Macenstein

The iPhone’s battery boasts an impressive 8 hours of talk time and a whopping 250 hours of standby time, yet I personally find I have to recharge my iPhone daily. No, I don’t use up the battery gabbing with friends (faithful Macenstein readers will recall I have no friends), instead I primarily use the iPhone as an iPod, listening for 10 or more hours a day while at work. This near-constant use means there have been more than a few times when I have received a call (usually a wrong number) and found my iPhone’s battery almost completely drained. Of course, lugging the iPod’s charging cable/cradle back and forth to work every day is not ideal.

If only there were some way to charge my iPhone at both home and at work! (How’s that for a smooth segway?) 🙂

Wireless Ground has created one of the few iPhone charging cradles we’ve seen out there besides Apple’s somewhat pricey $49 one. Their more reasonably priced $22.95 iPhone USB Sync and Charge Cradle is a pretty good deal, although you do loose a bit saving that extra $26.

Features

The Sync and Charge Cradle is pretty simple. It consists of a black plastic charging cradle with a blue LED power indicator, and clear plastic stand to hold your iPhone upright while charging. On the back is a mini USB plug that can plug directly into your Mac or PC for charging/syncing with iTunes, or into an included AC adapter, allowing you to charge your iPhone anywhere you have access to a power outlet. The downside here is that unlike the cable that comes with Apple’s cradle, you cannot use the Wireless Ground cable without the cable (it doe not end in a dock connector). This means you must always bring the cradle along in order to charge, which could be an issue for travelers.

Issues

The Sync and Charge Cradle works as advertised, however there are some things that may put off some potential buyers. First, there is no speakerphone as there is with the Apple-built iPhone dock. I’ve never used this feature in my Apple-supplied cradle so I am not sad to see it missing here to save some bucks, but someone out there might use it. Second, it does not sport the “Made for iPhone” badge that officially Apple-licensed products have. I usually don’t care about a missing “Made for iPod” badge on iPod accessories, but for some reason I am slightly more wary when it comes to my iPhone. Again, applying for this badge costs money, and would increase the cost of this cradle, so the omission is understandable.

Above: the Wireless Ground dock could eat Apple’s dock for breakfast and still be hungry.

The real issue I have with this dock (and one many iPhone users might have, I suspect) is the design. It’s pretty large, and not all that stylish. It is about twice as big as Apple’s dock, which seems unnecessary given the lack of speakerphone capability, and feels a bit plasticky compared to Apple’s heavier and more solid-feeling cradle.

Conclusion

The iPhone accessory market currently consists mainly of cases, so it is nice to see someone recognize the need for a reasonably-priced alternative to Apple’s High-priced iPhone cradle. The USB Sync and Charge Cradle may be twice the size of Apple’s and won’t win any beauty contests, but it’s also half the price. Those looking for a cheap secondary charging dock or one to take on the road with them (where accidents happen) should give Wireless Ground’s dock a look.

iPhone USB Sync and Charge Cradle by Wireless Ground

Price: $22.95

Pros: Cheap (half the price of Apple’s iPhone dock), can charge and sync iPhone with a computer or be used with a standard wall outlet

Cons: Big, no speakerphone, can’t just use cable for charging, must be connected to the dock.