How Does Wireless Charging Work? [Smartphone wireless charging explained]
I guess all of you out there must have heard about wireless charging, there are a lot of people out there even using smartphones that can be charged wirelessly and If you are even the slightest bit familiar with wireless charging, you’d would probably know that currently some of the most popular flagship devices from companies such as Apple and Samsung use it.
This includes devices such as the iPhone 8, and 8 Plus, iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy S8, S8 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 8. But the mechanics behind how the process of wireless charging work is very interesting.
Wireless or inductive charging was first used near the 90s for electric toothbrush in the United States, the idea of transporting one part of the electricity to another without indoor wires got crazy, and people started using it more and more until the day when it's being advertised a lot.
How does putting your phone on a plate help charge it? how does the magic happen?
It's pretty easy physics actually, inductive charging uses the electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two objects. This is done between two main plates which communicate to each other using this electromagnetic field I mentioned earlier.
The first plate is called the charging station (transmitter) and that’s what we call the charging plate normally. The second one is actually called a coil (receiver) built in your device which communicates with the battery, transfers the energy into electricity that charges up the device.
This coil built in the device is actually located near the battery. A lot of smart phones out there have used wireless charging for a long time, for example Nokia was one of the first launching the Lumia 820 and 920 on September 2012 supporting this kind of feature built in. Google and LG then teamed up to build the Nexus 4 later on which also supported this kind of future, then came Apple and Samsung with their latest flagships and there are many more out there.
All these phones I just mentioned have this kind of feature built in and don't need other accessories except for a charging plate.
The Wireless Power Consortium has established the Qi protocol which dictates how the charger and the device work together but all you really need to know is that Qi chargers work with Qi devices. Obviously, If you are looking to buy a wireless charger for your device you should also look into the fact that it must be Qi Certified.
So you should make sure that you are buying the proper hardware when attempting to wirelessly charge your device. Also you should keep in mind that wireless charging is not only for your smartphone but it can also work with other devices which use a battery.
In a broad scope, an interesting example would be recent news from BMW stating that there is a possibility that they will be making a wirelessly charging car. This device is called the BMW Pad.
The BMW pad connects to a 220-volt outlet then the sensors on the car show you where to steer so the vehicle can communicate with the charger. Read more
As good as it can be, wireless charging has its advantages and disadvantages too.
ADVANTAGES
First, it uses protecting connection so wires cannot cause damage as they are not present in your water or high risk faults, and your ability of course without needing to constantly plug and unplug your device, it looks quite good in a statical way of course.
DISADVANTAGES
The majority of devices out there charge quite slow using this kind of feature as it has a higher frequency. Well you can say the note 5 has four wireless charging and that's true but it consumes a lot of electricity and they actually increase the phone price since they are more expensive being included in.
Thanks to @camzy for the amazing toon.
Good explanation its helped alot
I'm glad you found it useful.
Nice work. Ride on Dear
Thanks for dropping by.