Skip to main content

PopSockets made its own wireless charging pad so you don’t have to take the PopSocket off your phone

PopSockets made its own wireless charging pad so you don’t have to take the PopSocket off your phone

/

There are some catches, though

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Image: PopSockets

People seemingly love sticking PopSockets to their phones for the extra grip, but doing so introduces a new issue: the inability to wirelessly charge a phone when a PopSockets Grip is attached. Today, the company is solving the problem by announcing its own Qi-enabled wireless charging pad called the PopPower Home. The pad supplies a device with 15W of power and supports fast charging. The team partnered with a company called NuCurrent to launch the device. It’s available in three colors starting today for $60.

Although The PopPower Home is designed to charge devices with a PopSocket Grip attached, the company has some fine print on that claim. Metal PopGrips can’t be charged, nor can more specialized PopGrips like PopGrip Lips because the lip balm inside will melt. The only solution for phones with those grips is to take the PopGrip off, which means people are stuck with the original charging problem that spurred the creation of this device. This wireless charger also might not work if people placed their PopSocket Grip anywhere other than the center of their phone.

“Some PopGrip placements on some phone models may produce a slower charge or no charge, based on the positioning of the PopGrip and the phone’s wireless charging antenna, and will need a slight adjustment or for the PopTop to be removed for optimal charging,” the company told The Verge.

PopSockets’ PopGrips took over the phone accessory business. Most everyone knows what they are and seemingly keeps buying them. But they weren’t built to work with wireless charging, and PopSockets still hasn’t figured out a complete fix for the problem.