Explained: How does wireless charging work and the effect it has on phone’s battery

What is the News?

Most consumers who are investing in flagship smartphones are opting for wireless chargers. However, there are some people who are still wary of adopting this tech, despite its convenience. 

What is Wireless Charging?

Wireless charging is the transfer of power from a power outlet to the device, without the need for a connecting cable.

How does wireless charging work?

Wireless charging uses electromagnetic induction to transfer electric energy from the charger to the smartphone.  For wireless charging to work, one needs a phone that supports wireless charging and a compatible wireless charger.

Note: Electromagnetic induction is a phenomenon by which a rapidly changing magnetic field produces electric energy in a closed loop that interacts with that magnetic field.

What are the various types of wireless charging?

Tightly-coupled electromagnetic inductive charging: Two copper coils need to be placed in close proximity for this technology to function. In this case, both the charger and the phone will have copper coils. The copper coils need to align for this type of wireless charging to work.

When one place a compatible smartphone on a wireless charger, a rapidly changing magnetic field interacts with the copper coil present inside the smartphone, inducing an electric current. The electric current produced is then used to charge the battery.

Radio Frequency (RF)-based charging: This aims to solve the proximity issue. This type charges gadgets wirelessly at a few feet of distance.

Users will be able to charge their phones without going near a charger in the near future using RF charging.

Loosely-coupled resonance charging can deliver a charge up to a few centimetres away.

What is the impact of Wireless Charging on phones?

Firstly, wireless Charging does produce more heat than conventional wired charging. However, wireless charging standards like Qi have strict guidelines to deal with such problems. When Qi-certified wireless chargers detect excessive heat, it reduces the charging speeds.

Secondly, wireless charging doesn’t affect battery charge cycles.

Thirdly, wireless charging averagely uses 47% more power than wired charging. But the extra power consumption by a single wireless charger won’t significantly increase the energy bill. However, all smartphone users in the world switching to wireless charging would have an impact on the environment.

Source: This post is based on the article “Explained: How does wireless charging work and the effect it has on phone’s battery” published in Indian Express on 25th February 2022.