Samsung’s got a wireless charger that’ll sterilise your smartphone – but you can’t buy it here

Brett Venter

4 years ago

You should be aware by now that one of the dirtiest pieces of tech you own is your smartphone. That shouldn’t be surprising — you take it pretty much everywhere with you, including the bathroom (don’t lie) so it’s bound to pick up germs. And everyone’s very concerned about very small things that can cause large amounts of human harm right now.

The COVID pandemic is probably not the main reason Samsung built its ITFIT UV Sterilizer With Wireless Charging peripheral but that’s what it’s going to be used for.

Clean getaway

Samsung’s device isn’t much to look at. While the promotional image from Samsung (in the header above) gives an impression of style, in reality, it’s a plain white box with a wireless charger built into the bottom. It is a UV bath though, it doesn’t have to be fancy to do its job. And its job is to kill bacteria which could lead to illnesses — and it’s supposed to be very good at its job. Seriously, it’ll “…effectively kill up to 99% of bacteria within 10 minutes.”

And, if you’re using a Samsung smartphone that supports wireless charging (all the way up to the large Galaxy S20 Ultra), it’ll charge your device while it bathes in the light of the dual UV lamps. But it’ll also disinfect anything else you throw in there, like a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds+ or a competitor smartphone, or your wallet or… anything else that fits, really.

Just don’t get too cocky. Samsung’s charger/UV steriliser doesn’t kill germs but bacteria, and it’ll do nothing about viruses. But if you’re stressing about COVID-19, the last thing you need is to get sick from another source and then get coronavirus. Keeping your devices clean is one way to avoid multiple infections.

Samsung’s charger isn’t actually available anywhere outside Thailand at present, where it’ll cost you around R870. Whether it comes to other countries… that’s a question for Samsung to answer. But if you just need a steriliser, there are a range of options available locally. They just won’t also wirelessly charge your phone.