What is the wireless charging function in a smartphone? How it works. What are the disadvantages?

In order to equip your favorite smartphone with the flagship wireless charging function, you don’t need much.

Firstly, the base, also known as the charger. Most often it is made in the form of a small round platform with an outlet for a charger. For the experiment, let's take an unnamed model with a pleasant blue backlight. Powered by a 5 V, 2 A power supply (regular USB), powered via a standard microUSB port. At the output, the device produces a current with parameters of 5 V, 1 A, which is enough to charge most devices even in operating mode.

The second necessary element of modernization is the antenna, with the help of which the smartphone is charged from a distance. Usually this distance is minimal, by the way, but the convenience of using wirelessly can be significant for someone. For example, the base can be built into the dashboard of a car or placed on the chest of drawers near the bed: come, put it down, go to bed. And no searching for wires.

There are a lot of different universal antennas for smartphones on the market. They are also suitable for other equipment, but here you need to think about placement. The antenna (we have an unnamed Chinese copy) is a coil with a circuit board hidden in a paper-like envelope. A wire with a microUSB plug comes out of it, although if desired, it can be soldered to any other one. It is worth paying attention: the coil only works in one position in relation to the charger. Since the cable for connecting to a smartphone is flat, you may need to open the bag and flip the coil over for the antenna to work (as in our case). The coil should face the open side towards the charger.

Attention: the charging base shows the necessary parameters of the power supply (in the case of the used one - 5 V, 2 A). They need to be provided for. At lower current levels, charging will occur very slowly. For adequate operation, you may need to replace the cord included with the charger, since not every USB cable can pass a full 2 A. As you can see,

Situations arise when the cable for charging a gadget cannot provide power due to the fact that there is no outlet or there is no electricity. Then a wireless phone charger will come to the rescue, it works autonomously and does not take up much space.

How does a wireless phone charger work?

The operating principle of the device is based on QI technology. It involves the absence of wires or the use of contacts; its operation is based on the action of electromagnetic waves. The question of how wireless charging works can be answered - according to the principle of an inductive coil, a magnetic circuit. The device consists of 2 coils - transmitting and receiving, the first is needed to create an electromagnetic field, and the second - for current. By interacting with each other, they create a current through the transmitter, receiver, stabilize it, bringing it directly to the smartphone.

To charge your phone, you just need to place it on a special stand. Charging can be carried out and maintained anywhere - at home, in the car, or taken with you on trips or long trips. Some countries install similar devices in cafes, when a person arrives there, and while waiting for an order, charges the phone. It turns out simple, fast, convenient.

What are the advantages of a wireless charger?

The advantages of the charger include:

ease of use when it can be used at home, in the car or in a cafe;
the ability to charge several gadgets at the same time;
phones with wireless charging are increasingly being released;
the charge is made at a distance of up to 4 cm or closer;
charging consumes the minimum possible energy;
its electromagnetic field is safe for humans;
for some models it is sold immediately as a set with a cell phone, so as not to buy additionally;
automatically turns off when 100% charge is reached;
low cost, long shelf life.

How effective is a wireless phone charger?

Wireless phone charging is not without its disadvantages:

Through it you can recharge only certain models of gadgets. So, you can’t charge an iPhone through it, but you can charge a Samsung Galaxy or Nexus.
To charge some smartphone models, you will have to buy a special case through which the process will be performed. This includes certain costs.
Wireless charging your phone charges at a slower rate than using a standard cable.
While charging, the device and gadget become very hot.
When charging, the mobile phone may receive distorted radio signals.

Where to buy and how much it costs

Portable phone chargers are sold in regular electronics chains or online stores. The range of prices in electronics stores varies depending on the manufacturer: for universal chargers the cost ranges from 2 thousand to 2500 rubles, for branded ones - from 3 thousand rubles. In online stores you can buy a device much cheaper: for universal ones they ask from 900 to 2 thousand rubles, but branded ones are not sold or are offered at the same price as in large chains.

For those who want to save money, there is the option of making such a device with your own hands. If you are well versed in electronics and radio engineering, then it will not be difficult for you to find manufacturing diagrams that are on the network or available sources, purchase parts, and make your own device. A self-made charger will cost less, and will work no worse than the factory one.

