The Air Dock: What works with it for you?

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B1gC72

Member
Feb 2, 2008
38
10
Maryland
Hey everyone,

Just received my Air Dock in the mail and I've had mixed results using my Galaxy Note 3 with it. So rather than buying more cases and QI adapters, throwing stuff at the wall hoping something sticks, I thought we could all band together to find the best setup. This should be a thread for people to post their experiences and post links to the cases and wireless charging adapters they are using with the Air Dock and their GN3.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Air Dock, it's a new Indiegogo backed vehicle mount that employs nano-suction and QI wireless charging. It essentially uses a bunch of tiny suction cups (and some magnets apparently) to bond to your phone with out needing any kinds of harnesses or clips. The only issue seems to be that this tech requires some specific stuff to function well. The back of the phone needs to be high gloss plastic for it to stick well and it can't be too thick (i think .8mm is the max for it to still charge). For phones with matte backs (like the Nexus 5) magnets are an option.


Here is the link to the website and plenty of videos and pictures for those who don't know about it: TheAirDock.com


Ok, so I'll start with my setup and experience and hopefully others will follow along to find the best combination of accessories to get the most out of this dock.



Phone: Black Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)
-I tried it on the dock with no case and while it holds, I'm not very confident in it. I think it may be the texture of the soft touch back. Also there seems to be magnets in it, which I'm not sure there were supposed to be but they are responding to something in the phone

Case: Black Cruzerlite Hybrid Case for Samsung Galaxy Note 3
-Same deal, it sticks to it but it's not inspiring confidence. It's not a high gloss back, so that's probably the issue (bought it well before the Air Dock). The dock also comes with a magnet sticker to place between the case and phone, and that helps but I haven't been able to get it to register a charge at all with the case on.

QI adapter: Wireless Qi Power Receiver Car Charger NFC For Samsung Note 3 N9000 N9005 BC279
-I think this is the part that has created the biggest issue. It's only ever recognized the charger a handful of times, with and without the back cover on. And even when it recognizes it, it just flashes the "now wireless charging" dealy and then goes back to discharging immediately. I know that the adapter works because it charges fine on my desktop QI charging pad.
 
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B1gC72

Member
Feb 2, 2008
38
10
Maryland
It holds GN3 securely?

Not exactly. If i put it on there with no case and like 15 degrees of back lean it holds decently. The backplate isn't as glossy as it needs to be to hold securely though. It's capable of it, they've shown it holding the various Nexus tablets.

That's kind of what this thread is about, trying to find out the best combination of accessories to make this thing work correctly.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk
 

oilfighter

Senior Member
Nov 17, 2005
438
61
i'm still waiting on my airdock, but regarding the QI receiver insert charging/discharging deal, have you tried to rotate the airdock 90 degrees? I've ran across QI chargers where orientation matters.
 

B1gC72

Member
Feb 2, 2008
38
10
Maryland
i'm still waiting on my airdock, but regarding the QI receiver insert charging/discharging deal, have you tried to rotate the airdock 90 degrees? I've ran across QI chargers where orientation matters.

Hmm. I think that's worth a shot. The dock is weird in that the ball joint faces a specific direction, which is different than the prototypes I saw. And if what you say is true, mounting it on the windshield would make the dock upside down. I'll give that a go when I go to my car in the AM.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk
 

oilfighter

Senior Member
Nov 17, 2005
438
61
Hmm. I think that's worth a shot. The dock is weird in that the ball joint faces a specific direction, which is different than the prototypes I saw. And if what you say is true, mounting it on the windshield would make the dock upside down. I'll give that a go when I go to my car in the AM.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk

an easier way is to not move the dock, and just rotate your phone 90 degrees (vertical vs. horizontal), and see if that helps with the wireless charging.
 

