It is more and more normal to get home and leave the mobile on our table in the wireless charging base. Although Apple arrived quite late to integrate this standard in its equipment, now users have integrated this charging system quite well in our day to day. But the vast majority of users ask themselves the question: is it good to charge an iPhone by induction? In this article we will try to analyze it and respond.
What is wireless charging and the Qi standard?
Before talking about the advantages and disadvantages of wireless charging, we must first understand how it works. We assume that both the charging base and the mobile device include coils that will transmit and receive energy, respectively. When both coils interact, a magnetic field is generated to induce alternating current that will recharge our mobile equipment. All of this can be further understood by taking a look at Faraday’s Law .
The only problem with this type of paper loading is that the coils must be perfectly aligned to load. If we move the equipment a little, it is possible that the load will not be carried out. When it comes to power, there is no limitation on paper as it can exceed 100W of transfer, but obviously heat release is a problem. The regulation of the amount of energy that is transmitted is determined by the communication between the electricity receiver and the transmitter. With this control circuit it is possible to pass the adequate energy to the equipment.
In order to standardize this charge, the largest manufacturers follow the Qi charging standard developed by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) . As we have previously said, with this standard the devices make use of electromagnetic induction. Thus, both manufacturers of wireless chargers and mobile devices offer a good experience.
Charging an iPhone by induction or not, the big question
There have been many studies that are currently published that analyze the impact of this type of load. What is specifically analyzed is whether the battery of computers degrades faster through wireless charging. It is true that over the years this technology has been improving.
We start from the idea that high temperatures negatively affect our mobile equipment and its batteries. Unfortunately when we are charging with a high power, the temperature of the equipment increases and this leads to a degradation of the battery. This is why abusing ultra-fast charging can be tremendously inadvisable and this carries over to wireless charging.
When we put our iPhone in a charging base we must weigh that we are facing a process that is inefficient . By this we mean that part of the energy that is emitted is not ‘collected’ by the iPhone, but is completely lost as heat. This heat unfortunately can affect the battery and therefore affects the health of the battery. Manufacturers have learned from this in recent years and have started making mobiles that function as battery coolants, among many quotes.
So … is wireless charging good?
By this we mean that wireless charging on the iPhone can be good but when we talk about reduced power. Right now Apple only allows charging up to 7.5W and we think it is adequate. We must judge if our equipment is getting too hot to know if it is suitable or not to recharge it. In a general way, when we make a load and we are not using the iPhone, for example watching videos, we do not suffer any problem.
Contrary to everything, it may be advisable to charge wirelessly at 5W to avoid degradation of the battery. It is much better to charge the phone in this way than for example with the 18W charger that is included in the latest models.
It is certainly tremendously comfortable to get home and put the phone on a surface to recharge. With this movement we save having to go looking for the cables and we have a much cleaner set-up.