Handy phone accessories from Cygnett

The game is constantly changing. You know that, I know that and each day we wake up with a new tech-related headline for some innovative piece of gear. The problem with brand new equipment? The price tag… but as time goes by smaller manufacturers and companies get their hands on these designs and produce gold. Two of these we’ll be looking at here are wireless chargers and external phone lenses.

POWERBASE WIRELESS DESK CHARGER

When I first heard about wireless charging, I vehemently denied that it existed. Surely not? You’re telling me I can charge a phone without plugging a cable in? No. No… it doesn’t exist. But sure enough it was and is a very real and extremely convenient technology.

Cygnett have released what they’re calling the PowerBase. Retailing for $49 at JB Hi-Fi, the PowerBase is a minimalistic, nifty little 10W desk charger. The PowerBase is undeniably one of the cheapest wireless chargers on the market and while it might look beautiful, naturally you get what you pay for. I’ve noted that there’s a very specific (and small) radius in the center of the PowerBase that actually activates the charging, which means you need to place your phone down in an exact way to get it going.

This in itself defeats half the purpose of wireless charging, which is to be able to drop down and pick up your phone without the inconvenience of fiddling around. The PowerBase was equally as effective with the bare phone as it was with a slim plastic case, however wasn’t able to penetrate an average-sized leather case.

Nevertheless it’s still a well-designed piece of tech that at a core level will function as promised.

GoCapture Wide Angle Lens

A product that I never truly understood until I started playing with it, the GoCapture Wide Angle Lens is a removable attachment for your smartphone that (as the name would suggest) allows for a significantly bigger shot than your phones default lens.

I say that I didn’t understand this before, because having never used one it’s hard to grasp what you’re actually missing out on. Have a look at these two shots;

This is the type of accessory that is incredibly practical for example when taking photos of car interiors or small bathrooms/bedrooms. And for $39.95 from JB Hi-Fi it’s one of those tools that is rather cheap for the service it provides.

Other possible uses include wide group shots, selfies with all your friends (naturally I couldn’t demonstrate this one) or for that super instagrammable brunch you’re having.

One thing that I have to pick Cygnett up on though is that this lens is NOT universal to all phones. While it’s physically just a clip on lens, the layout of cameras on some phones means that it cannot directly align with the back-facing camera. With the ten or so phones I tested the GoCapture on, three weren’t compatible. So please get a hold on one of these in-store before purchasing.

All things considered Cygnett have dropped some pretty neat gadgets here that while far from fundamental, are certainly useful in their own right.