kms108

Senior Member
Sep 16, 2007
6,333
1,109
Hey everyone,

Just received my Air Dock in the mail and I've had mixed results using my Galaxy Note 3 with it. So rather than buying more cases and QI adapters, throwing stuff at the wall hoping something sticks, I thought we could all band together to find the best setup. This should be a thread for people to post their experiences and post links to the cases and wireless charging adapters they are using with the Air Dock and their GN3.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Air Dock, it's a new Indiegogo backed vehicle mount that employs nano-suction and QI wireless charging. It essentially uses a bunch of tiny suction cups (and some magnets apparently) to bond to your phone with out needing any kinds of harnesses or clips. The only issue seems to be that this tech requires some specific stuff to function well. The back of the phone needs to be high gloss plastic for it to stick well and it can't be too thick (i think .8mm is the max for it to still charge). For phones with matte backs (like the Nexus 5) magnets are an option.


Here is the link to the website and plenty of videos and pictures for those who don't know about it: TheAirDock.com


Ok, so I'll start with my setup and experience and hopefully others will follow along to find the best combination of accessories to get the most out of this dock.



Phone: Black Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)
-I tried it on the dock with no case and while it holds, I'm not very confident in it. I think it may be the texture of the soft touch back. Also there seems to be magnets in it, which I'm not sure there were supposed to be but they are responding to something in the phone

Case: Black Cruzerlite Hybrid Case for Samsung Galaxy Note 3
-Same deal, it sticks to it but it's not inspiring confidence. It's not a high gloss back, so that's probably the issue (bought it well before the Air Dock). The dock also comes with a magnet sticker to place between the case and phone, and that helps but I haven't been able to get it to register a charge at all with the case on.

QI adapter: Wireless Qi Power Receiver Car Charger NFC For Samsung Note 3 N9000 N9005 BC279
-I think this is the part that has created the biggest issue. It's only ever recognized the charger a handful of times, with and without the back cover on. And even when it recognizes it, it just flashes the "now wireless charging" dealy and then goes back to discharging immediately. I know that the adapter works because it charges fine on my desktop QI charging pad.

The receiver you have is not a very good one, its rather weak, i had to add another ferrite or flexi magnet to it so that most of my other transmitter can detect it, but if nfc is a must, you have no choice.
 

B1gC72

Member
Feb 2, 2008
38
10
Maryland
The receiver you have is not a very good one, its rather weak, i had to add another ferrite or flexi magnet to it so that most of my other transmitter can detect it, but if nfc is a must, you have no choice.

Good to know. NFC isn't a must so could you recommend a better QI adapter for the thread?

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk
 

B1gC72

Member
Feb 2, 2008
38
10
Maryland
Would also like to report back on the docks performance today. I had my phone on it (in the case) all day with just a small amount of back lean. It held strong on the drive to and from bwork. I also went for some drinks after work and it held strong to and from along a fairly bumpy road. I still want to find a glossy back case but my confidence is growing in the nano suction as is.

I also wanted to report that I put my old Galaxy S1 in it (only phone I have with a glossy back) and it held just like it does in the videos.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk
 

rogue931

New member
Nov 19, 2012
3
0
Hi Guys,

Just to know if I'm the only one experiencing difficulties with my airdock :

I received my items 2 days ago (I have 2 as a friend also ordered one) and test them with 2 Nexus 4 :

Concerning the suction, it's definitily very very good with the N4 and no case, clearly, no risk to have the phone fall while driving !

So, that was the good news ...

The bad one is that the charging is very unreliable on both airdock pads, but with differents effects :

On the first one, it's very difficult for it to be seen charging by the phone, but when it does, it work for several minutes ... and stop working without apparent reasons ...

On the second one, I experiment the same kind of symptoms as described in the first post : the wireless charging is only seen by the phone for something like 1/2s, and then it's off ...

That's quite a disppointment as otherwise, it holds the phone just fine in the car and I found it very convenient. I hope I was just unlucky with mines, or maybe they suffer from transport (the package shows no evidence of it yet ...).

