that was put into making such a concept possible, even if the benefit itself seems fairly innocuous.

 

[anthorumor]

Or maybe just make Air Power a thing.

 

[DotCom2]

So if this is so great, why was Apple not able to pull it off?

 

[Abazigal]

So if this is so great, why was Apple not able to pull it off?

Airpower would clearly have been marketed at iPhone users who also own an Apple Watch and AirPods.

This product charges just two, and so is presumably easier to engineer and make. Apple would probably have had the ability to create and sell such a product, but they probably felt that it simply didn't offer the integrated experience they wanted.

 

[ani4ani]

Sure there is. If it didn't do what it was supposed to do, it's much smarter to not release than to release a terrible (or unsafe?) product. Sometimes the smartest thing to do is cut your losses and move on.

the smartest thing is to keep your mouth shut until it does what it’s supposed to; that way when it doesnt, no one is embarrassed or any the wiser

 

[draumkved]

Love my nomad pad which does the same thing...nice having just one cable for 3 things.

I also have the nomad pad, and to be honest, I don't like it. It'll charge my Apple Watch and AirPods, but it's a pain every time finding a position for the iPhone. I'm spending more time fiddling with the position than I would've used to plug it in. Fewer cables is nice, but the annoyance... I'm not sure I'd buy it again.

 

[PotatoLeekSoup]

These whole wired vs wireless charging people crack me up. Wireless is for convenience. You toss it on the wireless mat before you go to bed and you wake up to a charged phone. It's not for quick charging, it's not for using the phone while you charge, it's for convenience and less wear and tear on the charging port.

Bingo. It is for charging while sleeping, where speed is irrelevant. Wake up, grab iPhone, replace with wirelessly chargeable AirPods to top them off while getting dressed and fixing breakfast.

 

[Roller]

Well, I am using their Zens wireless charger as linked below.

Dual+Watch Aluminium Wireless Charger - Black | Zens

This Wireless Charger has an ultra-thin design and is designed to (fast-)charge two devices and an Apple Watch simultaneously.

www.makezens.com

Maybe it's just me, but there have been times when I place my phone on the wireless charger (and it starts charging), then wake up the next morning to find my phone not charged at all. As I don't use a case on my 8+, it is possible that the phone may have slipped off the sweet spot to enable wireless charging.

The funny thing is that I don't recall ever having experienced this on my previous Anker wireless charger before.

I know - people will just say - just use wires and you won't have this problem either, though that's not really the point here. Wireless charging as a basic technology is fairly inexpensive. It's the incremental improvements that cost a lot more, because of the sheer amount of engineering that goes into solving what seems to be a fairly minor issue for most people.

At the end of the day, I see the price of the Liberty wireless charger as a fair indicator of the amount of effort that was put into making such a concept possible, even if the benefit itself seems fairly innocuous.

I've had a similar experience with my wireless charger on a couple of occasions, but only when I used it to charge my phone and AirPods, since the phone had to be perpendicular to the charger mat. The rest of the time it works great. I was skeptical about the value of a Qi charger, but I've become a convert. It's very convenient when I wake up during the night and want to look at my phone (I know, I know...)

 

[haganah]

Well, I am using their Zens wireless charger as linked below.

Dual+Watch Aluminium Wireless Charger - Black | Zens

This Wireless Charger has an ultra-thin design and is designed to (fast-)charge two devices and an Apple Watch simultaneously.

www.makezens.com

Maybe it's just me, but there have been times when I place my phone on the wireless charger (and it starts charging), then wake up the next morning to find my phone not charged at all. As I don't use a case on my 8+, it is possible that the phone may have slipped off the sweet spot to enable wireless charging.

The funny thing is that I don't recall ever having experienced this on my previous Anker wireless charger before.

I know - people will just say - just use wires and you won't have this problem either, though that's not really the point here. Wireless charging as a basic technology is fairly inexpensive. It's the incremental improvements that cost a lot more, because of the sheer amount of engineering that goes into solving what seems to be a fairly minor issue for most people.

At the end of the day, I see the price of the Liberty wireless charger as a fair indicator of the amount of effort that was put into making such a concept possible, even if the benefit itself seems fairly innocuous.

Funny I have tried multiple wireless pads, and right now the best one I found is the slice charger and it's the same. Even the watch didn't charge a couple of time because it didn't lay right. On top of that it's slow and at night when the battery is drained and I just want to use it but can't...ugh honestly it's a terrible product.

My only desire to get something like this was to make it easy to avoid multiple cables and the mess that comes with it. But ultimately I went back to a usb-c to lighting/Apple Watch charger and can now charge both easily and cleanly.

 

[crawfish963]

Looks cool but I'm not paying the VAT as a US citizen.

 

[Mrjoedot]

the one from Nomad is also the closest to AirPower

and total of 140 USD with Apple Watch charging stand

 

[Abazigal]

Funny I have tried multiple wireless pads, and right now the best one I found is the slice charger and it's the same. Even the watch didn't charge a couple of time because it didn't lay right. On top of that it's slow and at night when the battery is drained and I just want to use it but can't...ugh honestly it's a terrible product.

