OwlPad blog

Just received mine in the mail a little less than an hour ago. 

It snaps right onto the back of the CarPad and works great in both of my cars.

I’ve been using it for a while now for commuting 30 minutes to work and I am still happy with it. With the adjusted coil position I seem to get equal performance from the CarPad and my Noka desktop Qi charger.

Spring is starting so we’ll see how the heat does with Qi… I can tell you from the desktop Nokia charger that when these get hot they quit charging, so hopefully it can keep up with a summer day in the car.

Regarding the charging rate, that will depend a lot on what you’re doing. Plan on any Qi device giving you about 1/2 of the charging power of a standard USB plug, and probably 1/4 of the charging power of the rapid charge on some of the newer CPUs.

For me, that’s a non issue. I want it to maintain charge while I’m in the car using navigation, and I want it to be able to charge my phone while I sleep (6-7 hours).

At the end of the day it is a fairly well made car dock that fits the DNA perfectly. I have hated every one of the Clamp Down style car mounts that I’ve tried, but this one just works perfectly.

I picked up a new dash mount so I could suction straight to the dash: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00…?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It snaps right onto the back of the CarPad and works great in both of my cars.

Can someone stream music from Google Play over 4G and run GPS on their way to work with this?

Today at lunch I took a 35 minute drive around town. I Ran: . 4gLTE . WiFi on but just searching Navigation with a random destination so it recalculated at most intersections. . Google Music (high quality) BlueTooth connected to Ford but Audio playing through phone’s speaker, Screen locked on with brightness at ~70%, Car clipped in direct sunlight in the windshield. . Starting Battery 54% Ending Battery 57% . Phone estimated peak charging of 12% per hour Peak temperature 50°C . I’m still happy with the car pad myself, hope this helps you guys make your decisions. . Screenshots from the test: https://www.box.com/shared/vptgsy61qshkp2p8qmwj

This is so extreme driving test condition !!!!.“wandering the road, set the brightness 70%, set all possible app while driving, direct sunlight”

iPhone 5, Galaxy S III in the dock in latest Apple, Samsung war

Name : Owl CarPad/G,

What is it?:

Wireless Qi Charger for your car. it uses a hard-wired Cigarette lighter adapter to power the wireless Qi charging pad. (See pics below for the exact cable provided)

Have a look at my in-depth review of the Owl CarPad/G for Nexus 4 

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Where can I buy it? :

Here’s a link to Owl’s website where you can order. http://owlpad.net/carpad-for-nexus-4/

Moon has stated they are awaiting final production, and should start shipping around middle of next week!. So for right now, any orders placed are “pre-orders” and will ship out very soon!

WORLDWIDE SHIPPING IS INCLUDED IN THE PRICE!

Owl will ship using EMS from Korea. Final leg in the USA is delivered by USPS. You can try using this site to track your package via EMS: http://service.epost.go.kr/iservice/ems/ems_eng.jsp

Click “Buy now”and fill in the blank $65 for 1 set (Includes CarPad with screw nut for back, Mounting hardware(Arkon Brand – referenced below) and 12V 1A specially engineered Cigarette Power Adapter.)

2 sets for $120
4 sets for $235

If you only want the CarPad, and don’t need the mounting hardware, because you’ll plan on using your own 17mm ball solution (basically you’ll just receive the charging pad with side-prongs, 17mm ball joint female end on the back, screw nut for attaching to 17mm ball mount of your choosing and the cigarette power adapter) – $57

Also on sale – OwlPad for desktop + CarPad for Car.
Just $100 at http://owlpad.net/owlpadcarpad-for-nexus-4-n-qi/

XDA User Narcopolypse is also taking names for a list of orders he’ll be making as well, if you’d rather someone else handle the shipping and then ship them to you locally.

