Turn Your Furniture Into A Wireless Smartphone Charger With Zens' Qi Add-On

News
By Kevin Carbotte
published

Zens, a young European technology company making wireless charging devices, announced a new product that will allow you to add wireless induction charging stations to your existing furniture. This is similar to what Ikea announced earlier this year, and it should have the same limitations. 

The Zens Built-in Wireless Charger is a Qi-certified charging device. The company said there are currently over 500 Qi-certified products on the market that can be charged by the built-in charger, including the last four generations of Google Nexus phone, the current Samsung Galaxy lineup, and the recently announced Lumia 950 and 950XL from Microsoft.

Zens said its new wireless charger is designed to be added to existing furniture. You'll need to create a hole on the surface of the table or desk to which the charger will be added. The company includes the tool needed to create the correct size hole with the purchase of the charger, so you won't have to look for specialty tools. The charger is designed to fit into and cover the hole up.

Zens said it has made provisions to make the charger durable and that the charger has been designed to be spill resistant.

The Zens Built-in Wireless Charger will be available in early November at some retailers and online sellers. The company is based in Europe and as such has only released European pricing at this time. It will retail for €49.99, which is approximately $55 USD.

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Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

4 Comments Comment from the forums
  • captaincharisma
    lol so in other words you have to destroy your furniture. it would be better to buy a peace of furniture with the feature already built in and doesn't stick out like this black circle you have to cut into your good furnature
    Reply
  • DRJackson
    captaincharisma--if I already have an end table that I like, why would I want to buy another end table just to get wireless charging???
    Your "better" way would give me an old end table that I don't need... and a new table that (other than the charger) might not be the table I want.

    In case you missed it, the point of this kit is that you will have a fitted, flush-mounted charging spot on a piece of furniture you already own. In my book that's 100x better than having to buy some random furniture just to get charging. What if I wanted to add wireless charging to my bookshelf and the only furniture that's sold with chargers are tables? What if I want to put one in my kitchen counter?

    Obviously this is more involved than mounting a regular wireless charger with glue or screws or something, but they're not saying that it's the solution for everyone. If it were priced a little more reasonably, I'd be very interested in adding charger spots for a few pieces of furniture.
    Reply
  • Chris0698
    It is not new. Il saw wireless charging facilities in my hotel this summer. It was called intelobjet.
    Actually it s quite cool they put it in bedrooms and lobby. They were even giving some key receivers.
    Reply
  • Chris0698
    It is not new. There is a company doing this. It was in my hotel this summer. I think it s called intelobjet and it works good.
    Reply