The Powermat charges up to three products wirelessly, although to fully maximise the product you’ll need to shell out quite an amount of money.
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There are four variations of the Powermat Home and Office mat and receiver – Powermat Starter Kit, Powermat iPhone bundle, Powermat Blackberry Bold 9000 bundle, and Powermat iPod/iPhone bundle. All four bundles will retail for $199.95, while additional receivers are sold for $49.95. In order to fully maximise the mat, two additional receivers must be purchased. This brings the total amount spent to $300, which is too much for a lot of people.
The mat sports a matte black finish with silver lining the edges. It can charge up to three devices at the same time and even comes with a USB port to charge incompatible devices. The power input, mat volume button, and mat brightness button are located at the back of the mat.
Our test package came with a Powercube, a universal receiver that is able to charge iPods, mobile phones, portable gaming consoles, and even some Bluetooth devices. The Powercube can only charge one device at a time, but its eight different tips make it a very versatile receiver. There are also casings available for the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch, battery doors for the BlackBerry (Pearl 8110, Curve 8300 and 8900, and Bold 9000), wraps for the Nintendo DS Lite and DSi, and a universal dock for the iPod/iPhone.
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After putting the receiver on the device, all that needs to be done is to place it on top of the mat. Users will feel a slight magnetic attraction that will guide the device into the ‘perfect’ charging point. The Powermat activation sound will be played and the indicator below the mat will light up to show that the device is already charging.
The mat was able to fully charge our BlackBerry Bold 9000 in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Like other wireless chargers we have seen in the past couple of weeks, the Powermat is cool to the touch and did not pose any sort of danger. Once the charging is complete, the mat powers itself off to save energy. While the battery door made it thicker, the Bold 9000 was still able to fit inside its leather holster.
Overall, the Powermat Wireless Charger is a well-made and clever device that simplifies charging. Unfortunately, it is expensive and can only do so much to keep your desk clutter-free.
