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Realized 99% of all my chargers are USB-C. This can only mean one thing. New USB bout to drop!
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2025
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Showerthoughts
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Is there any actual benefit for wireless charging? You still need to plug the charger somewhere and just feels like more expensive way that's prone to more problems.
I am all for "research for the sake of research is enough and needs no further justification." But I still feel like I am missing something here. Why are companies producing and selling it? Am I dumb?
Only scenario it seems useful is that you can replace your phone's USB hardware with a small badUSB and rely on wireless charger while cops wonder why they can't investigate your files on their device.
I guess from a consumer perspective, it can be more convenient (e.g. wireless charging in a car)
For me, I see it as a way to reduce wear on a charging port, or as an alternative if the port does fail.
I like it for the latter as I don't like my devices to be inefficient but it makes me feel better that should the USB-C fail on my phone, it's not game over for my phone.
I've had several phone where the USB socket stops working reliably. At that point it's easier to use a wireless charger.
Yes, it's usually pocket fluff in the socket and it can be picked out, but it takes some time and care to avoid damaging the socket.
My latest case (Otter) also has a cover that is awkward to open to plug in the lead, so there's that too.
As a bonus the charger works with Apple and Android so very convenient as my kids are Macolytes.
Convenience. Decor. It’s much easier to slap a phone on a charger. The chargers also look better than a cable laying around unplugged.
I have these battery packs that magnetically stick to the back of my phone and charge it. Just slap it on and forget about it.
It makes my phone hot and wastes a lot of power (I can also charge from the same battery packs using a cable, and I get noticeably more charge).
But it’s real convenient when you don’t want to worry about it. I use them at conventions or when I’m out hiking or skiing.
Same. In winter it doubles as a pocket heater. Summer is worse, I wish electronics could also feasibly convert waste heat to cooling, but physics be like “yea, nah”.
There are fans that attach to the backs of phones. Of course they use electricity as well.
Clipping a sterling engine and a radiator to the back of a phone could be fun.
Wireless charging is nice for when you're using your phone infrequently, such as at your desk while you're working on something else. It sits there charging, you grab it to respond to a message then set it back down. No tail to worry about, it's not getting tangled on other wires when you dare to move your phone, etc.
It's really a feature I never cared about until I got a wireless charger as a gift
It also is less energy efficient as running the juice directly through a cable of course is more efficient than creating a magnetic field that then induces juice on the other side to flow again.
It should be said that this is the principle of transformers, but they are built in an efficient way for it.
Transformer without a core (which makes them about 90% efficient, while wireless at 70%, if perfectly aligned, rest is heat).
There's the regular wireless charging where you need to put the phone on exactly the right position. That one is totally useless, since it's even less flexible than cable charging. The only upside is that you don't need to physically insert the cable. That's pretty much worthless.
There's another setup that allows you to charge over a larger area, e.g. a whole desk. That is expensive and/or much work, since it needs to be integrated into the whole area (e.g. desk) and it's incredibly wasteful in terms of energy consumption that doesn't actually end up charging the phone.
The only real upside I can see of wireless charging is that you can use it if your USB C port is worn out and doesn't work any more.