Video: DIY wireless charging

With the announcement of integrated wireless charging in the Lumia 920, Nokia hopes that this technology will attract the attention of buyers and win some of them away from Apple. Nokia has joined HTC, Sony, Samsung and others in adopting QI, a proprietary standard interface created by the Wireless Power Consortium. Qi, pronounced "qi", comes from Chinese energy flow and is designed to power devices through magnetic induction. Let's look at what it is and what benefits it provides.

Operating principle

The term "wireless charging" usually refers to inductive charging. This technology uses a charging station that creates an alternating magnetic field. A device with an appropriate induction coil will receive energy from the field induced by the field charging station, and thereby the energy can be transferred over a short distance. Everything is as the great Nikola Tesla said. Or maybe the Tunguska meteorite is really his doing?

Wireless toothbrushes have been using wireless charging for a long time. The technology has traditionally been plagued by problems of low efficiency and slow charging, but these weren't critical shortcomings for a toothbrush or electric razor that you only use for a few minutes every day. Using inductive charging is safer from the point of view that there is no wire to short out and you won't accidentally touch areas with poor insulation with wet hands. Inductive charging is not magic. It needs specific hardware, the hardware must be built into the device.

Disadvantages of wireless charging

Inductive charging depends on the magnetic field. They can be strong, of course, but still have a short range. This is the first drawback.

Charging speed and efficiency are the second drawback. Charging devices using inductive charging is not as efficient as using a direct, physical connection.

The third disadvantage is dimensions. Even though coils are small and getting smaller, a significant portion of the space available in a modern smartphone, tablet or ultrabook will still be coils. This is a problem that will decrease over time, but today it is still relevant.

The future of wireless charging

This inductive charging can be convenient, but the short range is a problem. This dramatically reduces the usability of this technology.
Will this change? May be. There has been a lot of research into the potential of wireless charging and there have been advances in range in various technologies. Lasers, microwave ovens, and more powerful inductive charging options have been able to achieve longer transmission distances. Disadvantages prevent the spread of this too powerful radiation of the above mentioned technologies. You might get burned or worse.

It is difficult to say who will take the palm in this market. The first candidate is Apple, because the company has patented a device that can supposedly charge from a distance of up to one meter. The Wireless Power Consortium is also constantly looking for better options. And then there's Intel, which recently announced that it's working on integrated magnetic device technology that will fit inside a laptop and distribute power to nearby smartphones and peripherals.

Conclusion

Wireless charging has huge potential. That's why people have been working on it for over a century. If we could transmit energy wirelessly, we could reimagine not only consumer electronics, but the infrastructure used by humanity. A list of smartphones that support wireless charging is presented

How does Samsung wireless charging work? This is precisely the question that concerns many users of modern devices who are tired of the outdated principle of charging their phones using a cable.

Technologies for transmitting data over the air have appeared a long time ago and are now actively developing in the right direction, but the technology for transmitting energy through the air without the use of any wires still remains alien to many owners of mobile devices. In this article you will get acquainted with the principle of operation of wireless charging for a Samsung phone.

Original and non-original devices that work with Samsung

To begin with, it is worth noting that all smartphones (which have Qi support) are divided into original and non-original. The first company to release such a charger is Samsung. They were the first to introduce this technology for mass production. At the moment, an improved version called Qi is being released, which was released along with the 6th generation of the flagship Galaxy model. Let's look at how wireless charging for a Samsung phone works.

The principle of operation of the device

Important! Not all phones support charging with this gadget. Therefore, we suggest that you first familiarize yourself with the list,

There are several interesting things about the charger:

presence of its own cooling. If you disassemble the device, you can find a cooler in it, and on the case there are holes for the exit of hot air. This suggests that the Samsung wireless charger works even under heavy loads - the creators took care of this;
the device is designed in such a way that the maximum speed of recharging the battery is achieved when the smartphone and the charging station come into contact;
The branded device is compatible not only with Samsung phones, but also with any devices that have a Qi receiver.

