Wireless charging is definitely innovative and convenient for smartphones, but it would be better not to use it: here's why
More and more new generation smartphones support wireless charging. It's convenient, innovative, and you don't have to deal with wires, but there are also reasons why using it isn't a good idea. Not only does it have a potentially harmful impact on the environment, but wireless charging is also less efficient.
Highlighting the differences between wired and wireless charging are some energy efficiency studies by tech site OneZero and the iFixit tech community. According to the new calculations, wireless charging is less efficient than wired charging, so much so that ad hoc solutions would be required in the future to meet the energy demand, with all the implications of a potential environmental impact that is not negligible.
Wireless charging, the data on energy efficiency
The OneZero and iFixit sites have conducted a study on the energy efficiency of wireless charging and the results suggest that its use is not always convenient. Taking a fully discharged phone and bringing it up to 100%, wired charging took an average of 14.26 Wh, while wireless charging took an average of 21.01 Wh. This means that wireless charging takes 50% more energy than a regular charger, and other models could take up to 100% more energy.
If we consider a single user, it will seem like a minimal energy expenditure. But let's imagine if we relate this number to the millions of wireless chargers that will be in circulation in the future. According to the estimation of Arthur Shi, a technician at iFixit, the energy requirement to charge 3.5 billion smartphone batteries from 0-100% at least once a day with a wired charger requires the power of about 73 coal-fired power plants, which produce polluting emissions.
Wireless Charging, why not use it
When using wireless charging, energy efficiency is reduced by at least 50%, which also means that the energy demand and therefore the power plants needed to meet the energy demand will increase. It is this current energy inefficiency that has a global impact on the environment.
As with all existing technologies, as new wireless charging devices evolve, the issue of energy inefficiency may in the not too distant future improve to the level of today's corded chargers. For this reason, to date using wireless charging does not seem to be a good idea, both for our electricity bill and for the environment, but once this gap between the two charging technologies is resolved, they can be used indiscriminately.