What Does Wireless Charging Do Anyway?

[LezCronut]

I don't understand yet the benefit of wireless charging.
What I call revolutionary is if it can charge anywhere completely wireless just like wifi or Bluetooth connection.

I can't even pick up a call while the phone is sitting on the wireless charging station.
So why do many people want wireless charging anyway?

 

[Almeuit]

Convenience. When I had my S6 it always sat on my desk at home so having a charging pad worked great. It sat and charged.. If i need to answer a call, place one, or text I simply lifted and went.. No worries about battery since it has been charging.

It isn't ground breaking but it can be useful.

 

[getbretweir]

I don't understand yet the benefit of wireless charging.
What I call revolutionary is if it can charge anywhere just like wifi or Bluetooth connection.

I can't even pick up a call while the phone is sitting on the wireless charging station.
So why do many people want wireless charging anyway?

I agree, just don't get what the big deal is. it's cool, it's different, and it's convenient. that I get, but it's not a must have feature. like you said, once we get Wi-Fi charging, our whatever it's called, that'll be interesting.

 

[spiff_p239]

It's a matter of convenience. Ever try to plug your phone in to charge in the dark? When I can just set it on my charging dock on the nightstand, I don't have to worry about finding the cable. It's also less wear and tear on the USB port. My last reason is for safety for the phone. I've had something snag on the cable (dog walking by, my stupid feet, etc) and drag the phone with it off of the nightstand or my desk. With wireless charging, you don't have to worry about that.

 

[ab304945]

It's a matter of convenience. Ever try to plug your phone in to charge in the dark? When I can just set it on my charging dock on the nightstand, I don't have to worry about finding the cable. It's also less wear and tear on the USB port. My last reason is for safety for the phone. I've had something snag on the cable (dog walking by, my stupid feet, etc) and drag the phone with it off of nightstand or my desk. With wireless charging, you don't have to worry about that.

Only time I plug my phone in is in my car if needed. At work and home it's on wireless charging when it needs charged

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[minnemike]

I used wireless charging on my N4 quite a bit. But I think I would've dumped it if I had the option for quick charge instead. It was nice when I had a need to keep my phone at the ready on my desk, but now that I use google voice on the desktop, the phone is only used on the couch or away from home.

 

[WinstonSmith#AC]

I love wireless charging for my desk at work.

 

[Evilnut]

Wireless charging is a nice convenience for some people. Especially those that work at a desk. I am in a work truck and on job sites all day, so I would have no use for it during the day. On weekends I am rarely home. I'm either riding my motorcycle or out doing lots of other activities. When I am home and charge my phone, I just plug it in. I mainly use my tablet or Chromebook when I'm at home. Plus, USB Type C connectors are much more durable and are reversible, so you don't need to worry about inserting them a certain way. So I am fine with a phone without wireless charging since I would probably never use it anyway.

Posted via Android Central App from a beautiful Ebony backed Original Moto X or the amazing Nexus 10

 

[Billy Bob Jimmy Joe]

Gimmicky features sell.

ASUS ZenFone 2 (4GB RAM)

 

[ScottMGS]

If you've never used it, yes, it can seem gimmicky. I had it on my Palm Pre that I used from 2009 to 2012 and I missed it when I moved to Android when HP killed Palm. The convenience is more than just "nice" and the wear and tear on the USB port is a real thing (as spiff_p239 wrote) for those of us who don't have bottomless pockets of cash to upgrade to the latest-and-greatest every year. We just had to replace a phone with a worn-out USB port.

 

[CarbonOak]

The current problem with wireless charging is that it may charges too slow. I've had the Nexus 6 since launch and while I enjoy the convenience of a wireless charging stand on my desk, it oftentimes doesn't charge fast enough before I take it off the stand and do other things, especially if I have a few apps running while it's on there.

Once I got a fast charging cable and wall plug, I went from 30% to 100% in like 45 min. That's something that wireless charging can't do right now. So I certainly won't miss it on the new Nexuses.

 

[Subliminal]

Here's the thing that bothers people. The 4 had it, the 5 had it, and the 6 have it. Because of that, a ton of people have spent a ton of loot on chargers... Heck, they've even made furniture with wireless charging.

