In 2013 I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, a model that was brought to the United States from Spain, since at that time I lived in Florida. That terminal was an incredible device, with a huge screen, a lot of power and one of the first with the Samsung S-Pen that is currently giving such good results .
At that time, wireless charging was not common, iPhones did not yet have it , and there were few models that boasted it . However, I was able to buy a device that allowed any cell phone to use wireless charging, at least those that had a removable battery, or those that used a case. It was an inductive charging coil that can still be purchased in many stores today .
The experience was not as comfortable as it is now, because every time I wanted to charge my phone with a cable I had to remove that accessory. However, it opened my mind to a much more convenient way of charging mobile phones. Right now, as I write this, my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a few centimeters from my keyboard on a stand with wireless charging filling the battery but ready for me to pick it up at any moment to answer a call, take a screenshot, etc
Since then I have been using literally hundreds of different phones, some with wireless charging and others without. But my personal phones in recent years have all had Qi charging , the Huawei P30 Pro, the OnePlus 9 Pro, the Vivo X80 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. At home I haven’t charged my cell phone via cable for years, leaving that only for trips.
The comfort
The main advantage of this type of loading is convenience . Leaving your cell phone on the table in the office, or in the living room, or in the kitchen, is something that is done dozens of times throughout the day. That it can be charged while we do that is very convenient.
Obviously, this implies that we have chargers of this type throughout the house , but currently there are many models that are not particularly expensive, especially those that use an average speed, about 15 W. In stores like Amazon you can buy both the They are flat to place the mobile horizontally like those that are vertical and make the device face the user, allowing it to be used as a stand for video calls.
Speed
One of the drawbacks that wireless charging could have is the charging speed, normally about 15 or 18 W. Of course, in many models from brands such as Xiaomi, Vivo or OPPO, the speed of wireless charging is even faster than wired charging from brands such as Google, Apple or Samsung. The only downside is that you have to use wireless chargers from those manufacturers to reach those speeds.
What you must always be careful about is placing the mobile phone correctly , since with flat chargers it is possible that we support it and the mobile phone does not align perfectly, so we could think that the device is charging but it is not. To do this, they usually have LED lights that indicate if the mobile phone is charging.
Cars
The only place where I still regularly charged my phone via cable when necessary (which wasn’t very often) was in the car, but since I switched to the Tesla Model Y I don’t even do it there. That car comes with two wireless charging stations, something that both my partner and I use a lot, as it allows us to have the phone at hand while charging, without fear of a cable getting tangled and causing an accident.
Teslas are not, by any means, the only cars with wireless chargers, this being something increasingly common even in mid-size combustion cars like the Citroën C4X . Of course, in many cases there is only one wireless charging station, not two.
The new Qi2
Wireless charging evolves as other technologies do , although it is true that in this case the speed of said evolution is not very high. Despite this, in recent months Qi2 , the new standardized charging protocol among all manufacturers, including Apple, has been announced.
The biggest advantage of Qi2 is the possibility of using magnets , like MagSafe does, to ensure that whenever the phone is placed on a charger it aligns perfectly. This technology was expected to be launched throughout 2023, but the year is ending and it seems that we will have to wait for the next one.
What charger to buy
Mobile phones have come with a charging cable in the box for years, but that has changed in recent years. What they have never had is a wireless charger as standard, so you have to buy them separately. They are available in many stores , and in many shapes. Some have been designed to charge more than one cell phone at a time, and others also allow you to charge watches. But the biggest difference is between those that are horizontal or vertical.
Horizontal ones are usually cheaper , and even IKEA sells one , extremely cheap and simple, which can be perfect for charging your phone at night. For less than 6 euros we can’t fault it too much. Among the vertical ones there are also cheap ones , like another one from IKEA that costs less than 20 euros . You can also opt for models from our mobile brand, especially if they are from Xiaomi , OPPO or Vivo , since they offer much greater fast charging, even at a higher price.
Finally, we have portable batteries with wireless charging , which allow you to charge your cell phone wirelessly even when traveling. This one from IKEA costs less than 20 euros , and other brands can cost a little more, but they also have more capacity .
