Samsung has launched a UV sterilizer to disinfect your smartphone, earbuds, smartwatch, a pair of sunglasses, or other similar accessories. Aptly named ‘UV Sterilizer,’ this niche gadget can kill up to 99 percent of germs and bacteria on the surface of your smartphone in just about ten minutes.
The new product is a clean-looking 22.8 x 12.8 x 4.9 cm rectangular box with smooth edges and corners. It uses UV-C radiations to kill germs and bacteria on both sides of whatever you place inside.
You simply put a fitting object inside, close the lid, press the button, and wait for about ten minutes. This gadget can comfortably accommodate objects of the size of a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.
Samsung has also added an LED indicator to notify users that the sanitizing process has completed.
However, what makes this gadget more interesting is that it can also wirelessly charge your phone or other compatible gadgets while they are being cleaned. This rectangular box can charge all Qi standard devices wirelessly at 10W speed.
UV Sterilizer is Samsung’s latest offering to help keep your phone clean
This UV Sterilizer isn’t Samsung’s first venture to help keep your phone clean. Back in March, when the coronavirus was just declared as a pandemic, the South Korean giant launched a free device sanitization service in several parts of the world.
Users could simply walk into an official Samsung Service Center (where the sanitization service was available) and get their smartphones cleaned for free.
The new product essentially does the same thing, just that you can now take it home and sanitize all your pocketable electronic gadgets whenever you want. Samsung also launched a hand hygiene app for its smartwatches a couple of months back.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect mankind globally, people have become more aware of personal hygiene. Face masks, hand sanitization, and social distancing have become a norm. Our phones spend the better part of the day in our hands, so they need cleaning as well.
Researchers say the coronavirus can survive on surfaces like glass, metal, or plastic, which make the most part of our handheld electronic gadgets, for a significant period of time. And this is why Samsung is launching a UV sterilizer to clean them.
The company is currently selling the new UV Sterilizer only in Thailand, though. The product costs 1,590 baht, which roughly converts to just over $50.
It’s unclear if and when Samsung plans to bring this niche product to other markets around the world. Given the worrisome COVID-19 situation, that should happen sooner rather than later.