Once you think that the Nexus line is going to continually have wireless charging, and you've spent a few hundred bucks on it, it's disconcerting when they just decide you don't need it anymore.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[PhyscoAssassinX]

To be honest I'm not much of a fan, line yea its cool to just throw it on a pad and have it charge but wireless charging isn't as fast as wired charging, also if you're battery conscious like me, you know that connecting and disconnecting from the charger prematurely is damaging to the battery, so I try to only disconnect it when it's done charging where with wireless charging you'd have to disconnect it to use it

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[minnemike]

Here's the thing that bothers people. The 4 had it, the 5 had it, and the 6 have it. Because of that, a ton of people have spent a ton of loot on chargers... Heck, they've even made furniture with wireless charging.

Once you think that the Nexus line is going to continually have wireless charging, and you've spent a few hundred bucks on it, it's disconcerting when they just decide you don't need it anymore.

Posted via the Android Central App

This is great point, but it isnt unique to wireless charging... there are many standards that go the way of the dodo bird over time. Hell, I bet they come up with a quick charge wireless standard at some point making all these devices useless anyways. I think the bottom line with Nexus is to be prepared for anything and everything to change. It is more a platform for showing off the Android OS than anything else and really will never cater to peripheral standards or any static hardware tech.

 

[LezCronut]

Could there be a strong reason Apple does not incorporate wireless charging into iPhones? Apple usually has the more acute sense of 'what's going to be a revolutionary feature in the future'.

 

[LezCronut]

It's a matter of convenience. Ever try to plug your phone in to charge in the dark? When I can just set it on my charging dock on the nightstand, I don't have to worry about finding the cable. It's also less wear and tear on the USB port. My last reason is for safety for the phone. I've had something snag on the cable (dog walking by, my stupid feet, etc) and drag the phone with it off of the nightstand or my desk. With wireless charging, you don't have to worry about that.

Well to be honest, finding the cable in the middle of the night, or snag on the cable, in my opinion is not really a strong enough reason to have wireless charging. Some companies must have manufactured glow in the dark cables. You can simply place the charger and the phone in a safer place. Wear and tear usb port can be addressed by building a more robust usb port.

To me, it's clear the name itself "wireless charging" shows what's the #1 function it was designed to serve. It is wirelessly charging a phone. That's the function engineers striving to achieve.
But this current form of wireless charging is not completely wireless, and it still sits on the table. So to me it's clearly a primordial form of what the technology will evolve into: a completely wireless charging. It's still at an experimental stage. That's why Apple couldn't care less to put it on an iPhone.

So I agree with Google and Apple, the current form of wireless charging is not a must-have feature.

 

[spiff_p239]

Well to be honest, finding the cable in the middle of the night, or snag on the cable, in my opinion is not really a strong enough reason to have wireless charging. Some companies must have manufactured glow in the dark cables. You can simply place the charger and the phone in a safer place. Wear and tear usb port can be addressed by building a more robust usb port.

To me, it's clear the name itself "wireless charging" shows what's the #1 function it was designed to serve. It is wirelessly charging a phone. That's the function engineers striving to achieve.
But this current form of wireless charging is not completely wireless, and it still sits on the table. So to me it's clearly a primordial form of what the technology will evolve into: a completely wireless charging. It's still at an experimental stage. That's why Apple couldn't care less to put it on an iPhone.

So I agree with Google and Apple, the current form of wireless charging is not a must-have feature.

I don't want glow in the dark charging cables. I want as few light sources as possible when I go to sleep. You may not see the advantage to it, but a lot of people do including some car manufacturers. While it may not be a perfect technology, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. To each his own, I guess.

 

[Almeuit]

It's still at an experimental stage. That's why Apple couldn't care less to put it on an iPhone.

I highly doubt that is why ^_^.

 

[jhayrocas]

I hate wrangling cables or being tied to wall socket because the cord is too short for some considerable movement while the phone is being charged.

And for some reason, charger cords are becoming less and less durable as they years come by.