Wired is more efficient, you can pick it up and use it while charging, and the cable usually comes free with the phone. What is the point of wireless charging pads?
So I can keep the waterproof case sealed.
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Does the thickness of the case increase the heat byproduct of wireless charging?
it shouldn’t.
There shouldn’t be any heat at all from the signal passing through the plastic (It’s basically transparent to RF’s,). The heat mostly comes from the RF interacting with the metal in the receiving antenna and inducing an electric current.
The extra space isn’t going to cause more heat on its own, but the phone is still going to get warm, and a thick case can prevent that heat from dissipating properly. A good charging design will already have taken this into account, and start limiting current if the temp gets too high.
The primary downside to using induction charging through a case is decreased power transfer efficiency due to the greater distance.
The case may prevent the heat from the phone (which should be the same) from dissipating so it can possibly build.
I use wireless charging 99% of the time. It’s convenient to plop your phone or earbuds down and effortlessly grab them when it’s time to go.
The other reason I like wireless: less wear on your phone’s USB port. Even though USB-C is supposedly good for millions of plug/unplug cycles I’ve had several phones with USB-C that get wonky after about 2+ years. “Wonky” as in having to hold the cable just right to transfer data or even successfully fast charge.
Wireless charging drastically cuts down on the amount of times you’ll be ramming a USB cable into it’s port, hopefully prolonging it’s useful life.
That wonkiness often times is just lint jammed into the charging port, and a thorough cleaning fixes the issue
It’s heartening to see someone else sharing what’s usually my line! I recommend a wooden toothpick for the aforementioned cleaning.
Adding on to this, it’s good to switch to wireless before the point gets wonky if you want to use the cable for data.
Yeah, the USB port on all my phones was the first thing to go, and then you’re just stuck doing the stupid little dance of getting the cable to go in at the exact right angle to get it to charge. With wireless (especially with MagSafe), you just put it on the charger and you never need to worry about cables. I’ve got a plug on my USB port to keep dirt out now.
Wow, I’ve never had any issues with USB ports on any of my phones. Which one of us is the outlier? Do you ram the cable in too hard? Do you bend the connector in weird ways?
Nah, it’s just lint and other crap getting into the port. You can clean the USB-C ones easier than the micro-USB ones, but eventually they all go.
You do realize that wireless charging is also very inefficent and reduces your battery lifespan, right? It’s also kinda weird that your port goes bad after such a short time. Maybe you should clean it more often and make sure not to put any tension on it when you use it. I even have a 10 year old phone and the port (micro usb) still works perfectly fine.
I’ve been wireless charging exclusively for 5 years and had minimal change in battery life.
Yep, convenience of plopping the phone down really is 100% of it for me. Especially with Apple’s magnets setup, it’s a one-hand, one-second operation, and then the phone is standing at attention on its cradle stand. The thought of having a dangling cable on my desk and picking it up and fiddling to plug it in then laying the phone flat seems like something from 10 years ago. I’ve even forgotten once or twice what kind of port my phone has.
I’m disabled. Wireless charging, especially when I can use the magnets that auto locate the coil, is a huge win.
(I also use charging wires with removable magnetic tips, that I leave in the device. But that wasn’t the question.)
I said the public charging stations was the most legitimate answer I read before but this is obviously the most legitimate answer.
I’ve never heard of these magnetic wires before, do they work well? I feel like I would prefer that
I’ve used the mag chargers for years and really love them. The little metal lug can feel a bit odd, and I had to clean metal shavings off it when I did fab for work, but it’s all around great to use. It basically turns your charging cable into a coaxle cable, so it can’t do data, but the cable can spin freely as you charge and can be magneted to other things when you aren’t so the cord is easy to manage.
Much of a difference in charge time if any?
Honestly, between the two I’ve never noticed. The cables can die easy, but that’s because I get them cheap.
I use one at work to passively charge my phone without having to deal with cables. Keeps my desk a bit tidier.
I like keeping my desk clean too but there is the inevitable person who says “clean desks are for simple minds and true geniuses thrive in chaos” so I have to keep a corner of loose wires to look smart
You can certainly have both. Fewer cables means more room for chaos, like my USB powered mini handvac
I would trust you in whatever industry you work in
I have a wireless charger by my bed for charging overnight, it’s easier to just plop my phone on the stand when half asleep rather than fumble with a cable. Also, charging speed doesn’t matter because it’s going to be plugged in for a few hours when I and it’s easy to grab when my alarm goes off. But when I need a quick charge, then it’s a fast charge cable all the way
Probably if you’re too lazy to grab a cord, line it up with the plug, and press gently but firmly. With wireless, you can just lob it vaguely in the right vicinity and not overstrain your fine motor skills.
The amount of times I have tripped on a charging cord and sent my phone flying…
… but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?
I thought it you don’t line it up exactly right it charges slowly and heats up a lot, ruining the battery
if it’s not aligned properly, it should shut off to prevent that from happening. (or, for example, if you place something else that’s metal over it.)
