iPhone X Review: Wireless Charging
The sixth article is my iPhone X Review focuses on a new feature that is not only on the iPhone X, but also on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus; That feature is Wireless Charging.
When you look at all of the new features of the iPhone X, one that might not stand out is wireless charging, given all of the other “shiny” features of the iPhone X. Features like Face ID, the OLED screen, and Animoji. There are those technologies that Apple includes in their devices that when they are initially introduced seem like an “oh, that is nice to have”, but it is just a gimmick. When you first look at these type of features, what you do not realize just how fundamental of a shift it can be.
At first glance Wireless Charging may fall into that category, yet I think it will become a primary mechanism and absolute necessity for iPhones going forward. The fact that it is included with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus means that Apple is making a huge bet on the technology. Although with Apple putting into their latest iPhones, it will end up trickling down the line and eventually be ubiquitous. As with many other things, but it has not always been the case, when Apple implements a technology it quickly becomes a must have in other devices. I think that Wireless Charging may become that type of technology.
History of Power on iPhone
Unlike many other aspects of the iPhone, the ways that it has been powered have remained largely stable. This is likely because changing the connector cable causes uproar amongst the community. In fact, Apple has only changed the power cable once in the ten year history of the iPhone. That began with the iPhone 5 in 2012. Prior to that, the 30-pin dock connector was used. Although, you could use either Firewire or USB with the original iPhone. Firewire support was dropped with the iPhone 3G, but it still utilized the same cable.
Since 2012, all iPhones that have shipped have utilized the lightning cable as their only mechanism for charging. With the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X this changes. These iPhones still support the lightning cable, but it is not the only charging method. You can now use wireless charging to charge your iPhone X.
What is Wireless Charging?
When people say “wireless charging” two different images can be conjured in ones mind. The first, and least common, is one where power would both figuratively and literally being transferred through the air, similar to how some images of Nikola Tesla’s laboratory have been shown. These images have electricity flowing across the entire picture. This is not really what people mean. The second possible image, and one that most users mean, is actually what is actually known as inductive charging. To make it easier on everyone, I will use the two terms, wireless charging and inductive charging, interchangeably.
The concept of inductive charging is not new, not by a long shot. Inductive charging is used in a variety of different products. Some of these include motorized toothbrushes, razors, and even some batteries. It has been in use by phones since 2009 when the Palm Pre was introduced. Manufacturers of Android phones have been including wireless charging for quite a while.
For wireless charging there are actually two competing standards. The first is the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) or as it is more commonly called, the AirFuel Alliance. The second standard is the Wireless Power Consortium standard, Qi, pronounced “chi”. Apple has gone with the latter of the two standards for its wireless charging.
The first inductive charging product that Apple released was the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch has never had any other type of charger. The Apple Watch uses a slightly different inductive charging mechanism versus other devices using inductive charging. The difference with the Apple Watch is that it uses magnets to get a secure connection to the charger.
The iPhone X also includes inductive charging. Unlike with the Apple Watch, the iPhone X does not include a wireless charging pad with the iPhone X. The iPhone X, as well as the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, uses a wireless charging standard known as Qi, pronounced “chi”. However, given the wide variety of existing Qi chargers, you will not need to spend a lot of money to be able to purchase an inductive charger for the iPhone X.
The iPhone X, with iOS 11.0 or 11.1 has a limited charging speed of 5 watts. This is the exact same wattage that comes with the little power brick that has been included with every iPhone sold since 2007. This changes with iOS 11.2, as of this writing it is still in beta. iOS 11.2 increases the maximum output via the wireless charging coil to 7.5 watts. While the actual difference seems small, this is a 50% increase in power.
Right now Apple only advertises two Qi chargers for the iPhone X, and iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. These are the Mophie Wireless Charging Base and the Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Pad. I picked up the Mophie one the same time I purchased my iPhone X.
Mophie Charger
The Mophie Wireless Charger is a 24.7 watt charging pad, well beyond the 7.5 watts allowed by the iPhone X. The Mophie charging pad comes with its own 24.7 watt power brick. The charging pad brick is not USB. Instead it is a standard electronic plug, one that you would find on many other products. The one benefit of this plug, though, is that it is reversible and symmetrical, so you can plug it in either way and it will work. This is very similar to how lightning cables are, which ultimately means that you do not have to do the “USB Dance” like you might with USB A cables.
The physical size of the Mophie charging pad is approximately 3.75 inches in diameter, so it is not a big device. The pad itself is black and has a bit of grip to it thanks to the rubber that encases the entire device. When you place an iPhone on the Mophie pad the gripping rubber minimizes the movement of the iPhone. One downside to some third-party wireless chargers is that if you receive a message and your phone vibrates, it could vibrate off of the charging pad. This does not happen with the iPhone X and the Mophie Wireless Charger.
One of the more common places for a wireless charging base might be in the bedroom. One thing that humans are not good at is sleeping with the light on. Many electronic manufacturers intend to dazzle their customers with a lot of lights, and one of the potential downsides of any charger is the light that it emits. When there are a lot of lights on a charger, they are likely LED and typically very bright. The Mophie charger does not have this problem. There is one single light that is on the bottom of the charging pad and you are not likely to see it unless you are really looking for it. This is a huge plus, particularly if you intend to use a wireless charging where you sleep.
