I’ve a new phone, and that means a new phone charging stand.

Although the EU standardised on a common external power supply for small electronic consumer devices in 2009, followed by many international and national standards bodies, my new phone uses the USB-C plug. This isn’t a problem as I use a USB charger that has five slots from which I can run either micro-USB or USB-C cables, depending on the need.

What is far more interesting is the charging stand.

For every new phone that I purchased either for work or leisure, I had to replace the charging cable and get a new one for my work backpack, buy a new phone cover, get a new desk charging stand plus a new car holder while driving. This added considerably to the cost of a new unit but was often overlooked. Since retirement I’ve done away with a lot of these distractions and instead:

1. Use a universal car holder without active power. The reason I can do this is that new phones:
   • hold their charges for much longer, up to 3-5 days for some Huawei phones, and
   • I don’t drive as much, and journeys are shorter.
2. I still get a new, custom fit phone cover.
3. Buy a generic desk stand which I adapt using Sugru. These stands are much cheaper than the branded ones and with some plastic magic easily adaptable to the shape of the new phone.

This is how it is done.

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First you need the phone to be in its cover, as the dimensions will fit exactly to the outside of the holder. Place the Sugru into appropriate areas of the holder – for me it was the rear kickstand which supports the phone at a correct angle to engage with the USB connector, and the bed of the USB connector. Depending on what generic stand you get this may be different.

Using cling flim, Saran wrap or whatever it is called in your country then cover the back of the phone and press it into the bed of the stand, engaging the USB connector and allowing it to rest gently on the back of the stand. I then leave them for a short time, perhaps several minutes, and gently remove the phone and cover allowing the cling film to stay for some while longer.

Once the Sugru has gone ‘green’ (easily able to be cut but not so hard that it is difficult to work with) then I trim off unneeded parts and neaten. The photos show a couple of examples of a micro-USB and USB-C stand for specific phones. The overall fit is tailored and exact which reduces the strain on the power connector and prolongs the life of the phone.