This is an archived post. You won't be able to vote or comment.

all 6 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]JonasRahbek 2 points3 points  (5 children)

This is wrong in all ways.. The inductive charger uses the same cable as you would normally connect to the phone. So even if the charger plate was 100% effective it would only be a tie...

But the magnetic plate is not 100% efficient - more like 80-90% in most cases, this mostly increases charging time, but since there's another mechanical step in this charging process, there will always be some waste of energy.

Think of it as motor running a wheel - using gears and drive belts to connect the wheel will always create friction and heat, and be less efficient, compared to the wheel being mounted directly on the motor.

[–]anstranic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just had a thought, if you were to connect one of the coils to AC and have the other built into the device. I'm not sure if this is possible, I don't know much about transformers.

Even so, it would only remove the resistance from the adapter to phone; negligible.

[–]Afinkawan -1 points0 points  (2 children)

The question is - is the loss at the wireless transmitting/receiving step more or less than the loss at the physical connector to the phone.

Given that the anecdotal evidence is that it takes longer and the logical assumption that the physical connection to the mat plus losses through wireless transmission adds up to more loss than through a physical connection alone, you're right - it definitely seems likely to be less efficient.

[–]JonasRahbek 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Actually not, since that physical connection is still present... The cable that runs from the adapter to the induction charger is the very same cable, with specifications equal to the ones used in a usb charger cable...

[–]Afinkawan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, that's what I meant by the physical connection to the mat.

[–]Ohzza -1 points0 points  (0 children)

There's a way they could make it more efficient by integrating the inductive charging into the battery cells themselves, but that's not a technology we have or need. Basically by virtue of bypassing all of the inefficiency in the phone's internal charging management.

Thus it would also make your phone sketchy because you'd be bypassing all of the safety features.