In my own usage, I have to actively look for the light in order to find it, so it should not be too much of a problem. However, if the light is a problem there is a universal fix for it. You can place some black electrical tape over the light. The benefit of this, is that it will match the rest of the Mophie Charger. Even though the Mophie Charger is pretty good, there is still one improvement, or option, I would like to see.
Wishlist
The one thing I would like to see is the power brick and cord be either a lightning or USB-C cable. I completely understand why they went with the propriety power brick and connector, but it would still be nice to have the option for using a USB-C cable to charge. This would need a 29 watt charging brick, but for those of use who already have that, it would not require another charger since we may already have the necessary equipment. There is another wireless charger that I looked at.
Yootech Wireless Charger
After using the Mophie Wireless Charger for a couple of weeks, I decided to buy a less expensive one to use at work.
I opted to go with a cheaper model at work for a couple of reasons. The exact model that I bought is the Yootech RC100 It is called the “Yootech Wireless Charger”. I opted to go with this model, because it was only $12.99 from Amazon. What I did not know when I ordered it was whether or not if this model had a large number of bright LED lights on it. If it did, it would not bother me at work to have them shining, whereas at home, it most certainly would.
The RC100 does indeed have a lot of LEDs, however they are only on for 30 seconds when you place the iPhone X onto the charging pad. During the day this may not be an issue, nor when you first go to sleep. But if you place your iPhone X on the pad after picking it up in the middle of the night, the lights can be distracting. For my purposes, though, it should not be an issue.
The Yootech Wireless Charger is a much thinner, and much cheaper, wireless charger. It is also a bit smaller compared to the Mophie Wireless Charger. The size of the Yootech charger has an approximate diameter of 3.5 inches, or 90mm. In terms of thickness, it is approximately 1/3 of an inch thick, or 8.4mm. In contrast, the Mophie measures in at 3.82 inches at its diameter, by 0.45 inches, or 11.5mm. The Mophie is 33% thicker than the YooTech.
With its cheaper price, the Yootech does not include a power adapter. It does include a standard micro USB to USB A cable. This means that you can use the power adapter that comes with the iPhone X to power the Yootech charger.
The biggest downside to the Yootech Wireless charger is that it can take 7.5 watts in, but only its maximum output is 5 watts. This means that the Yootech wireless charger does not support fast charging. Just like the LED lights, for my purposes this is not an issue. However, if you are looking to have a Qi charger that will charge your iPhone X, the Yootech wireless charger is a viable option, albeit a basic one.
Actual Usage
I got the Yootech charger on a Friday and I used it around the house over the weekend. I brought it to work on Monday and guess what, I have not actually used it much while at work. This is because even with my heavy usage of my iPhone, the battery does not drain like my iPhone 7 Plus did. Granted, as of this writing my iPhone is only four weeks old, but the bigger physical size has allowed for a larger battery. Apple does indicate that the battery on the iPhone X should get you two more hours of usage. Even though it has not yet been an issue, we shall see what happens when the iOS 12 first developer beta is released. First developer betas are notoriously bad for battery life and it may be nice to have the wireless charger when that time comes around.
Downsides
There is a single downside to all of the current wireless chargers. That downside is that you have to place your iPhone X squarely on the middle of the charging pads. With the Mophie charging pad, there is a bit of leeway since the charging pad is wider than the charging area of the iPhone X. Out of all of the times that I have placed my iPhone X on the charging pad, there has only been a couple of time that I missed the charging area the first time. In reality, it should not be too much of an issue.
Future of Wireless Charging
If I am being honest, I know the Mophie Wireless Charger and Yootech RC100 are just stop gaps until Apple releases their Air Power mat in 2018. The Air Power mat will be able to charge the Apple Watch Series 3, iPhone X, and the AirPods, with a new case, all on the same mat. Once the Air Power mat is released, I will likely be purchasing one in order to be able to just place my items down without having to worry. At that point, the Mophie Charger will likely move to another spot throughout my house.
It is possible that Apple could include wireless charging on other devices, and likely will in future iPhones. As for other Apple products getting wireless charging, I do not know it would make sense for other products. Wireless charging requires a coil inside the product, and would make the device heavier. Apple only has a limited number of portable product that could benefit from wireless charging, but these products all have, or soon will have, wireless charging capabilities.
Final Thoughts
When you first think about wireless charging you may think, “how convenient will that really be?”. Surprisingly, it is very convenient. Having the ability to just place your phone on a charging pad and then have it charge, all without having to mess with a cable is an experience that you may not think would be that convenient, but it truly is. I am not going to attempt to say that Apple came up with wireless charging because, as mentioned above, it is not a new technology at all.
If you own an iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or any phone with wireless charging you may seriously want to look at getting a wireless charging pad for you phone. It can completely change the convenience factor for charging your phone. And was wireless charging pads become more ubiquitous you will soon be able to charge your phone at many other places. This is particularly true if you have a number of chargers placed where you are the most.
Also as mentioned above, it does not have to be an expensive proposition to buy a wireless charger. There is another Yootech charger for $11, a Choetech charger for $16, or even a standing model by ElleSye for about $21. If you have an iPhone X, it behoves you to take a look at wireless charging and how well it might be able to fit into your life.
