Aldi Special Buys: Wireless phone charger promises to clean your device

Discount supermarket Aldi is selling a $79 gadget that is set to become an increasingly common item as lockdown measures are eased.

As lockdown measures are eased and people return to work, Aldi are selling a $79.99 device that many of us wouldn't have known existed pre-coronavirus.

The discount supermarket chain is selling a wireless phone charger that also doubles as a UV light sanitiser that claims to be able to kill up to 99.99 per cent of germs.

The devices are already been used in other countries to prevent the spread of coronavirus, with Hong Kong gyms introducing them as doors reopened earlier this month.

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Aldi is selling a $79.99 phone sanitiser.

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The devices come in either black or white and are suitable for most smart phones up to 20 centimetres in length.

With more than 10,000 hours of UV and LED life, the gadget takes three minutes to disinfect your phone.

It also comes with an essential oil diffuser so you can make your phone smell fresh as a daisy in the process.

The gadget comes with a one-year warranty and will charge your phone wirelessly while it is inside the case.

The device takes three minutes to sanitise your phone.

DO UV PHONE SANITISERS WORK?

Keeping your technology clean is important in stopping the spread of germs - just think of all the different times of the day you are touching your phone.

Microbiology and immunology expert at the Medical University of South Carolina professor Michael Schmidt told NBC News our tech devices can be super conducters for germs.

“We take a shower to remove the microbes affiliated with our skin. The only thing that microbes like better than human skin is plastic and glass,” he said.

Professor Schmidt that while the UV light machines can kill germs "quickly" it didn't provide a barrier of protection to prevent future infection.

"When your device comes out, it’s only as safe as its last encounter," he said.

Philip Tierno, a clinical professor in the pathology department at New York University's Langone Medical Center, said that it was the UV-C light - not UV-A or UV-B - that killed germs.

The light worked best on smooth surfaces, he said.

“UV-C penetrates superficially, and the light can’t get into nooks and crannies," Professor Tierno told NBC.

It's also important to remember that UV light can be dangerous if it comes into contact with your skin - so use the sanitising device for phones only.

According to the World Health Organisation exposure to UV lamps can cause skin irritation and eye damage.

Washing your hands with soap an frequently is still the most effective way to prevent the spread of coronavirus.