My only desire to get something like this was to make it easy to avoid multiple cables and the mess that comes with it. But ultimately I went back to a usb-c to lighting/Apple Watch charger and can now charge both easily and cleanly.

And the right side of the Zens Wireless charger I was talking about just stopped working this morning.

Have emailed them for support, so let’s see how they respond. Shame. Spent a pretty penny on it too, but I guess that’s reality when you live in Asia and want to import stuff from the west.

 

[pete480]

I have the nomad one also and had some issues with finding the right spot for my iPhone the first few times I used it (I even thought it was defective) but after using it for a couple of months now, it starts charging the first time I put it on the pad. I like having one charger for my phone, watch and air pods.

 

[bviktor]

These idiotic designers always leave something crucial out. For instance, how am I supposed to charge my laptop if this thing does not have a USB-PD port? Yeah, right get another charger for that, obviously. When I already have this for 140 EUR. Plus 40 EUR for the Watch charger. The whole point of such a "charging station" is to eliminate the mess. Good joke.

To this day, I can not find a charging station that
- has an USB-PD power supply
- has an USB-PD charger port
- supports the Apple Watch
- optionally, charges the iPhone via Lightning instead of Qi

Wireless Charging Stations for Apple products Part 2

It just doesn't exist. We always need to settle with cr@p.

 

[ulyssesric]

Why do the coils have to be round?

Ampère's force law.

Can't they make one gigantic rectangle coil so that it fits the whole area?

You'll have non-uniformly distributed magnetic field that only the corner area on the plate can be used for charging.

Or at least several smaller ones do they don't overlap and cause heating issues.

The adjacent edge of two squares will generate magnetic fields that cancel out each outer.

 

[otternonsense]

Sure there is. If it didn't do what it was supposed to do, it's much smarter to not release than to release a terrible (or unsafe?) product. Sometimes the smartest thing to do is cut your losses and move on.

Smartest would have been to not tease it in the first place until its feasibility was confirmed.

 

[roblognick]

This is gorgeous, I would love it. Especially with the optional Watch charger in nightstand mode. But I already have their Dual+Watch charger which is good. With a case on my iPhone 11 I sometimes have trouble with placement on the right side, but my AirPod Pros never have a problem on the left side.

 

[jmgregory1]

I'm not sure why manufacturers think they need to over-complicate things like Qi charging pads. There is zero need for 16 overlapping coils in a device like this. If it's meant to charge 3 devices, especially for a pad where there is no need for landscape vs portrait mode coil placement, you really should only have 3 coils.

Do manufacturers think people are going to toss their phone, watch or headset case down onto a mat, as if they were a ring of keys tossed onto a tray, or are they simply not thinking about it actual use cases?

Even Apple was guilty of this ridiculous thinking with the Air Power mat. Just show people where they need to place the device for charging, even if it's a fairly broad area on a pad, and you can figure out whether it's working or not just by looking at your device.

 

[rawdawg]

Can somehow tell me whether devices like this are always using power or not? I am a bit energy conscious and don't know if they only draw power if a compatible device is charging itself off it.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

Sure there is. If it didn't do what it was supposed to do, it's much smarter to not release than to release a terrible (or unsafe?) product. Sometimes the smartest thing to do is cut your losses and move on.

That's called damage control. While it may be the most feasible thing to do, it certainly isn't "smart". The other option would be downright ludicrous.

 

[PickUrPoison]

That's called damage control. While it may be the most feasible thing to do, it certainly isn't "smart". The other option would be downright ludicrous.

There were reports of heat issues. But regardless of whether it was a safety issue or just a matter of device positioning being too finicky, if it didn’t meet Apple’s objectives, the smart thing to do is to cancel it.

Despite what some here may think, Apple’s “ego” isn’t so fragile that they’re afraid of what a few dozen, a few hundred—or even a few thousand for that matter—trolls or members of the Apple-hate club here, on reddit or wherever, may say about it lol. They’re big boys, they can easily handle any criticism and the faux outrage.

Canceling a pre-announced product that doesn’t meet your standards is nothing but smart. When Apple releases something, it’s because they think it’s ready. Knowing it’s a lousy product, crossing your fingers but then having it break within a day of it being in reviewers’ hands—now that would be stupid. Apple doesn’t have an inferiority complex that would lead them into a foolish rush to just shove something, anything, out the door. What if it were to cause a fire? What a disaster that would be

It’s much, much smarter to just sack up and pull the plug. Take your hits and move on in whatever way makes the most sense. For all we know, they’re still working on it, and when they nail it, it’ll be a “one more thing” that ships that day 🤷‍♂️

 

[GDF]

Has anyone purchased this yet and if so how do you like it? I wish Zen would sell it on Amazon already, as it looks like it has been available on Zens website, but not easy to ship to US.

So tired of the wireless charging, where if you don’t put your phone on perfectly it does not charge. Might as well go back to the cord soon.