Tag: Wireless Charging

Samsung Introducing 12W Wireless Charging With Galaxy S10

It looks like Samsung is introducing 12 Watt Fast Charge 2.0 wireless charging with the Galaxy S10 line of phones. Other Samsung phones, like my Galaxy Note 9, top out at 7.5W fast charging.

In general, I use wireless charging for about 90 percent of my phone charging needs. Typically I only resort to wired charging when the battery is relatively low and I need the phone recharged quickly prior to an extended time away from any charging source (such as a long meeting).

As it did with the release of the Galaxy Note 9, Samsung is releasing a Duo Pad wireless charger that charges phones up to 12W on the left, and another phone or Samsung smart watch on the right. Companies like Anker apparently already make wireless charging pads capable of delivering up to 15W over wireless, so looks like I’ll be switching out all of my wireless pads once the Galaxy Note 10 gets released later this summer.

Maybe someday Samsung’s software will catch up to its hardware (instead we’re likely to be seeing them trying to make Bixby a thing until the end of time).

Samsung Wireless Duo Pad Charger
Samsung Wireless Duo Pad Charger

Wireless Charging with the Galaxy Note 7

When the Samsung bungled the whole exploding Galaxy Note 7 snafu, I mentioned in a forum post that there were a number of phones I would like to switch to, but at this point I consider wireless charging a must have. That provoked a lot of reactions about how wireless charging was just a gimmick or not very effective at all.

At some point, Apple will build a phone with wireless charging and then it will be taken seriously, but until then here’s my take on why the feature is essential for phones that do not have replaceable batteries.

For me, wireless charging means I simply no longer worry about charging my phone during the day and almost never encounter a situation where the phone is close to powering off.

My previous phone was the LG G4, and I had a fast charger in both my home and office. But the problem is that connecting and disconnecting a phone to a charger is still a task. If I’m going to only be at my desk for 15 minutes, is it really worth bothering to plug the cord in and then unplug it again? In my case, probably not. More often that not, I’d just set the phone on the desk and go about my business for those 15 minutes.

Which wasn’t a big deal with the G4 because it had replaceable batteries, and I typically carried three fully charged ones with me at all times. On a typical day I’d swap batteries at least once, and occasionally twice during an 8 hour day.

With the Note 7, that doesn’t happen. Now in these sort of situations, I do the same thing I did with my G4–I simply set the phone aside when I’m not using it, but now I’m just setting it on the wireless charger pad.

Set and forget … until I need the phone or am out of my office on a task.

It’s a small feature that has saved me a lot of time, and it would really be difficult to go back to a phone without the feature.