Wireless Charging: Beneficial or Fancy?
By: Rajas Neve
Tags: Technology, Future, Battery, Wireless Charging, Breakthrough

One fine day before the lockdown, I was discussing with my friend about wireless charging and its features. In the middle of the discussion, he snapped and said, “How is it wireless if it has wires connected to the wireless charging pad?”. Well it is somewhat true and I started thinking that is it groundbreaking or is it something fancy which everyone seems to use because it’s considered cool?

Well, I am writing this article exactly for this question to be answered and the discussion will be limited to wireless charging in electronic devices like Phones, Smartwatches, truly wireless buds, etc. So, let’s start answering a few questions before we jump into it!

Wireless Charging Pad

Q1: Why does wireless charging exist?

If you don’t know about wireless charging you are probably living under a rock. Wireless charging has been around since the late 19th century when electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla demonstrated magnetic resonant coupling — the ability to transmit electricity through the air by creating a magnetic field between two circuits, a transmitter, and a receiver.

The companies which provide wireless charging support were Alliance for wireless power (A4WP), Power Matters Alliance (PMA), and Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). The common form of wireless charging which we see in our gadgets is the Qi (Pronounced as “Chi”) wireless charging is developed by WPC and was standardized by Apple after they used it in iPhone X along with iPhone 8.

This technology exists to increase mobility and to provide convenience to the users of just placing their phone of a pad or table and leave it there to charge without having to find the cable and placing it in the device. This technology has a lot of pros and cons. So, let’s discuss them one by one to get clarity on its existence.

Qi Wireless Charging Logo

Q2: What are its Pros and Cons?

Pros:

Less wear and tear of the charger (including the cable) and the charging port on the phone. Using the wireless charger helps to remove the port and cable from continuous use and hence enhancing the life of the charger. This has a great environmental impact as it generates less trash for our landfills. Better waterproofing: Using wireless charging will make the charging port on devices obsolete. This, in turn, improves the waterproofing of the device as no exposed electrical area remains on the body of the device. Safer to transfer power: Well, its safer in 2 ways. As it charges the device using mutual inductance, the damage a fluctuating current can do is negligible as opposed to when the device is plugged in. Also, it is safer as it can only be used to transfer power and no information can be taken out of the phone even if you use an unknown charger which is a serious threat when you connect your phone through cables to an unknown charging port. Charging multiple devices is possible on wireless charging docks of larger size. This being a minimal pro but serves a good purpose if you have multiple wirelessly charging devices with you. Convenience: This is a debatable pro but I feel it should be on the pros list as it changes the way you charge your phone! (For people who occasionally like to use the phone while charging you can always sit and use your phone or even use the normal wired charger as it is always provided in the box)

Cons:

Slower charging: This is a major flaw of the wireless charging which people in the industry discuss. But even wired charging technology was slower when it was introduced and was eventually researched and made better. Now, OnePlus has made a breakthrough by making a 30W wireless charger and things will continue to get better. Also, this slow behavior is induced due to the lower efficiency of wireless charging which is improving to get better. Materials and Heating: This technology can’t work through metal. So, materials like glass and plastic should be used to enable it. During the charging process the back of the device which stays on the pad gets heated up slightly causing a minimal decrease in the life of the device itself. Expensive and Portability: To use wireless charging you have to first buy a device that supports wireless charging which can cost you on an average INR 45,000 (Around $600). Additionally you have to purchase a wireless charger that is not included in the box. Now this wireless charger costs about INR 3000 (Around $40). This much of an investment does not justify the pros of the technology but this will get cheaper for sure. Also, the charger is not very portable due to its bulkiness and when traveling would be a nuisance to carry along.

Reverse Wireless Charging

Q3: What will the future of wireless look like?

The form of wireless charging mentioned above is very primitive that uses coils that should be lined up closely at about a distance of 1.5 cm. Now, we can already see the technology of a single wireless charger kept in the center of the room charging devices all over space. The only issue with this is the emf waves that may be harmful to living things. But the future for charging depends a lot on battery technology and that is one thing which will change tremendously in the future.

Probable Future of Wireless Charging

Humans will always find better ways to tackle environmental issues caused due to battery disposal and reuse. For this a better battery technology will emerge and we may see different ways to charge it. Concluding I would like to say that wireless charging is better than wired charging and in the coming years it will become more efficient, affordable and would be seen as a necessity rather than a fancy tech!