What Is Wireless Charging?

‘Wireless charging’ or ‘Inductive charging’ is a technology that allows you to charge your phone without using a charging cable. It makes use of the magnetic induction principle discovered by Michael Faraday in 1831..

On the charger/transmitter side, alternating current is sent through a coil to create a magnetic field. A second coil in the receiver (phone, tablet, etc.) converts the magnetic field back into an electric current that charges the battery. This is a very convenient way of filling up batteries without the issue of plugging and unplugging cables. However, there are interface standards that need consideration before you can use wireless charging, and the most acceptable standard is called “QI” (pronounced as “chee”).

The Qi standard was developed by the Wireless Power Consortium. It’s an interface standard that describes the transferring of electrical power through induction over a very short distance of up to 1.6 inches. Qi is the newest and officially adopted wireless device charging standard that has been commonly used by most smartphone companies such as Samsung, Google, and Nokia.