Let's talk about Wireless Charging - OnePlus Forums

Let's talk about Wireless Charging

Hey everyone,

I saw some people talk about wireless charging after my headphone jack post, and wanted to add some thoughts into the conversation. Wireless charging is an exciting concept that’s matured a lot over the last few years. But given the current state of this technology, Dash Charge is still the superior choice.

Reason 1: Wired quick charging solutions like ours clearly outshine wireless on quantitative measures. Just plug your device in, and Dash Charge produces 20 watts of power, reliably giving a day’s power in half an hour.

Wireless charging requires you to keep your device perfectly aligned on the pad to get the advertised charging rates and energy efficiency. Some of the best wireless charging pads market the theoretical potential of 15 watts of power, but that's only if you position your phone correctly. Wirelessly charging more than one device at a time further divides that number, leading to even slower charging per device.

Reason 2: Dash Charge gives you enough power for the day with just one charging session. All you need is the Dash Charge cable and adaptor to consistently power your device at superior rate. It doesn't matter whether you're gaming or streaming video. Dash Charge stays cool and power efficient.

An attractive promise of wireless charging is that you can just set your phone down on a surface and charge. Nice in theory, but not as simple in reality. You can’t pick up your phone to game or take a photo while charging. Given present-day infrastructures, wireless charging brings more limitations than freedom. Wireless charging pads, cases, tables, and lamps – these all add up if you want to charge on the go or outfit your home for true convenience, creating constraints for the user.

As a product guy, it’s exciting to see technology advance from theory to implementation. We considered bringing this technology onboard, but we chose not to. Because it comes down to whether the solution actually brings a better experience. We'll consider adopting the wireless charging technology when the time is right. Until then, we'll stick to Dash Charge.

Never Settle.


EDIT:

People often talk about wireless charging in homogenous terms, when there are multiple competing standards. As of today, the major ones you should know are:

• The Wireless Power Consortium’s Qi standard (inductive, used by Apple, Ikea and many other companies). More power efficient, but limited in range.
• The Airfuel Alliance’s solution, a merger of PMA (inductive, used by Duracell/Powermat) and A4WP (resonant, used by Samsung and Qualcomm). More convenient to use, but less common.

Anyone here old enough to remember the Betamax vs VHS debate? You can make some comparisons with this situation. For the purposes of this post, “wireless charging” refers to the more prevalent Qi standard.