What about the rest of us?Charging phones without connecting a wire calls for a technology called Qi, pronounced "Chee" as in the original Chinese word meaning China Rubber Insoluble sulphur suppliers. Money well spent on saying goodbye to tangled charging cables!Wireless chargers that are supplied for premium phones can in comparison cost a bit. Google offers a Pixel Stand to charge its more recent Pixel phones. But it charges Pixel phones very rapidly -- and once on the stand, if you install Google Assistant, the phone will double as a useful display -- the weather, the time, your engagements. When you place a Qi-ready phone on the pad, you can immediately see the charging symbol come up.

Your phone should be QI-ready, ie the makers should have put in a Qi coil. It's a very light (60 gm) disk about 10 cms in diameter, with a floppy silicon rubber cover.

You can buy a Qi wireless patch to make your phone Qi-ready for anything from Rs 300 to Rs 500 on Internet sites.I have been trying out a wireless charging pad called Magik, from Hong Kong-based Toreto that has just come to India. It can also double as a screen with a Google-compatible video doorbell. It will stop charging once the phone is ready -- no overcharging. The Toreto Magik wireless charger is reasonably priced at Rs 1999 -- so even basic phone users without Qi phones, can enjoy wireless charging at home for under Rs 2500, after buying a Qi patch. A large pad can charge multiple phones at the same time. This is a flat and flexible device that you plug into the charging port of your phone, then bend and paste on the back of the phone. You need to charge the charger first using the micro USB cable provided-- but once charged it works for a month or two on its own.What if you have a cheaper or older phone which is not QI-compatible? No issues.  

It is now Qi-ready. Almost all premium phones these days are. Pressing a soft switch also changes the colour of the charger to suit your mood or double as a night light. This costs Rs 6,900 -- almost a tenth of the handset cost.Premium handset makers like Apple and Samsung offer wireless charging pads -- but they are pricey extras. It creates an inductive wireless coupling between a coil of wire in the phone and a similar coil in the charger. Just place the phone on the Qi pad or dock and the device gets charged # in a few minutes.Select carefully when buying the patch.