Charging devices is something we all do everyday, like chores it is mandatory to charge one’s electronic devices at least once a day or suffer the consequences of living like it is 1963, because a lot of what we do depends on electronic devices, laptops, lamps, radios and smartphones.
Since smartphones became main stream there has it has been a challenge to maintain long lasting battery life so as a alternative, the charging technology has been improved so that despite the short battery life, empty phones can be charged faster for people to get back to using them. First came the fast charging technology and now there is wireless charging.
Like everything these days, wireless is the way to go and charging is no exception. This is how it works.
Wireless charging also called inductive charging is the transfer of energy from one object to another with the help of electromagnetic currents. Wireless charging consists of two components the charging base and the charging device. The charging base is has an induction coil inside it and when it is connected to electricity, that coil produces an electromagnetic charge. The charging device, in this case a smartphone also has a induction coil that receives the electromagnetic charge from the base, when the two come into contact. It then transfers the electromagnetic charge into electricity and charges the battery.
Wireless charging might have been made popular in 2018 when the large smartphone makers like Apple and Samsung marketed it more, but the current and most popular standard of wireless charging called Qi wireless charging was established in 2010. Picked up by large electronics manufacturers and perfected to what we have today. Some of these perfections include fast charging through wireless charging bases, sleeker designs that can accommodate more than just one device at a time and Huawei with their Mate 20 Pro has gone as far as making it possible for their phone to become charging bases for other phones that support wireless charging.
When compared to charging with a cord, wireless charging has advantages such as less corrosion from the constant plugging in and out of a cord and thus has more durability for the phone and the charger. It is also more convenient since all you have to do is place the device on a charging base which is as easy as placing a phone on a table. The biggest downside with wireless charging is compatibility. Not many devices are compatible with this kind of technology. Those smartphones that support wireless charging need to be made of ceramic or glass casings to enable the conductivity because it wouldn’t work through plastic and yet plastic phone cases are cheaper to make. So for now, it is only available on premium and expensive smartphone devices.
Some of the phones that support wireless charging that you can get today include:
- iPhone XS and XS Max
- Samsung Galaxy S9/Note 9
- Sony Xperia XZ3
- LG G7/V40 ThinQ
- Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL
- Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro
Elit 