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Ask HN: What do you think about wireless charging?

2 points by Raed667 ↗ HN
Since I got a gift of a pair of earbuds with wireless charging, I have been thinking about the energy loss happening during the process.

As far as I can tell, wireless charging is (optimistically) 70-80% efficient. Now I agree it hardly matters for small/niche earbuds, but with Apple moving their iPhones [0] to fully wireless Qi charging. I think a 30% waste on that scale (once the ecosystem fallows) could become a problem.

What do you think about that waste? Or am I over-blowing the issue?

[0] https://onezero.medium.com/dont-be-shocked-if-your-next-phone-has-no-ports-at-all-50a132df0d64

4 comments

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cabirum
A gimmick. It's wireless but requires zero distance from the charger. It takes longer to charge. The device becomes hot. Inefficient. Requires a level surface and exact alignment to work. Makes the device difficult to use while charging. Need a charger for every device to charge simultaneously.

I can't find a single reason to use it over a cable.

bcx5k15
The main benefit of it is it doesn't wear out unlike USB ports

Ive had way too many phones fail conveniently after 18-24 months (just in time for an expensive 'upgrade'!) because the port has become loose/blocked/whatever, so its a useful backup to have.

Raed667
I have been using USB-C phones since 2016 and none of the ports failed on me as of yet.
5bolts
i liked it for convivence but moved to a different phone and the case doesn't allow for wireless charging (has some magnets on the case to mount it to metal) so went back to wired.