I’m a big fan of wireless charging. My Palm Treo Plus used Palm’s Touchstone wireless charger, as did my Palm Pixi Plus. I’ve now switched away from Palm and those Android devices I’ve used with wireless charging, have used the Qi standard. That was my Google Nexus 4, the Nexus 5 (briefly) and my 2013 Nexus 7. I’ve also used an aftermarket Qi to MicroUSB adapter, which I can insert under a flexible case to recharge my device. For me, the beauty of wireless charging is that I can place the device on my charger mat by my bedside and give it an overnight top up without worrying about plugging wires in; it’s perfect for when it’s dark. Depending on the handset and charger that I use, some are fussier than others, but I have an expensive motorized Panasonic charger unit that will adapt itself to suit whatever fussy device I’m trying to charge (here’s looking at my Nexus 4).
However, my problem with Qi wireless charging is that it’s slow. It’s not so much of an issue if I put the device on the charger for an overnight top up, but my 2013 Nexus 7 LTE takes many hours to recharge. If I ever wake up in the small hours and decide to read until I fall asleep, I often find my Nexus 7 isn’t fully recharged. And this is because the magnetic induction charging technology can only put around 5 watts of energy into the device: it typically takes somewhere around six hours to recharge the Nexus 7, which has a 3,950 mAh battery. And it’s the reason why my Nexus 10 doesn’t include Qi charging, otherwise it would likely take fifteen hours to fully charge!
Now, Freescale (a chip manufacturer that also specializes in wireless charging) are working on a high performance wireless charger that should be able to charging devices up to three times quicker. This means that it’ll take a couple of hours to recharge my Nexus 7 and should open up the technology to larger tablets; it may take four to five hours to recharge something with a 9,000 mAh battery such as the Nexus 10, but this is covered by an overnight charge so would be acceptable for many users. But let me ask our readers; do you use wireless charging on your devices? Have you picked a device because it supports wireless charging? Or invested in a third party accessory? Let us know in the comments below.