Wireless charging is one of those new technologies that seems helpless but to attract naysayers. Sure, old-fashioned wired charging offers plenty of its own advantages, but sometimes you don’t need charging that’s super-fast, or to be able to use your phone while its recharging, and if a wireless-charging pad happens to be nearby, why not take advantage of its convenience? One of the more pedantic complaints wireless-charging haters love to throw around is how the chargers aren’t technically “wireless” – after all, you’ve still got to plug them into the wall, right? Very cute, we know. Well, a new crowdfunding effort may finally be able to shut even them up, as WallJax seeks to offer as close to a no-wire charger as we’ve seen.

What’s the trick to wire-free operation? WallJax plugs directly into an existing power outlet, duplicates those standard outlets (so you don’t lose the ability to power any appliances in the process), and gives you a little shelf where you can sit your phone down to wirelessly charge it. If you’ve still got some phones that don’t play nicely with wireless charging standards, there’s also a USB port on the bottom for convenient hook-up.

That’s the WallJax EZ model; there’s also the WallJax Float, which is just the wireless-charging shelf bit, disconnected from the outlet itself (below). The downside here is that you do have to run a wire (power’s got to come from somewhere), but you can always hide that behind a wall if you so choose – so it just looks like a stand-alone shelf, ready to charge your phone.

The Qi-compatible WallJax just opened its Indiegogo fundraising campaign, and early supporters can save $10 on their contributions – that means you can get the WallJax Float for just about $50, or the WallJax EZ for closer to $70. And if your phone doesn’t natively support wireless charging, the team behind WallJax is happy to hook you up with an appropriate case or back panel.

Source: WallJax (Indiegogo)