What are the specifics:

CarPad is Qi functional and works well with the Nexus 4. Tested both with TPU case, Diztronic Matte Black Case, Official Bumper, and bare-back. The average charge on an idle phone is around +600mA and with load of Spotify streaming music, Android GPS navigation, BlueTooth connected to head-unit, and screen on at lowest brightness, the charger gets nearly +100-200mA

What does it look like?:

Initial images upon receiving my test unit : http://imgur.com/a/K29tM

CarPad in-use images from Moon (the Marketing and Sales manager of OwlPad) : http://imgur.com/a/MZPti

Images of the CarPad removed from the mounting hardware: http://imgur.com/a/PbEtx

Some test results for quick reference:

This first one is just the phone sitting on the charger, no Bluetooth, no GPS, no Music. Mobile data ON. Screen OFF.
The test was from 8:09am to 8:15am
http://i.imgur.com/hB01A1e.png

The second test was with GPS on and navigation app running, streaming music via Spotify, using BlueTooth to my car head unit, screen ON at lowest brightness.
The test was from 8:26am to 8:34am
http://i.imgur.com/kydLRAU.png

As you can see, with the phone just idling, there’s a decent charge provided to the phone.
With everything running, I’m still getting a charge to the phone and the mA amount recorded never dips below zero.

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Here’s some of the other solutions that should work with the CarPad Ball-Joint Back.

Sticky Dash Suction Mount This is the one I bought : http://amzn.com/B0077B9K2E

The above is the same as this, but for some reason, that one is cheaper with the holder attachment than this one is solo : http://amzn.com/B005V1L7W8

Vent Clip mount : http://amzn.com/B0015A6YN6

Cig Lighter port stalk : http://amzn.com/B000BP8GQO

For you Brodit / ProClip users out there, i BELIEVE this is what you would need : http://amzn.com/B002ACP2FY

You can basically look up Arkon 17mm ball on Amazon and have a lot of options to play with for the back of the CarPad. It’s nice they adapted it to a standard ball mount so we can use these other options if needed.

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XDA user narcopolypse has said that he would be ordering larger stock of these for the US, and selling them here in the states to help with shipping issues/times (considering the manufacturer is in Korea, shipping can sometimes take longer/cost more. PM narcopolypse if you’d like to be added to a list of users interested in purchasing.

Currently you can contact Moon from OwlPad directly at : moon@owlcharger.com. He’s in South Korea, so they’re time is off from us if you are in the West.

See this page for more info, pics, and how to order directly from Owl : http://owlpad.net/carpad-for-nexus-4/

This page has even more testing information : http://owlpad.net/2013/01/24/latest-…f-owl-carpadg/

A desktop Qi Charger is also available from Owl called the OwlPad for Nexus 4 n Qi - http://owlpad.net/owlpad-for-nexus-4-n-qi/

Q/A:

Q) Are the grips on the owlpad rubberized or fashioned in some way that does not hurt the phone from the constant taking out and putting back in?

A) There’s a slight texture to the side prongs, but they are just plastic. I have been sliding it in and out using the LG bumper, TPU cases, and the bare phone, and no signs of problems scuffing or anything.

I recently bought the Diztronic Matte Black case, and it’s about the same size as my other TPU cases, but because of its matte finish, and the way it’s designed, it’s a little harder to slide in from the top, and I place one side in and then press to slide in the other side now.

The bare phone is a perfect fit for this, just barely needing any pressure to push it in from the top.

Q) Can the CarPad be turned off without unplugging the unit, or otherwise pulling the cigarette lighter adapter?

A) Yes, The small LED light at the bottom (normally used to show you if the CarPad is charging (RED) or Idle (Green) is also a BUTTON. you can press this at any time to turn off the CarPad entirely. Pressing it again will turn the charging feature back on.

Q) Will my Phone / CarPad get hot because of Qi Charging?

A) Yes it will, but most recent tests of the last (final?) version of the CarPad/G have shown that the temperature while even running GPS and screen on doesn’t get much hotter than possibly 42C. The charger will continue to charge through higher temperatures, but Qi / Inductive charging in general IS affected by heat, so the hotter the conditions, the less power gets pushed to the phone’s battery. It’s just how induction works.

Q) If my phone is dead (battery to zero/shut down) will the Owl CarPad charge it?

A) YES it will! I had mine die recently while out with family, and when I placed it on the pad, after about 15 minutes I started it back up and it had about 6% charge on it. Apparently Qi charging doesn’t need to have the phone on to charge the phone.

Q) Also could someone please confirm what type of connection the power cable has please, is it a standard cigarette lighter plug or USB?