I contacted Greg, the guy from theAirdock.com to have his advices on the matter, but no answer so far ... I was wondering if I'm the only experimenting those issues ?
 

B1gC72

Member
Feb 2, 2008
38
10
Maryland
Hi Guys,

Just to know if I'm the only one experiencing difficulties with my airdock :

I received my items 2 days ago (I have 2 as a friend also ordered one) and test them with 2 Nexus 4 :

Concerning the suction, it's definitily very very good with the N4 and no case, clearly, no risk to have the phone fall while driving !

So, that was the good news ...

The bad one is that the charging is very unreliable on both airdock pads, but with differents effects :

On the first one, it's very difficult for it to be seen charging by the phone, but when it does, it work for several minutes ... and stop working without apparent reasons ...

On the second one, I experiment the same kind of symptoms as described in the first post : the wireless charging is only seen by the phone for something like 1/2s, and then it's off ...

That's quite a disppointment as otherwise, it holds the phone just fine in the car and I found it very convenient. I hope I was just unlucky with mines, or maybe they suffer from transport (the package shows no evidence of it yet ...).

I contacted Greg, the guy from theAirdock.com to have his advices on the matter, but no answer so far ... I was wondering if I'm the only experimenting those issues ?

You're not the only one, I had similar issues with my Note 3 (actually why I started this thread). I ended up contacting Greg as well and he recommended I purchase a Qi adapter from their site, which did make it function much more reliably. It's acceptable in my opinion at this point but I'm still not 100% sure it's going to charge or stay charging anytime I set it on the AirDock.

Bad news is, my solution isn't really an option with the N4 since (i believe) the wireless charging is built in. I do believe that the Qi charger in the AirDock is generally weak though since I tried about 3 different Qi adapters before finally buying the one from the AirDock site that worked. Otherwise it would do exactly what yours is doing (got both of the things you described with different adapters). I would say try to exchange your docks.

Something that works for me sometimes if it doesn't start charging right away is to unplug the USB cable from the lighter socket side and plug it back in. Also be sure that you are plugged into the 2.1A socket that it comes with, as i found it won't work with the standard 1A plugs most people have laying around.

I really love the concept of the AirDock and I'm glad I backed it but the build quality is certainly suspect. Mine is starting to fall apart after only a few months (the suction pad part is starting to separate from the housing, i can only assume because of how the phone has to be pulled to remove). I think this is par for the course with beta hardware though. Fortunately, customer service was very accommodating in my experience. Hope you're as fortunate.
 

rogue931

New member
Nov 19, 2012
3
0
Yep, actually, I found the thread on the N5 forum after I put my post here. And there indeed seems to be a few complaints with it

I had ne feedback from Greg sincemy email yesterday, but I figure they may be quite busy those days as many people seems to be receiving them.

Well, I hope he will provide a solution, because, for one of the two, with the same symptoms as yours, I can believe it's a problem with positionning, but for the other, the phone start charging for a few minutes and, without it moving, stops ... To me it sounds more like a loose contact somewhere inside the airdock ...

Well, wait'n see, they say ...

I will keep you posted of Greg's answer ..
 

tcrimsonk

Senior Member
Oct 28, 2010
59
4
Any word on how this works with the Note 3's stock "leather" textured back? Is a case required for it to stay?

Also, has anybody tried it with the Samsung brand wireless charger cover? The Air Dock website suggests that the Samsung brand cover is the best wireless charger receiver available; even better than the ones that Air Dock sells.
 

2xbass

Senior Member
Jul 9, 2012
77
13
For the original poster, how did things work out for you in the end? I have a Nexus 5 and it works extremely well with the AirDock because of the smooth back and also because of the magnets. I'm thinking of going to the Note 4. On the AirDock site it does say the textured back of the Note may not stick too well so they recommend using the magnetic sticker. I have one that come with my AirDock and can't imagine putting that on the back of the phone case. I expect it would be pretty damn ugly.
 

tcrimsonk

Senior Member
Oct 28, 2010
59
4
For the original poster, how did things work out for you in the end? I have a Nexus 5 and it works extremely well with the AirDock because of the smooth back and also because of the magnets. I'm thinking of going to the Note 4. On the AirDock site it does say the textured back of the Note may not stick too well so they recommend using the magnetic sticker. I have one that come with my AirDock and can't imagine putting that on the back of the phone case. I expect it would be pretty damn ugly.

