TLDR: It's not Wireless Charging, it's "A place to keep your phone" - and that is no bad thing.
The magical goal of 'wireless charging' is still a little way off, I think we'll see a sort of halfway point over the next couple of years where items on your desk or side-table will be able to transmit small amounts of electricity that'll almost leak into every battery you put on it. And as devices require less charge, it'll become more useful - if it can do your phone, then why not your keyboard and mouse?
To give you a quick science lesson in how electricity works.
Think of a river, going from A to B. The Watts is how wide the river is, and the Volts is the flow. Move too many volts on a system with
But because of optimization, you can have only a handful of volts & it's enough to charge your phone. So now in about 30 mins of 5-10 volts, you get enough juice to get you home. Plus MicroUSB can do that 5v with 1/10th of an Amp
What we want is a series of streams across the table without water getting everywhere (well, fire really, as things over-heat). So there are ways of using Magnets or Radio Frequencies that all work on the lab & tech-expo showroom, but aren't quite manufacturable right now. Lots of organizations backing different ways.
So there are a few 'wireless'
Apple sticks their awe in.
So Apple joined the Wireless Power Consortium, and they back Qi. So we don't get the distance, but we the WPC get a huge boost. iPhones suddenly have Qi, which means places like McDonalds have Qi pads whilst eating your burger, and cars have them in too. This is the first step.
Then there are ones that use all sorts of Radio
It's not quite wireless, it barely goes beyond your phone's case, but it does show that if you put your phone down on that spot, you'll get a charge.
But in the mean time, we've got Magnets and nobody knows HTF they work.
OK, but QI (Chinese Qi - Chee) chargers still need the wire, and that's crap. Well, both yes and no.
At home, we have the chargers dotted around the house. I have one at my desk and one by my bed, mum has one in her room, and we have two where she keeps the printer. We have one in the hall, two in the living room. They cost like £10-15
We have them dotted around in so many places that there is always one at hand. So when we are leaving our phones layout about, it's just as easy to put one in a Qi Stand than it is to leave or to plug in. No matter where we are indoors.
So why are Qi chargers any good?
That's the thing, come in with a hand for of groceries, give Sir NukNuk (my 🐶) a fuss, walk to the kitchen to get the kettle on - and whilst doing this, without thinking; take the phone out our pocket and place it on a reader, keys next door it, etc.... and that's it. That's the phone starting it's charging sequence. It also makes you put your phone in (one of the many) right places it's supposed to go. I wish everything had Qi charging.
Yes, it is easy to pug something in, every technology today has a "There was an easier way around" about it - When was the last time your grand-dad threw a slipper at you to make you change the channel?
Sure, it's slower charging, slower still than having a wire. Just. It has 10 times the amount of Amps as a wire, and we have that same 5 volts - but really that's all you need - its basically what we had before, except now you don't need to plug something in. In fact, you can get some that are up to 10-15 volts, but now I'm getting confused about volts and amps because I thought it was supposed to be less.
But the thing is, you're not actively charging your phone gets just placing it in its proper spot... which happens to charge it.
which is a double bonus for me because I'm a dickhead never puts things right spot
But Pauly, what if I don't have a QI standard of Phone - like the old iPhones (7 an down ) or a low-range Android?
This is where Amazon has your back. You can get a little card that contains the correct do-hickey cards to accept a Qi connection. And most Android and iOS phones have had them for years - Apple was late to getting them, and even then that was 3-4 years ago. Then put your case on and you're all done !!!
But for me, it's not about them charging without having to plug things in, "There is a place for every
One of the only
And QI is cheap too, it's an open standard; so that means Ikea can bring them into table lamps, or for £10 you can get a mousemat with a charger
So there we go, Qi Charging is not about the charging and more about having a proper place for your device. Who'dthunkDAT? Nah'moi.
Plus it's so cheap, that you can build Qi into almost anything.
Postamble
Like how we have Wireless Internet today, and how 5G is faster than having a house's wired connection - we'll have real wireless energy.
But in the