Why are people so interested in wireless charging?

[Rockbeast]

I have read that about 5 mm is the maximum distance between induction coils. Assuming 2mm for the casings (1mm for each, the device back and the mat/qi charger), 3mm remains...hopefully many cases will work. My Otterbox Defender is probably a bit much...but I can find a 2mm thick case I like. My experience with the touchstone (I have the Palm Touchstone equipped back for my S3) is that more than 1.5mm prevents charging. When I take my otterbox defender outer 'gel' cover off, the inner hard plastic case adds about 1 to 1.5 mm to the back, and sometimes I can get the charging to work.

I asked over at Energizer about what distance there can be between the charging mat and the device back. Here is the reply the Energizer Bunny gave me...at least I HOPE it was the Energizer Bunny...I trust him...or her. Besides, he/she thought I had a GREAT question...that made me feel special!

Thank you for this great question, I would be happy to assist you. The distance between the pad and the receiver is a critical factor. If the protective case is less than the thickness of a nickel, there is a good chance the charger will work. If the protective case holds the receiver more than a nickel width from the pad, the charger will probably not work.

A nickel...Jeffersonian or Buffalo? So, buddy can you spare a dime would be fine. But don't "go to double nickel when you hit the ridge..." anybody know the rest of that line or what song it's from? But I digress. I'm hopeful I'll be able to have a good case and wireless charging in the future. But you sure can't beat the deal you can get on those Palm touchstones right now!

Did you see they said great question? I'm so proud.

 

[xKrNMBoYx]

IMO Wireless charging beats any sort of charging where you have to plug anything in to the phone.

The usb charging port is one part of any phone that breaks often. A Wireless charging mat doesn't need to be powered by a micro/mini usb port.

You don't like the idea of having to charge your charging mat everytime to use it, but isn't that tye same for a portable charger or battery backup? I guess being able to carry it around is a plus, but they're not exactly compact.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Android Central Forums

 

[nrm5110]

Right now its limited but the tech may evolve over time and become part of everything we own tables counters used to power cell phones lamps microwave ovens TVs reducing cable pains who knows how far this could go.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tkbredx]

My charging ports broke. I don't feel like getting a new phone as I'm rooted and everything else. Looking into one of these wireless chargers now. Lol

 

[Ry]

IMO Wireless charging beats any sort of charging where you have to plug anything in to the phone.

The usb charging port is one part of any phone that breaks often. A Wireless charging mat doesn't need to be powered by a micro/mini usb port.

You don't like the idea of having to charge your charging mat everytime to use it, but isn't that tye same for a portable charger or battery backup? I guess being able to carry it around is a plus, but they're not exactly compact.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Android Central Forums

How fast do these charging pads charge?

 

[zedorda]

Wireless charging is just a new catch phrase for induction charging. Which is a very old technology with new marketing. It has never gone far since it's limitations are rooted in the laws of physics. It does have a large benefit to battery longevity but other than that is does waste about 40% of it's power to unused magnetic field generation.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Android Central Forums

 

[Ry]

Wireless charging is just a new catch phrase for induction charging. Which is a very old technology with new marketing. It has never gone far since it's limitations are rooted in the laws of physics. It does have a large benefit to battery longevity but other than that is does waste about 40% of it's power to unused magnetic field generation.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Android Central Forums

Wow. 40%. I'd rather plug my phone in directly.

 

[trucky]

Your basic incandescent light bulb wastes about 90% of it's energy as heat, but I still use em all over the place. Jus sayin...

 

[Rockbeast]

Wireless charging is just a new catch phrase for induction charging. Which is a very old technology with new marketing. It has never gone far since it's limitations are rooted in the laws of physics. It does have a large benefit to battery longevity but other than that is does waste about 40% of it's power to unused magnetic field generation.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Android Central Forums

Please do not take offense, but I don't believe it is that high (40%) in reality. I'm no expert by any means, but I participated and enjoyed reading through a lot of discussions on this regarding the Palm Touchstone in the webOS Central forums over the last 3 years and I seem to recall that folks tested the draw of energy from a touchstone system versus just the straight usb cable connection, both being provided power from the same palm wall plug, and that it was closer to a 10% difference in power draw. Another aspect these discussions considered was the time to charge. If I remember correctly, the induction charging on the Touchstone was a little slower than directly plugging in, but not by much...maybe about 10% (sounds like 10 is my favorite number!). I'll go back and try to find this info to be a little clearer...but I think it may be more efficient than losing 40%, at least in the Palm Touchstone application. But hey, as I alluded to in another post somewhere...Agent Smith can always use any excess power from unused magnetic field generation to maintain the Matrix.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

The usb charging port is one part of any phone that breaks often. A Wireless charging mat doesn't need to be powered by a micro/mini usb port.