If it’s completely misaligned yes. But there’s a wide spectrum between too far off to even turn on, and perfectly aligned.
This is what magsafe/qi 2 fixes by including magnets which should have been there from the start.
Mine didn’t, unfortunately. It just charged very slow and got hot. Hopefully newer ones are like you say.
That’s part of the reason magsafe is now everywhere. Can’t misalign it if they self correct.
Thank you I didn’t realize the wireless chargers used magsafe.
Is magsafe built into the phone, or just in cases?
If you’re using an iPhone(12 or newer, Although not the 16e), then it’s in the phone. The bit in some cases is to add strength for accessories to snap to where it would be on the phone.
You can get MagSafe cases for some Android devices if you want to use MagSafe accessories with them.
My phone case is designed to attach a camera lens, and actually came with magsafe, but I didn’t have any magsafe attachments and ended up removing the magnets from the case because they interfered with the compass, despite promising not to.
I don’t trust public wired charging ports to anything other my mobile battery.
Since I can’t verify if a weird charging port won’t upload malware on site, I’d use wireless charging instead.
Mine’s magnetic. I have a charger on my nightstand. It keeps my phone in place, so it doesn’t get knocked down where it’s hard to get.
I also have a charging cradle on my desk. Keeps it upright. Makes it easy to glance at any notifications or quickly deal with MFA. I do sometimes unplug the cradle and just use it as a non-charging prop.
It’s also nice because, being magnetic, it also helps when I am having issues with my hands. (Stiff joints.)
I bought a little $15 phone stand from Amazon that does this great only without the charging stuff. It does have a slot on the bottom so you can plug the phone in while it’s on it tho.
It’s convenient to place my phone on at my computer and it’s just always charged. It is a little less efficient, but if you’re running a heater anyway then technically they’re both lossless (though gas heat may be cheaper for you if you have gas heat).
Some charging pads also prop up the phone at an angle, making it easy to read the screen while also not having to hold the phone up. Most phones have their charging port on the bottom, so a phone stand couldn’t be used while charging with a cord.
Maybe I’m old and prefer having the phone in my hand rather than propped at an angle unless I’m watching some videos, in which case my phone would be landscape mode anyways so the port is easily accessible
Apple’s mag safe charger is pretty popular and you can easily hold the phone in portrait mode while charging (at 25W with the latest models). The puck is thin and sticks to the center of the back of the phone.
Does it charg as efficiently as a wired power bank?
The one I’ve used on my Samsung isn’t as fast as a wired power bank, but I don’t need to wrangle the cables like I do with the wired ones. I wouldn’t use a magsafe power bank to charge my phone from 0 (too slow). But leaving it attached gives me an extra couple of hours with just a little extra weight. Useful for things like conventions or travel.
Not even close. Ifixit did some testing, daily MagSafe wireless charging uses 36% more energy than a wire (which includes idle power draw). It also means slower charging.
That’s not physically possible.
But it is extremely efficient for what it is. The first number I found on google said it’s 95% efficient.
I’m also old, but I understand people do watch portrait videos. Sometimes a lot of them, in a single sitting. There’s a popular social media app which exclusively has short-form portrait videos.
I’m old enough that it would probably be creepy if I did use tik tok
It makes the phone harder to use, which is ironically useful to some. tbh I don’t understand lol
Most people can put their phone down long enough to let it charge, pause the doomscrolling and touch grass.
Well, I don’t have a ton of use for my phone while sleeping, personally.
I use one in my car - it’s more convienet for short trips or trips with multiple stops. I do keep a cable for longer trips though, especially if I need to keep the screen on for GPS - the wireless charger makes the phone warm enough to stop charging over the course of an hour or so.
I’ve noticed that with the varying quality of USB cables, and them having broken/cracked wires over time, I usually get much faster charging when doing it wirelessly. If anything is way more consistent. With cords it’s a crap shot. Is this a fast charge cord? Was it cheaply made, is it deteriorating? I can use 4 different cords and get different results from each
Similar. I got a vehicle that had android auto, but not wireless. Plugging and unplugging all the time I’d go through a cable every few months. Power would work, but the shielding would break and it would screw with cell/GPS until I replaced the cable.
Got a wireless android auto adapter to stop buying cables. That’s great but I knew I wouldn’t plug in my phone every time like normal, so I use the wireless charging.
This is one of those things where you either live it and love it, or never understand.
Qi charging changes your very life.
This cannot be explained in words.
Some phones can get hotter (which is bad for battery health) when charging wirelessly.
The cold is also bad for batteries, so if you’ve been out in the winter for a while, it’ll help warm your phone up.
But how often are you charging outdoors? I have my phone in my pocket when I’m not using it during such temps, which always keeps it decent. Li-ion really only starts taking a hit from cold temps <40° F; in fact, slightly cold is better than room temp.