A) The adapter is a hard-wired cigarette lighter plug, and the end of the cable is a 3.5mm coaxial power connector.(Similar to these types of connectorshttp://i.imgur.com/P0BRqk3.jpg )

Q) Will the Owl CarPad charge my phone to 100%?

A) In tests, it seems it’ll charge to about 90% then go into “Complete mode” or “Idle” Others have stated it can get to about 95% as well.

Q) Will this work with a TPU case or similar? What about the Official Bumper?

A) The size of the holder prongs is just a little smaller than the phone when naked. they are tensioned/bendable to spring back on their own (no mechanical motion, just hard plastic forms that can be bent to move the phone in and out of the mount. I’ve used a generic TPU case, a Diztronic Matte black Case, an LG Official Bumper and also naked phone, and the charger has always provided charge to my phone with no issue. Some larger / thicker cases may hinder the Qi charging ability, due to distance from the back-plate, but a standard soft case, or a hard case shouldn’t pose any issues with the Qi functionality.

Q) How long is the cigarette lighter power cable? My 120v/12w power port is in my center console on the bottom, totally forgot about that.

A) The cable has a coiled section in the middle to allow for additional length. The whole cable measures 29 inches total. 9.5″ from the cig jack, then 7.5″ of coiled cable, then 12″ of cable again to the coaxial power connector.

The coiled section can be pulled to around 36 inches, but that’s a lot of tension. I’d say doubling it to about 15″ is as far as I’d ever have it taught.

I drive a 2010 Mazda 3 and my cig jack is at the bottom of my dash in the center console area.(think near your right knee) and I have my CarPad mounted on the top of my dash near my gauge cluster. There’s plenty of length, and in fact all of the coiled portion. Stays in my console shelf/door area.

Here are some photos to show its construction.

http://i.imgur.com/3qmyFXS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/cNijdTh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/riOoKBa.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/rLHsOna.jpg

Q) Can I use a different Adapter or cable to power the CarPad?

A) (This is directly quoted from Moon) “One thing you do have to know is that Cigar jack is regulated to fixed 12V.
It is not only control 12V but also it gives some positive effects on the charging pad. So it shouldn’t use any other than Owl provide.”

I had mentioned that they also worked on the cable to provide the best solution for the CarPad. Because of their work on this, the heat issues on the adapter and the CarPad itself are alleviated, and help keep the charger charging during higher temperatures. I’d suggest not using another cable solution, if only that the one provided is engineered for the best performance of the CarPad.

The above test was carried out with GPS navigation/Streaming music active, Bluetooth FLEXSMART X2 on.

We tested the CarPad module on January 28th.

Below is what we would like to ship out to you from Feb. 2nd~3th week.

Thanks.

..

Tested January 19th.

Here’s a quote taken straight from the XDA Developer’s Blog on the details of  the CarPad driving test.

Quote

Alright, here we go!

I’ve just gotten back from my morning travels and have a couple of screenshots for you all.

These are using the latest unit Moon sent me.

This first one, as requested, is just the phone sitting on the charger, no Bluetooth, no GPS, no Music. Mobile data ON. Screen OFF.

The test was from 8:09am to 8:15am

http://i.imgur.com/hB01A1e.png

The second test was with GPS on and navigation app running, streaming music via Spotify, using BlueTooth to my car head unit, screen ON at lowest brightness.

The test was from 8:26am to 8:34am

http://i.imgur.com/kydLRAU.png

As you can see, with the phone just idling, there’s a decent charge provided to the phone.

With everything running, I’m still getting a charge to the phone and the mA amount recorded never dips below zero.

The temps with everything running were nice and low, and unlike the second test unit I received, they did not rise quickly. Previously, within about 8-10 minutes, with everything running, my phone would see a rise in temperature of almost 10 degrees, and it would continue until it reached that 40-41 degree threshold where it would stop charging.

I was using a very thin, cheap, TPU case during this test. Maybe 1-1.5mm thick. I wouldn’t expect much different results with a bare back on the charger.

I’m super happy this is turning out to be the charger we were all hoping for.

Let me know if any of you have any other questions.

Unquote

This item will be ready from the  second week of  February.  If you are interested in purchasing this item, please contact us at the e-mail listed below:

moon@owlcharger.com