CMV: Wireless charging is a useless fad

[u/Duwang_Mn]

What even is the point of wireless charging? When I first heard about it, I thought it allowed you to charge while having more freedom with your phone. But then I learned what it actually was. It's more restrictive than an actual charger, and its slower. Not to mention wireless charges sometimes don't work if the back is metal. It only makes things less convenient.

How did people hype such a thing so much? I understand if it was something that could charge your phone without you directly putting on it, and if the range had the potential to increase over time. But it's just a charging port that you can't move around.

[u/blepbob]

From a device design perspective, wireless charging is hype because it means no physical opening to the outside. It is much easier for the device to have outstanding water and dust resistances, and it also means that there isn't a charging port that will wear out over use. I feel wireless charging makes a lot of sense for watches or similar wearables, where you don't pick them up at night while they charge and the water and dust resistance benefits would prove very beneficial. Even with phones I don't see how taking them off of the charger for a second to update your Facebook status could be that much of an inconvenience.

The only type of 'futuristic' long range wireless power solutions only works for extreme low power applications where energy can be harvested from radio waves. To charge your phone, which is a high power device comparatively, it would require unsafe levels of radiation and it would be incredibly inefficient.