Wireless Charging May Be Slow, But I Still Think It’s a Must on My Phones

Most of the phones I’ve owned lacked wireless charging. It’s a feature I don’t think much about but use all the time. I’d miss it if it were gone. Like, big time.

Charging In Places Where Cables Can Be a Hazard

I spend a substantial portion of my day in the kitchen. It’s a time when my phone is typically nearby, but I’m not touching it all that much. My hands are either wet with dish soap, a bit gooey from vegetables, sprinkled with spices, or sticky from who knows whatever ingredients. I don’t want any of this on my screen, and I especially don’t want it near a USB port.

Instead, my wife and I use a wireless charging stand. This gives our phones a dedicated home when we’re in the kitchen. It’s a good spot for playing music. It’s not only visible enough to watch a video, but it’s also easy to see when someone’s calling. Most importantly, our phone is charging when it would otherwise just be lying around, not in use.

The kitchen is my go-to spot, but the bathroom is another example. The power outlet isn’t in an ideal spot in ours, but I can easily picture having a phone charging pad in the bathroom, giving the phone a place to charge and play music without having to snake cables around a sink.

Charging Pads Come In Newer Cars

My wife and I both drive electric cars bought in 2021. We each have built-in wireless charging pads tucked either into the center console or under the infotainment screen.

These charging pads are a natural place to put a phone while driving. As people who live in a rural area, many of our trips involve a half-hour or more of driving. Is our phone fully charged when we get where we’re going? That’s not the point. It’s charged enough that we don’t have to think about whether it’s charged without having to consciously remember to plug it in when we get back into the car.

I especially appreciate not being dependent on a USB port when my kids are in the backseat asking if they can use the charger instead.

Convenience Often Matters More Than Speed

Considering the hours I spend cooking and washing dishes, charging in the kitchen alone provides plenty of time to keep my phone juiced up. The same can be said for driving, especially for folks with long commutes.

In times like these, convenience is more valuable than speed. What difference does charging in 30 minutes versus an hour make if I’m not going to be using my phone anyway?

The corner of an office desk during the workday is another ideal time to top up a phone. I have my phone plugged into a dock since I ditched my PC to use my phone instead. However, most people in similar work environments are working from a laptop or desktop.

Their phone is often nearby, not being used, while they manage communications from their PC instead. A wireless charging pad may not be as fast as a wired connection, but it’s fast enough to juice up a phone before an eight-hour workday ends.

Wireless Accessories Keep Getting Cooler

I haven’t bought one yet, but I have my eye on external battery banks that don’t require you to plug your phone into them. Instead, you merely rest your phone on top. I find this especially appealing since I have multiple battery banks that seem to have an issue delivering power through their USB port after multiple uses. A wireless charging coil seems less likely to break.

I’ve never had a MagSafe accessory either, but I’ve eyed the cool bedside stands that can charge your phone while holding it up like a clock or digital photo frame. You can add magnetic stickers to an Android phone if you don’t have an iPhone, so those of us not in the Apple ecosystem don’t have to miss out.

Once you invest in these types of accessories, it’s hard to consider going back to a phone that lacks wireless charging. You have to change your habits, and you may have charging pads and accessories spread throughout the house that no longer work. That’s money wasted that likely negates whatever savings you’re getting on a phone that’s skimping on this feature.

Is wireless charging better than fast charging? I’ve heard many assert that fast wired charging is far more important. This is an argument some OnePlus fans in particular make, given that some of the company’s high-end phones lack wireless charging (like the OnePlus Open), but can top up from a cable much faster than most of the competition. I get it.

Still, before I had a Galaxy Z Fold, my previous phone was a Moto Edge+ 2023, which could regain a day’s juice while I was in the shower. However, it could also charge wirelessly, which is how I discovered just how convenient wireless charging is.

There’s no need for either or. I like having both.