How to connect the device and improve performance

To enable wireless charging on Samsung, you do not have to install additional programs or connect modules. Flagship models, starting with the Galaxy Note 5, received Qi support. Thanks to cooling, it was possible to reduce heat generation. After all, the device heats up more than its predecessor due to faster operation. According to the company, the new product charges smartphones 30% faster than its predecessor. Connect the device to a power source and bring the smartphone to the front surface. The charge transfer will begin automatically.

This article will tell you about a wireless charger based on the Qi standard

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In this article, you will learn what a wireless charger for mobile phones is and how to use it.

Wired chargers are losing their relevance every day, and they are being replaced by high-tech wireless chargers, and some even charge their gadgets using a power bank. Thus, we can say that just yesterday you were happy with wired charging of your smartphone, and now you will switch to the innovation of wireless power transmission.

What is a BZU and what does it look like?

Once upon a time we only dreamed about this. But today you can find quite a huge number of technologies that allow you to transmit electrical energy through air flow. It is worth considering that this procedure in any case occurs either using a laser, or through sound waves, as well as through any other physical phenomena.

But still, such a large number of technologies for transmitting electrical energy makes only one useful and practical, which is actually used only in the production of these devices. Let us explain, this technology works on the basis of research Tesla and Faraday, whose interest lay in transmitting electricity through air flow using electromagnetic induction.

Therefore, the research that they carried out made a huge contribution to the technology of transmitting electrical energy, which was improved, as a result of which wireless charging for your smartphone can now work, and many devices that use electricity transmitted through the air.

What standards does this technology have?

Of course, in every area there are norms and values, which are usually called standards. The most common of them is the standard, the development of which has been going on for 7 years by the company WPC (Wireless Power Consortium). The name of the standard is usually called the Chinese word "Qi", what if you pronounce it in Russian it will be like “Qi”.

What makes this standard different is that it is supported by almost all modern smartphone manufacturers. Now many airports, cafes, restaurants, clubs and other establishments practice wireless charging of cell phones.

What is the principle of wireless charging?

It is believed that the answer to this question is of interest to all mobile phone users. It should be noted that the principle of its operation is quite simple and more or less understandable. The WPC standard assumes that charging will occur only if there are special magnetic coils at the smartphone and the charging station.

Each coil has its own role, but nevertheless, one of them is a receiver of electrical energy, and the other is a transmitter of electrical energy. Charging according to this standard is allowed at a distance of no more than 5 cm between the smartphone and the charging station.

Thus, if we talk about efficiency (Coefficient of Efficiency), then with wired charging it is 100% , and with wireless charging, if the phone is lying on it, it will be 75-80% .

What are the advantages and disadvantages of wireless charging?

Of course the biggest advantage is that you will no longer need to insert and remove the cable from your phone. Despite the fact that this device is called as "wireless", you still have to connect it to an outlet to charge the station itself.

Concerning shortcomings, then they actually come down to the price range between wired and wireless charging, and charging the phone using a wireless charger takes 2-3 times longer.

Is wireless charging harmful to health?

It should be noted that manufacturers of wireless chargers according to the WPC standard claim that they do not pose any health hazard.

For clarity, you can cite the waves that the Sun emits, and by the way, the same waves are present in wireless chargers, so worrying about your health when using wireless charging is, at a minimum, paranoia.

What wireless chargers are popular today?

Nowadays there are a lot of wireless chargers, and they are produced by a huge number of companies under different brands. Let's take a look at which of them are extremely popular and relevant today.

Samsung Wireless Charging Pad

This device is the latest model in the category of wireless chargers. The charger is quite universal, as it allows you to charge your phone regardless of how it lies on the panel itself. It also supports other technology standards, including WPC, AW4P and PMA.

If you look at the reviews on the Amazon website, this device is the best wireless charger, which has many advantages compared to others, and has a small footprint. The price of this device on the Amazon website is about 10-15 dollars.

Nokia DT-910

The Nokia manufacturer is instantly trustworthy, including products from this company. The Nokia DT-910 wireless charger has a fairly affordable price, and at the same time has a number of advantages and additional functions, which makes the work better and better.

The decision to use or not to use wireless charging is yours. But still, some believe that this type of charging is worth using, since this option is much more convenient, and behind this - future.