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Samsung Galaxy S4 Wireless Charging Comes with a Catch

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The Samsung Galaxy S4, which was finally announced earlier today will, as expected, support Qi wireless charging. And, as expected the Samsung Galaxy S4 wireless charging will come with a catch. A couple of catches in fact.

Read: Samsung Galaxy S4 Release Confirmed for April.

At the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Samsung took the curtain down around the Samsung Galaxy S4 and showcased its Next Big Thing for the very first time. The Galaxy S4, as expected features big name features to keep up with the rest of the Android field including a 5-inch 1080p display, 13MP camera, quad-core processor, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and several Samsung-made software features that are aimed at making life with the smartphone much easier to handle.

The Galaxy S4 will feature wireless charging support, but there's a serious catch.

The Galaxy S4 will feature wireless charging support, but there’s a serious catch.

Speaking of making things easier to handle, the company also showed off a new accessory for the Samsung Galaxy S4, a wireless charging pad that will be able to charge the Galaxy S4 without the use of wires. This is something that we heard rumored in the build up to the Galaxy S4 launch and Samsung delivered with the capabilities.

However, the wireless charging capabilities also come with a pair of catches, one of which was seen from the outset, another that was discovered after the event.

The first catch of the Galaxy S4 wireless charging is the fact that it needs a special back plate to work. Unlike the Droid DNA and Nexus 4 which feature built-in wireless charging, the Galaxy S4 will need to use a back plate, sold separately, in order to charge without wires. That means extra money for consumers.

Read: Samsung Galaxy S4 Release in Canada Slated for Q2.

The Galaxy S4 will use the Qi standard of wireless charging.

The Galaxy S4 will use the Qi standard of wireless charging.

The second, and perhaps the biggest catch which was confirmed to Engadget, is the fact that the wireless charging capabilities will only be available if its available in the region and if a carrier chooses to support it. For those on certain carriers that could mean trouble.

So far, we haven’t seen any carriers, in the U.S. that includes AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon confirm or deny wireless charging or the wireless charging pad, but it could be that one, some or all of them opt not to offer them with their variant of the Galaxy S4.

What this means for future Galaxy S4 owners in the U.S. is unclear at this point but those looking forward to wireless charging should prepare to deal with a bit of red tape, even if all turns out well.

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. canuck

    03/15/2013 at 2:11 am

    Okay you want me to leave my Nexus 4 with wireless charging and buy one with Maybe ? Not happening.

  2. Mihir

    03/15/2013 at 7:31 am

    I have the verizon qi back cover for my AT&T S3 and use it with the Nokia DT-900 to charge the phone. Works very reliably. I don’t understand why they couldn’t do it out of the box with the S4!!

  3. Riley

    03/21/2013 at 12:30 pm

    Hm you would think that Samsung would just include a back cover already with the S4 to allow wireless charging. Hopefully the US carriers support the feature. Besides the wireless charging feature, I am definitely looking forward to seeing how good the 1080p display looks on the S4. During the train ride to work at DISH, I like watching my live and recorded shows on my current phone since it takes a bit of time. I’m able to stream from my DVR wherever I go using the DISH Anywhere app and I think look great on a higher resolution display.

  4. byometric

    03/25/2013 at 8:59 pm

    samsung is getting like apple! sell you an overpriced device and charge you extra for additional peripherals. i don’t think so! and they market software which can be obtained via third party apps that do the same or better to try justifying their price and lack of premium design and material. It doesn’t have wireless charging but i’ll take the HTC One design, screen, built, peformance

    • Navy Sailor

      04/11/2013 at 11:23 pm

      Don’t do it. I made the mistake of going with the htc one X instead of the s3 and boy was I sorry. No sd card slot or removable battery, not to mention it was a beats labeled phone and my beats ear buds did not work with it. Coupled with the likely hood of it not being updated in a timely manner I would not pull the trigger on the htc one. Even htc’s parts suppliers cut there business because of the one X’s flop. Htc isnt what it used to be. I now have the galaxy note 2 and it is a %1000 improvement over htc. The s4 will be slightly smaller with similar battery life plus all the extra goodies of 4.2.

  5. adam

    04/13/2013 at 11:11 pm

    That’s not true at all @htc’s suppliers. It took longer because it was a new technolgy and was harder to make.

  6. Chuck

    04/20/2013 at 8:52 am

    It most certainly is true, they had trouble getting the camera components from suppliers which caused a delayed launch. Samsung didnt have any issues getting their 13mp camera components. Also the gs4 sports Gorilla Glass 3, the HTC One still sporting the weaker Gorilla Glass 2. GS4’s processor is clocked .3ghz higher than the One.

    Dont get me wrong, i like the One’s all aluminum chassis and dual front facing speakers but i do think the hardware/software and support that comes with samsung is better.

  7. Stephan H. Wissel

    09/01/2013 at 11:06 pm

    The biggest catch: the Qi backplate is slightly thicker and thus a lot of covers don’t fit anymore and — the Samsung SmartCover is also replacing the Backplate, so it is either or

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