OK, everyone has a phone. Most people want to charge wirelessly. Many people want to mount the phone in the car somehow. This is where we tend to run into problems
How magnetic phone mounts work
Everyone knows how magnets work. However, it’s a mistake to think that you can use a magnet mount with any phone. Most phones have backs made of aluminum, which isn’t magnetic. Other phones have glass backs which also aren’t magnetic.
For that reason, most magnet mounts come with a piece of metal that you can stick to the back of your phone or to your phone’s case. That seems like a simple solution.
Unfortunately…
if your phone is designed to charge wirelessly, putting a big piece of metal on the back is going to block the wireless charging coils and stop them from working. This means you have a few options when it comes to using a magnet mount and charging wirelessly.
1. Well, maybe don’t do that
Unfortunately this is the most common and sensible answer to this problem. If magnet mounting is very important to you, you’ll probably want to avoid even trying to charge wirelessly. You’ll end up using a cord to charge like all of us did in 2015. Yeah, it’s a little inconvenient but not terrible
2. You can attach the metal to something else.
Instead of attaching the metal plate to your phone, you can attach it to a case of some sort. This will actually help it work better than it would if you put the metal plate on the phone and then put the phone in a case.
It’s gotten very popular lately to use “pop sockets” or some other grip on the back of your phone. You have to take this thing off to charge wirelessly anyway, so put the metal plate on the back of that and you’ll get a good connection.
3. Put the metal plate on the top or bottom
The charging coils for your phone are usually somewhere in the middle. If you have a larger “plus” type phone you can probably find somewhere on the top or bottom to put the plate where it won’t interfere with the charging coil or the camera.
Honestly this is the best solution if your phone is big enough for it. Try mounting the metal plate several different ways, holding it on with masking tape for a temporary fit. Make sure you can still charge the phone and that you can still use your magnet mount. It might take a few tries but with larger phones it should definitely be possible.
Is there any hope for fixing this?
You bet, and it’s just a matter of doing it. Charging coils for phones are usually a big donut with an empty center, leaving plenty of room for manufacturers to put a decent little metal plate in there. If magnet mounts really take off, you’ll probably see that being done since it adds practically no weight to the phone and the space isn’t really being used.
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