These are one of the things I felt Toyota lost touch with. Maybe this is their first use of the company they bought for wireless charging? But, loss of space in the glove compartment and loss of flying buttress is a overall loss of space. Put a phone in the console you especially lose more space. Plus I regularly use my phone on the dash as a GPS or infotainment system. So why would they install a wireless feature? Is their infotainment system that good? We could probably save a couple hundred off invoice without it and have more space... But let's hear from the actual owners. Perhaps next year model will be refined.
This will not work with Iphones. You need a Qi compliant charging receiver card, or a Qi compliant phone. This very thin card has to plug into your IPhone, but it hides behind your case... SO, you may as well bring your car charger for the 12v power supply.
I've been using the wireless charger with an iPhone 6 in a Bezalel Latitude Qi case. It works quite well. I like not having to mess with the wires. That being said, I do miss having space to put change, etc. I was concerned about not having my phone at my fingertips, but using Siri Eyes Free and bluetooth audio means that I rarely need to touch my phone while driving. I do miss using Waze, but I find the in-car nav is sufficient most of the time.
i agree that they are out of touch, but will let the market speak for itself. maybe it's big in japan. i don't know anyone who uses wireless charging anywhere. it seems like a solution waiting for a problem.
I use the wireless charger with the same case as you. I'm impressed with how fast it charges my phone. I like not having wires to constantly charge my phone in the car. My phone is always charged when I get out of the car because that's where I naturally put my phone every time I drive.
Got a Qi card for my LG G3 and have been very happy with having the charger there. My wife uses it to charge her phone once in a while too. My biggest problem is remembering to actually use the thing.
If it costs me $10 to get a wireless charging pad. Toyota is equipping it in cars for less than a buck. This is a cheap add-on. When Apple adds wireless charging to iPhones, this will be a highly sought after feature.
How often do you actually use your phone? If you want to take advantage of Bluetooth for entertainment while driving, you'll find the wireless priceless. My battery is always on the low side as a result of heavy use. Having wireless charge-pads at home and at work is incredibly handy. Being able to recharge while in the car... without having to plug in... is a major convenience. You'll change your stance after giving it a try. No cord is great.
I use it all the time and I use Waze. And I make calls. The phone sitting in a wireless thing is useless if I can't see it. Anyway. I do have qi wireless charging. It charges slower but it's nice. I got a dash mount wireless device once and it wasn't charging well while running Waze...
True but my "major convenience" is not having to take out the phone from my pocket in the first place! I get in, BT handsfree connects, BT audio connects and I don't have to fiddle with wires (e.g. USB or AUX). With wireless charging, I would have to take my phone out .
My phone is too big for a pocket. I have it on my belt and have to remove it for driving. In other words, I'm routinely putting it down there anyway. The fact that it will charge now is really nice.
what we need is a place for the phone where you can see it while driving, and wireless charging there. i guess we'll have to wait 6 more years.
And then you lose that space for a small bag, papers, etc... And you don't even have that larger glove compartment that the gen 3 had (well it had 2)
Without wireless charging, if you wanted to charge your phone with a USB cable, you'd probably still have to take it out.
But that's the thing - I never have to take it out to charge it. Even on a road trip playing audio via BT, my phone lasted the entire day. (Also, Toyota cheaped out on the Gen 3s in Canada and we don't have USB. I know the US added USB ~6 months after production started. It was a $200 accessory and I wasn't gonna pay that for a slow scrolling interface. Again, my phone lasts the entire day anyway).
That's not realistic when you use the phone for other things throughout the day. Some apps are really draining.
You're not missing anything. I purposely don't use it and have a 12V with USB ready if I run out of power. Thing is once you plug anything into USB, the head unit tries to play it. And it takes its sweet time loading. BT all the way.
How is it not realistic? I was streaming music for 8 hours. The battery was quite warm and it wasn't in my pocket (I have a holster like you). By apps, I assume you mean any that uses GPS like Google Maps or Waze, right? That's fair. I use the technology I was given and since I have a built-in nav, I will use the built in nav. Worse come to worse, I google the address and punch in the address into the nav if the POI isn't present. I'm just telling you my scenario of maximising convenience. I agree. Even though fidelity is a bit lower than USB, it connects fine (still has a slight delay) and I don't have to fiddle with the phone. With the new headunit in the 2016, I really don't have to take out the phone at all as you can scroll through your music (song, playlist, artist, album) right on the headunit and it's so much faster (more responsive) than the 2010's headunit. You can swipe to scroll. Or just use Siri Eyes Free to play your music.