I thought for sure I had already posted this response. I ended up getting an AirDock and the OEM Samsung Wireless charging cover for my Note 3. It's been a good setup. I'm not using the ugly sticker. The magnets in the AirDock seem to hold on to some metal in the wireless cover. It isn't as good as a smooth backed device, but it works for the most part. I'm glad I bought it.
 

2xbass

Senior Member
Jul 9, 2012
77
13
That's good to know. Thanks for replying. One way to get a smoother back and increase the adhesion on the AirDock while avoiding the thickness of a case is to get a vinyl wrap although I'm not sure how they would go with the Samsung wireless back since it looks like the shape especially around the camera is slightly different. I have a D-Brand skin on my Nexus 5 and I really love it and it makes the back even smoother. I just got a Note 4 yesterday and have ordered a third-party Qi receiver coil so I'll see how that goes first. Looks like SlickWraps has some nice vinyl skins for the Note 3 and 4.
 

2xbass

Senior Member
Jul 9, 2012
77
13
Also want to report that yesterday I tried my Note 4 with the AirDock using the standard back. At first it did not adhere at all. However I noticed that surface of my AirDock charging pad was pretty dusty. For my Nexus 5 I had been relying mostly on the magnets to hold the phone there. So I cleaned the AirDock with a bit of water as they recommend and the Note 4 holds very securely now. I think if I add a vinyl skin or a very thin case I think it would be even more secure.
 

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    Hey everyone,

    Just received my Air Dock in the mail and I've had mixed results using my Galaxy Note 3 with it. So rather than buying more cases and QI adapters, throwing stuff at the wall hoping something sticks, I thought we could all band together to find the best setup. This should be a thread for people to post their experiences and post links to the cases and wireless charging adapters they are using with the Air Dock and their GN3.

    For those of you unfamiliar with the Air Dock, it's a new Indiegogo backed vehicle mount that employs nano-suction and QI wireless charging. It essentially uses a bunch of tiny suction cups (and some magnets apparently) to bond to your phone with out needing any kinds of harnesses or clips. The only issue seems to be that this tech requires some specific stuff to function well. The back of the phone needs to be high gloss plastic for it to stick well and it can't be too thick (i think .8mm is the max for it to still charge). For phones with matte backs (like the Nexus 5) magnets are an option.


    Here is the link to the website and plenty of videos and pictures for those who don't know about it: TheAirDock.com


    Ok, so I'll start with my setup and experience and hopefully others will follow along to find the best combination of accessories to get the most out of this dock.



    Phone: Black Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)
    -I tried it on the dock with no case and while it holds, I'm not very confident in it. I think it may be the texture of the soft touch back. Also there seems to be magnets in it, which I'm not sure there were supposed to be but they are responding to something in the phone

    Case: Black Cruzerlite Hybrid Case for Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    -Same deal, it sticks to it but it's not inspiring confidence. It's not a high gloss back, so that's probably the issue (bought it well before the Air Dock). The dock also comes with a magnet sticker to place between the case and phone, and that helps but I haven't been able to get it to register a charge at all with the case on.

    QI adapter: Wireless Qi Power Receiver Car Charger NFC For Samsung Note 3 N9000 N9005 BC279
    -I think this is the part that has created the biggest issue. It's only ever recognized the charger a handful of times, with and without the back cover on. And even when it recognizes it, it just flashes the "now wireless charging" dealy and then goes back to discharging immediately. I know that the adapter works because it charges fine on my desktop QI charging pad.