Cygnett Encore 2-in-1 Wireless Charger

The broader challenge with wireless charging products is the practical and commercial limitation of the technology coupled with the market’s insatiable appetite for affordable convenience. This has led to a flood of low-priced solutions coming onto the market mostly intended for permanent desk and bedside table use. Whilst it makes sense to charge at these points, they fail to provide the portability demanded by the growing cohort of digital nomads who move between locations. Cygnett set themselves the challenge to design a unique, affordable and highly personal charging companion users could carry with them throughout their day.

With growing dependence on portable tech for communication and health tracking, Encore provides charge for those non-negotiable items people need throughout their daily life: smartphone, earbuds and smartwatch. It does this within a super compact hinged clamshell design, neatly housing a 15W Qi2 charging coil on one side, with an opposing disc housing a 2.5W fold-out charger on the other. Both PC/ABS charging pads are connected by a silicone overmould allowing Encore to lie flat for charging or snap closed for travel. The textured, soft-touch silicone case, and hinged magnetic snap closure makes Encore simple, portable and personal.

Commercially, Encore supports the mobile communication and wearable tech spaces by providing an elegant solution that keeps devices charged. Environmentally, since it provides wireless charging, Encore reduces the demand on poisonous plastic cables whilst it's also housed in silicone. It’s also exceptionally lightweight and compact making it efficient in it’s use of materials and its operational footprint. Societally Encore supports flexibility and mobility in a rapidly changing world. We can no longer move through our day without a non-negotiable toolkit of digital devices and Encore provides a portable charging solution to keep us powered, mobile, productive, healthy and connected.

Encore is smooth, tactile and palm-sized; defined by its compact size and reassuring magnetic snap closure which were carefully refined throughout the design process. Comprised two identically proportioned halves linked by the silicone overmould outer, the Qi2-certified 15W magnetic charging coil for phone charging sets the overall achievable diameter of each half. Then, on the other side, the hinged 2.5W wireless watch-plus-headphone charging assembly sets the depth. Within these dimensional constraints, the components are housed in respective PC/ABS case halves with opposing magnets providing for firm closure. The outer silicone moulding was a particular challenge to perfect, but through multiple rounds of testing and validation, Cygnett reached an ideal “feel” for this part of the design. The hinge conceals the flexible printed circuit board joining the two PCBs, which, combined with wall thickness, width, length and silicone durometer, affects overall hinge flexibility. The result holds a balanced resistance; not so floppy as to swing open unexpectedly, and not so stiff as to oppose the magnetic closure.