Can wireless charging degrade a phone battery?

#1

This is an Interesting topic I came across, and while I never gave it any though it has sparked my curiosity.

This Article as does wireless charging degrade your phones battery? They have asked experts and go into certain depth from cell manufacturing to heat and the difference between wired and wireless. In the end, they ultimately said there is no conclusive evidence that it will degrade faster. But the biggest caveat is how we use our phones and when we charge them,they say if we don’t let the battery drop below 50 percent we can increase the lifespan 4X…

This is just food for thought and I honestly think wireless charging is much more beneficial now, since its slower it’s just a reminder to slow down in life.

How do you feel about this? Do you think wireless charging is detrimental or a positive over wired charging? Let us k ow your thoughts

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#2

It has been technologically proven that wireless charging shows no more deterioration than wired charging. When you place your device on a wireless charging device, you are creating a transformer that supplies the battery with power the same way that it would when you plug it in. Electrons go from the pad to a coil in the phone, which charges the phone. Because the electrons aren’t going in the battery directly, it charges just like it would if it were plugged in, there is just a middle man.

I personally frown upon wireless charging right now personally due to the fact that I have no reason for it. However, my opinion cannot interfere with factual evidence, hence my statement on the matter.

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#3

There are so many theories around about batteries.

e.g. When storing a battery for a while unused it should be not full charged. While others say it should be full charged.
Difficult to say what is better. :sweat:

#4

This. I’ve been doing a little test since I got the iPhone X by never letting the battery go below 50%. My battery seems to be doing a lot better than my previous phones where I let them drop to 20% or 10% before I charged them. Coconut Battery still reports 100% battery health on my iPhone X now 6 months later.

I don’t think wireless charging is bad, especially since it’s more convenient to set your phone down to charge it frequently (and keep it above 50%). I agree with the article that as long as you have good air flow around the phone and you’re not charging it in direct sunlight, the extra heat from wireless charging is likely negligible.

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#5

The whole discussion should be entered by ANKER experts as well.

Please give us enlightenment!!

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#6

I try to keep my phone battery always above 70%, by having means of recharging it a little at all times, and those include two wireless chargers. Since I never had heating issues, I believe I’m safe, and I didn’t notice any battery issue even with about 85% of my charging today coming from wireless chargers.

I long, though, for the day when true wireless power will make batteries obsolete, or simply a matter of emergency power.

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#7

Lithion ion batteries degrade due to many factors, but the two biggest ones are heat and use (# of cycles) .

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#8

I’d be interested to see a few more studies on the effect that different types of wireless chargers have on different devices. It’d be interesting to see if some of the cheaper, less commonly known brands effect batteries/phones differently than the more known brands (Anker, Belkin, Mophie).

Personally, I haven’t made the leap to wireless charging yet–I can’t get past that it’s one more piece of equipment to use (I already have a port & cable, why add a base?). I have been seeing desk/table lamps that have a wireless charger embedded in the base, and that interests me. I could use new lamp, and may as well kill two birds with one stone.

#9

I also been testing to see how my battery fares, I’m currently testing the below 50 % to charge and then next week it will be charged above 50 percent to see how it fares

#10

I see we need an answer from a technical developer of ANKER company.
Please enlighten us!!! :grin:

#11

I took my wife’s iPhone 6s into Apple last week to have the battery replaced. The Battery Health settings showed 88% after 2 years but my wife moaned for months and months about how quick her battery went down.

The Apple advisor said it was ok but had done 863 cycles and the norm for stating to degrade was around 550.
As it gets worse you are going to charge it more so they cycles will go up faster. It’s a vicious circle I guess.

I will try the keeping above 50% option and see if it engenders the health of the battery as mine is showing 92% now.

#12

I have personally found that the 50% trick almost makes it worse, but that is my experience.

You can always experiment!

#13

Oddly enough I have seen and heard more people say it has helped with their battery longevity, where as you say you have seen it worse. O guess as more and more people try it we will se varying results

#14

I completely agree that the vast majority of people see an increase in battery life, however with my experiments I have seen it be negative. However, my phone would be pinned at 100% throughout the day, which is what invalidated by experiment.

#15

Depends on what brand and type you get. Yes and No

#16

Battery scientist here…

Battery degradation due to wireless charging is not true. Read the whole thing to better understand.
li-ion batteries with regular chemistry (LiCo Oxide) will typically give 500 to 1000 charge cycles before the capacity drops below 80% (which is considered as battery failure). LeFePO4 chemistry results in increased number of cycles (2000 or more) but with lower voltage (3.7V for regular Li-ion vs 3.2V of LiFePO4 cells) thus lower energy density.
The above specs are true if we fully charge the cells (to 100%) and take out all usable capacity from cells.
If the cells are only kept between 20% to 80% of full capacity, we can get almost 10 times more number of cycles from the same batteries. This is more of a matter of inconvenience (who will stop charging their phone to 80% charge?)
Another thing that kills the batteries is how fast it is charged. A regular Li-ion cell should not be charged with current higher than 0.5C (where C is the capacity of the cell in mAh). for example if you have a 3000 mAh battery (single cell) then do not charge it with current higher than 1.5Amps. The battery can take current higher than this amps but will result in faster degradation. That’s why if needed the cell can be fast charged but don’t make it a habit.
Wireless charging is currently very inefficient, meaning energy provided to the charger is not outputted at 100%. This is the reason that most of the wireless phone chargers are between 5-10 watt (max). Assuming we have a 10 watt charger with 5V, it is outputting 2A current. This is the current at which most of the phone fast charging happens. Some wired fast chargers give out 9V at 1.8Amps. USB c and PD can supply 30-90 watts of power. Not all of this power will be absorbed by the battery but will make sure that battery is taking in the max current it possibly can (which is bad for the battery’s long term health).
I would suggest sticking to 5 or 7.5 watt wireless charger to make sure battery is not being damaged due to fast charging all the time.

DON’T STORE LI ION BATTERIES AT 100% CHARGE, KEEP THEM AT 60-70%

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#17

That’s what I thought. Thanks for the further explanation.

#18

Thank you!
I have learned a lot!

#19

Thanks for the clarification. I tend to use my newly acquired powerwave wireless charging stand now to charge my phone, but I do use a battery pack when I’m at work

#20

Did they use wireless chargers that used fans or controlled their heat output?

I’m sure 8 hours of fuller charging where the heat isn’t controlled, can’t be good, otherwise companies like Anker wouldn’t be selling their better chargers with in-built fans.

It also can’t be good long term for the chargers either.

The eternal battle for laptops, is speed Vs heat; TVs spend a fortune on the design of the venting. In fact all electronic devices battle with heat dissipation.

In that basis alone, I’d say that excess heat does effect batteries… Ask anyone with a Note 7!

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