This $35 case lets you wirelessly charge your Airpods by Brandt Ranj on Sep 18, 2018, 5:32 PM The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase. 
- The PowerPod is a silicon Airpods case that slips over your Airpods' existing case, letting you wirelessly charge them using any Qi-enabled wireless charging pad.
- I've been testing the PowerPod for the past month, and it's consistently kept both my Airpods' battery case and the earbuds themselves charged, without adding additional weight and bulk to my pocket.
- It's frustrating that Apple didn't just build this feature into the Airpods' existing case, but the convenience of wireless charging makes the $40 purchase worth it.
I'm a huge fan of wireless charging, so when Apple offered to send a wireless charging case for the Airpods in conjunction with its Airpower charging mat to test, I immediately knew I'd want one for myself. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like either of those will be shipping anytime soon, so I bit the bullet and backed the Kickstarter for the PowerPod, a cheap, thin, light case that fits over the Airpods existing case and enables wireless charging. The Kickstarter was a success, and the PowerPod case is now available directly from its manufacturer on Amazon. After using it for a month, I highly recommend it to any Airpods owner who wants to drop another charging cable from their life. The best thing about this case is its simplicity: it's made out of silicon with a Lighting connector on the inside that's connected to a wireless charging receiver on its front. Just slip your Airpods case into the PowerPod, make sure its Lighting connector is plugged into the port on the bottom of the AirPods' case, and you're all set. Once the Airpods case is in the PowerPod, you can wirelessly charge them using any Qi charging pad you already own. I've been using Mophie's Wireless Charge Pad at work and Belkin's Boost Up charging pad at home, and both have worked just fine. As with the iPhone, charging the Airpods using a cable will be faster than using the PowerPod on a charging mat, but I haven't run into any battery issues over the past month. I keep my Airpods on a wireless charging pad for about an hour a day, and both the Airpods' battery case and the earbuds themselves are almost always fully charged when I take it off. My only concern with the PowerPod case is that its Qi receiver, located on the front of the case, feels warm to the touch after it's been on a charger for a while. It's no hotter than the back of my phone feels after it's spent time charging wirelessly, and I haven't experienced any heat-related issues, but it threw me off at first. Despite having a design that makes them sound worse than many other earbuds, the Airpods have become my go-to headphones, but having to keep a charging cable handy just to charge them was annoying. The PowerPod case isn't an Apple first-party solution, but it solves my problem and only costs $40 once you factor in shipping. Paying to add a feature to the Airpods may seem silly, but the PowerPod works so well that I'm frustrated wireless charging wasn't a feature Apple built into the headphones from the beginning. Other third-parties have begun shipping Airpods wireless charging cases, and some are even cheaper than the PowerPod, but I haven't gotten to test them yet. Whether you're already a wireless charging believer, or want to make Apple's "totally wireless" earbuds truly live up to their claim, the PowerPod's performance and relatively low price make it worth the cost. SEE ALSO: 25 must-have iPhone accessories under $25 SEE ALSO: The best earbuds you can buy
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