Seriously? I've never broken the charging port on any phone, micro-USB or otherwise. In fact, I can't recall breaking the charging port on any device, ever.

You don't like the idea of having to charge your charging mat everytime to use it, but isn't that tye same for a portable charger or battery backup? I guess being able to carry it around is a plus, but they're not exactly compact.

But they're cheap, and I have several left over from old phones. I just leave a charger in all my regular locations, and have a 12 volt charger in my car, so I don't really need to carry one around unless I'm headed out of town.

 

[xKrNMBoYx]

Seriously? I've never broken the charging port on any phone, micro-USB or otherwise. In fact, I can't recall breaking the charging port on any device, ever.


But they're cheap, and I have several left over from old phones. I just leave a charger in all my regular locations, and have a 12 volt charger in my car, so I don't really need to carry one around unless I'm headed out of town.

Just because you have not had a usb port break on you does not mean it is the same with everyone else. Just like you none of my phones, mp3s, or tablets have had the port broken. It's just the fact these gadgets are mainstream now, and with older people and inexperienced people using them they do break a lot.

In your other case I guess you're right. I'm not here to try to convert you to use a wireless charger. I can care less. You seem to have a stable life so this does not seem to be an issue. But if you're out of the house a lot then you don't have all these wired chargers. I looked at this topic in my current life style, and in this lifestyle [a sad one ] both of the chargers in my car are not working, and am at school (college) most of the time. Neither am I staying put that long.

I guess the end deal, is can we not use wireless chargers, walled chargers, and backup batteries? I have enough chargers for at least one outlet in each room, and then we have enough standard usb cables for use with computers. I wish I could have some valuable information to tell you, but until Samsung releases a wireless charger I have no experience to backup my imagination.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

And I'm not trying to convince you wireless chargers are bad, either. I just take issue with the idea that broken charging ports are a common problem. Since I got my GS3 in November, I might have seen 2 or 3 people in the forum complaining about problems with the micro USB port. Hardly an epidemic.

And I don't see where your comments about being out of the house a lot make any difference. A wireless charger still needs to be plugged in to a wall socket, and is no more portable (probably less so) than a standard wired AC charger or car charger. It doesn't just suck power out of the air. Given how you describe your lifestyle, I don't understand how will a wireless charger will help. And you can buy a new car charger for less than $10.

 

[jeffreii]

The convenience here seems to be outweighed by the cons: wasted power, can't really use the phone while it's charging, etc.

For some people it's probably worth it to them - and gimmicks often are like that - some people think they're a waste and some people just love gimmicks.

Where this technology would really begin to shine is in mass implementation...instead of just considering my own phone, what if everyone's phone could charge like this? You could have the pad somewhere convenient and multiple people could use it for their phones - me, my girlfriend, a friend who happened to come over. Once it's a commonplace technology, the convenience level increases greatly.

Personally, I have a hard time getting over the fact that it takes more power to charge my phone - and possibly does it slower. That's something they need to improve for sure.

 

[zedorda]

Please do not take offense, but I don't believe it is that high (40%) in reality. I'm no expert by any means, but I participated and enjoyed reading through a lot of discussions on this regarding the Palm Touchstone in the webOS Central forums over the last 3 years and I seem to recall that folks tested the draw of energy from a touchstone system versus just the straight usb cable connection, both being provided power from the same palm wall plug, and that it was closer to a 10% difference in power draw. Another aspect these discussions considered was the time to charge. If I remember correctly, the induction charging on the Touchstone was a little slower than directly plugging in, but not by much...maybe about 10% (sounds like 10 is my favorite number!). I'll go back and try to find this info to be a little clearer...but I think it may be more efficient than losing 40%, at least in the Palm Touchstone application. But hey, as I alluded to in another post somewhere...Agent Smith can always use any excess power from unused magnetic field generation to maintain the Matrix.

No offense taken but I definitely miss worded the 40% thing. I should of said 40% of the magnetic field is unused but no that 40% is not under load so the power draw is not 40% of the total draw. So over the time of a charge the waste would not be more than 10%-15% of the total but even those margins are pretty sad for the now-a-day green movement. Sorry for such a huge misleading statement.

