Yes, yes, you might’ve heard smartphone accessory companies brag about how their wireless chargers are the thinnest in all the land. But, if you find a wireless charger thinner than 0.11 inches, it’s either made from some undiscovered material or an entirely bogus claim.
The environmentally-conscious Xpad universal charger from Australian company PlusUs, however, is actually that—and aims to be just as fancy as it is thin.
Xpad users can pick from either cork, timber veneer, or Italian leather coverings to lay their phones upon, but the core material of the charger is thermal-insulating cork. This prevents the surface you put your phone upon from turning into a thermal heater while your phone is charging.
As for what’s inside the Xpad, PlusUs reduced the standard coil thickness by 50% of its normal size to make it more portable and efficient. The circuit board was also reduced in size by 70% and is actually separate from the pad, making it produce less heat and allows the charging pad to be a lot thinner.
Charging phones on the Xpad is easy: plop your wireless-chargeable phone onto the pad, find a USB to plug the Xpad in, and off it goes. The pad uses adaptive smart chip tech to determine the highest power transferable to a phone via the charger, so you can charge any phone from any power source, be it a wall socket, PC, or laptop (there’s even an adapter so you can charge your phone while lugging your laptop around). It’s also Qi-compatible, meaning any Qi-enabled device can be charged by the Xpad as well.
The Xpad is currently live on Indiegogo and has netted $7,514 of its $20,000 goal. You can find more on this environment-friendly thin charger on its Indiegogo page.
