A powered coaster and a wireless charger, the device lets you set down your drink on one end and your smartphone on the other, so you can keep both office essentials within close proximity at all times. No, we don’t think there’s any advantage to keeping them within inches of each other (in fact, it’s smarter to keep them apart to keep spills away), but the device’s dual function does ensure that keeping them together makes some sense.
The Nomodo Trio has two round sections on the surface, with one designed to serve as a coaster for setting down your cup and one designed to serve as a wireless charger for setting down a compatible phone on. Like any charger, it’s designed to plug in to a power outlet to properly send power to Qi-compatible phone’s battery, although it uses that same power to provide your added function for the coaster. Specifically, the coaster can be set to heat or cool the cup sitting on top of it, allowing it to help keep your coffee warm in the morning and your soda chilled later in the afternoon.
Why not just get a separate powered coaster and wireless charger? Sure, you can do that, but bundling them into one can save you a bit of money, all while eliminating an additional cord to help prevent desk clutter. Plus, wouldn’t you rather have your coffee and your phone in the same convenient spot, considering how often you reach for both of them throughout the course of the day?
The Nomodo Trio comes with its own coffee cup (yes, it’s the one pictured), although the heating and cooling plate should work with most any ceramic, glass, or metal drinking vessel. Sure, we think plastic will be fine, too, but it’s probably best to avoid it if you want better temperature retention. No wonder on how hot or how cold the temperature plate gets in either mode, so there’s no way to be sure what kind of temperatures you can keep your drinks in, but we imagine having anything that’s higher or lower than room temperature will be enough to make any drink more enjoyable.
The device itself is a little on the thick side, so it should elevate both the drink and your phone a little over an inch from the desk surface, so you might want to place it in a spot where there’s little chance of accidentally knocking it with your arm (lest you want the cup to fall over). We’re assuming this is water-resistant, of course, since spills will probably be unavoidable, especially if you use it on a daily basis.
According to coolthings
