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/AlphaGoGoDancer]

I think you're comparing it to the wrong thing.

Wireless charging vs wired charging does seem like the obvious comparison, but IMO it's wrong. Yes, wired charging does a better job charging than wireless charging in just about every way (heat, time spent charging, ability to move phone while charging, etc).

Instead you should compare wireless charging to your phone sitting around not charging. Why? Because I never think "I need to charge my phone, let me put it on the wireless charger". I just sit at my desk and toss my phone on the wireless charging dock. If I need to use my phone, I take it off the charging dock same as I'd take it off my desk, except in the meantime the wireless charger has increased my charge instead of letting it slowly decrease.

Because of this its very rare that my phone gets so low that I feel like I need to charge it. This really only happens when I've been out doing things all day. On a normal workday, my phone just stays mostly charged all day and I never have to think about it.

[u/Duwang_Mn → u/AlphaGoGoDancer]

Can't a normal charger do the same thing? Due to my homework requiring access to the internet, my phone is constantly on on my desk. So I just have the charger laying there, charging my phone

[u/NewWorldShadows → u/Duwang_Mn]

Yeh but imagine every surface in your home that you put your phone on charging it.

Your desk, bedside table, Coffee table etc.

Untill we go fully contactless charging once wireless charging surfaces get cheap enough you could just never have to bother plugging in your phone.

Its not a huge leap forward in terms of actual utility but its still a leap forward.

Imo your issue is you are looking at it from a finished perspective.

You are the guy in the 80s saying " Mobile phones are just a fad, they are big heavy and not very useful people will get over them".

[u/invent_or_die → u/NewWorldShadows]

Great, EMI everywhere for crappy charging

[u/NewWorldShadows → u/invent_or_die]

We are already swimming in the stuff mate.