In the immortal words of Slartibartfast "I would rather be happy than right any day."

 

[Rockbeast]

The convenience here seems to be outweighed by the cons: wasted power, can't really use the phone while it's charging, etc.

...Personally, I have a hard time getting over the fact that it takes more power to charge my phone - and possibly does it slower. That's something they need to improve for sure.

I did want to say that with my Palm Pre, the phone was pretty usable while on the Touchstone. You had something called Exhibition Mode (not something only on display in New Orleans during Mardi Gras... ) where the phone would display certain information while on the Touchstone. Depending on your setup, you could show the current time, or the weather/forcast, or the status of things like battery, power draw, speed processor was running (using the Govnah app and it's Exhibition enabled data), or a slide show of your photos like a screensaver (oops, there's that Mardi Gras photo I should have deleted!), etc. And, if a call came in, you could answer it while it was on the stone and it would operate in speakerphone mode...or pick it up and it would go to regular handheld mode. I really liked those features. As for the extra cost of energy loss...I don't know. in the grand scheme of things, is the AMOUNT really notable? Maybe it is 10-15% more energy use for the same amount of charging, maybe the time it takes to charge up is increased by 10%. But is the real amount of energy loss negligible or notable? As a percentage, it may not look efficient, but as an actual amount of waste, is it really notable? One can spend fortunes improving efficiency only to save a dime...yes you are more efficient, but at what cost? Technology has its limits...which may get better with time and research...but we do have to operate in the reality of today, while looking at improvements for the future. Whoa...where am I going here? Time to cut off the jello shots!

Oh, by the way, I actually haven't been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, so I have no idea what I'm talking about...just so you know...

 

[jjhoneck]

How fast do these charging pads charge?

VERY fast.

I've had my wireless charge mat for a couple of weeks, now, and am amazed that I can lay my phone on it at the start of supper, with maybe 40% charge left, and have it fully charged by dessert.

I absolutely love this thing, if for no other reason than I no long have to futz around in the dark trying to find a charge cord. (My phone lives next to my bed at night, and I often stay up later than my wife, so turning on a light was verboten.). Just lay it down on the mat -- it really is that simple!

Every phone should come with wireless charging capability. I know I will never be without it again.

 

[Rockbeast]

VERY fast.

I've had my wireless charge mat for a couple of weeks, now, and am amazed that I can lay my phone on it at the start of supper, with maybe 40% charge left, and have it fully charged by dessert.

I absolutely love this thing, if for no other reason than I no long have to futz around in the dark trying to find a charge cord. (My phone lives next to my bed at night, and I often stay up later than my wife, so turning on a light was verboten.). Just lay it down on the mat -- it really is that simple!

This is true! I felt like Luke Skywalker wearing the helmet with the blast shield down and using 'The Force' to find the USB port and connect my phone in the dark, but laying it on the Touchstone is easy to do in the dark. The magnetic 'grab' helps to line it up and you get a notification that it is wirelessly charging so you know.

I just had an epiphany...name the wireless charging pad/stone "The Force"...Lucas won't mind...will he?

By the way...how many courses do you usually have for dinner? I mean, if it is one of those medieval feasts that go on for hours...or is it a 45 minute deal?

 

[Rockbeast]

Why are people so interested in wireless energy transmission? Check out this story!

http://txchnologist.com/post/43160353907/wireless-electricity-transmission-being-deployed-to

"Ain't technology cool?" --John Travolta

 

[Golfdriver97]

I think I would be inclined to buy a charging mat so long as the phone was equipped with the hardware to support it. I don't really want to physically set up the hardware for my phone myself. I think there would be a good market for this, being several different sized mats could be used so that you can have a small mat to charge a single device to a large one that will simultaneously charge a 10" tablet, and a couple smartphones.

It would cause less wear and tear on the USB connection on the phone, so that it can still be used for connecting to a PC.

 

[Rockbeast]

Buy this patch, apply it inside the stock back cover of your S3, buy the mat or other qi compatible charging device...voila! OK, so I haven't done this, but I'm thinking about doing it. I read one review on the use of this patch that it would even charge through an otterbox defender case. THAT would be awesome. I have the OD, and although it isn't my daily case, if I know I can charge through THAT beast, I know I'll get a charge through pretty much any other case I might use.