Samsung's UV sterilizer both disinfects and wirelessly charges your phone, now available globally

Update, June 7 (1:00 pm ET): The UV steriliser is now being made available globally.

As COVID-19 cases continue surging across the world, personal hygiene has taken center stage as one of the most important means of preventing infection. And while washing your hands every so often is certainly important, let's not forget that your phone may be ten times as dirty as your toilet seat — and could even have fecal matter on it! Yuck!

Thanks to Samsung, though, you won't have to worry about those pesky little viruses contaminating your phone. The company this week launched a new UV sterilizer for your phone — and any other electronics, for that matter — which it claims kills up to 99% of germs and bacteria, thanks to its use of UV-C radiation. Laboratory tests by Philips using the same type of radiation on the coronavirus would seem to back up that claim.

The product is a simple, gray enclosure that, Samsung claims, should thoroughly disinfect both sides of your phone in just about 10 minutes. As an added bonus, the sterilizer also doubles as a wireless charger, although its atrociously slow 10W charging rate may have you missing your good old wired charger soon after.

The product seems to be an extension of the phone sanitizing service Samsung was already offering its customers in select locations across the world. The UV Sanitizer in question, however, is currently only being sold in Thailand for 1,590 baht (~$50). Hopefully, the product will make its way to other countries soon, but until then, there are plenty of alternatives in the market that do the same thing.

Best Phone Cleaning Kits in 2020

An update on update

Samsung Galaxy phones will now get three years of OS updates

Samsung will start giving its Galaxy phones the same update treatment that Google gives its Pixels.

It's not a lake

Control crosses over with Alan Wake with AWE on August 27

Control's AWE expansion is coming soon. During today's State of Play, Remedy Entertainment revealed that the AWE expansion is set to release on August 27.

Here we go again

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus hands on: Unfulfilled potential

Samsung refuses to lets its dream of Android tablets die, and the latest example of this is the Galaxy Tab S7+. It's an incredibly well-built gadget with premium specs galore, but is it enough to overcome the state of Android on a tablet in 2020?

Protect the Galaxy

These cases provide all the protection your Galaxy A11 will need

If you want to go with Samsung but don't want to get a flagship like the S20, why not go with a more budget-friendly option like the Galaxy A11? This phone gives you the look of a flagship smartphone at just a portion of the cost. But even though you're saving some dough, you'll want to make sure that your investment is protected, so why not get a new case?