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The idea of wireless chargers sound great right? The idea of charging smartphones wirelessly without having to carry wires around. Actually there are smartphones with these capabilities, in fact, there’s hardly any new high-end smartphone that doesn’t come with this functionality. The problem is, no one seems to be using it. So the big question is, why hasn’t it taken off?
Wireless charging is not exactly a new concept and has been around for many years now but while smartphones are evolving and becoming better every year, the wireless chargers have failed woefully to enjoy the same attention both from the phone makers and the users.
Recently Smartphone giant Apple admitted defeat when it cancelled a product they’ve been working on since 2017. The product is called “Air Power†and what it does is simple, just a wireless charging pad that is very flat and can charge all Apple devices wirelessly at the same time. That is, if the product had succeeded, Apple users would have been able to use it to charge their iPhone, Air Pods and Apple Watch all at the same time. Rather, the project failed and was cancelled completely because Apple engineers just couldn’t get it right!
We’ve seen a lot of folks who use expensive smartphones with wireless charging capabilities but rather prefer to use the good old plug-in chargers. In this post, TechCapon will take out time to explain why this product is such a big failure and why it is not impressing anyone even though the concept is great.
NUMBER ONE: YOU NEED A SMARTPHONE CASE THAT IS CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING WIRELESS CHARGING.
One of the ways to charge your phone wirelessly is by using a smartphone case charger and only a few people actually have it. Apple released its own wireless charging case late last year and users complained it doesn’t charge their batteries full before running out. Also, not every smartphone maker has such a product. I haven’t heard of Sony, LG and other high-end companies producing such for their buyers. So it’s not only expensive, but it’s also difficult to find in the market.
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Re: Wireless Charging: A Useless Feature In The Smartphone Industry by TechCapon(m): 4:42am
TechCapon
NUMBER TWO: WIRELESS CHARGERS ARE SLOWER THAN WIRED CHARGERS.
The weird thing about charging is that it uses something called electromagnetic induction. What that means is to transfer energy from one place (e.g wireless charge) to another (e.g smartphone). This concept uses two physical coils, the induction coil in the charger and the receiver coil in the phone. If the phone is placed on the charger but the two coils are not well aligned with each other the phone will not charge correctly.
This method of charging is much slower than plugging your phone using a wired charger which lets the power flow directly from the socket, through the wire and into the phone. Most wired chargers have a rating of 12W while most wireless chargers have a rating of between 7.5W to 10W. If you use a case or smartphone cover, the wireless charger may not even work at all until you remove the cover.
Some of may be wondering, what about wireless chargers with fast charge capabilities. Yeah, there are such wireless chargers no doubt but the thing is it only works with a phone from the same manufacturer. That means a Samsung wireless charger with fast charge will not work well with LG smartphone and vice versa. So if you don’t need a fast charger or you’re only charging your phone at night while you sleep, then a wireless charge might be okay for you.
NUMBER 3: YOU CAN’T USE YOUR PHONE CONVENIENTLY WHILE YOU’RE CHARGING IT WITH WIRELESS CHARGERS
Since a wireless charger requires you to place your phone on it for it to work, how are you going to use it while charging? The only way to use it is to remove it from the charger but it’s not that way with a wired charger. With a normal charger, you can answer a phone call, play games, use Instagram and so on while the phone is charging.
NUMBER 4: WIRELESS CHARGERS ARE NOT WIRELESS grin
wireless charging ?
Yeah, it sounds funny but it’s true. Wireless chargers are not wireless because the also have wires of their own which you still have to plug into the sockets for them to work. The only thing wireless about it is eliminating the wire between your phone and the charger. So if you still need to plug it in every time you use it, why call it a wireless charger?
NUMBER 5: WIRELESS CHARGERS ARE SO EXPENSIVE
wireless charging
Despite the fact that these wireless chargers are not as effective as the normal chargers, they’re still very expensive. The low budget ones cost between $15 to $30 while the fancy ones cost between $60 to $100
Notwithstanding, despite all these disadvantages, that doesn’t stop the smartphone companies from producing smartphones with wireless charging capabilities. If wireless chargers are to impress users, the companies will have to figure out a way to make these chargers work wireless just like Wi-Fi. Yes, so that if the charger is plugged in, the smartphone can be anywhere in the room and still receive charging signals from it. A few companies like OSSIO are already working on a true wireless charging product.
They claim that their products can charge devices within a short range, just like how WIFI works. This sounds cool but none of these companies has released such charger yet. Its just talk and no action but we hope technology advance fast enough so we can get it.
So that’s it until the technology can improve to the extent where wireless chargers can work wirelessly like WIFI and charge smartphones from a safe distance, it remains a USELESS FEATURE IN ANY SMARTPHONE.
SOURCE:
techcapon.com/wireless-charging-a-useless-feature-in-the-smartphone-industry/
