You Can Charge Your iPhone 6s Wirelessly, But Is It Worth It?

September's iPhone 6S release added many features to take on the competition. A 12-megapixel camera, faster fingerprint sensor and 3D Touch impressed during our iPhone 6S review. But what wasn’t included in the body of the now-unbendable Apple phone is a feature found in the latest Samsung Galaxy S6 and other Android devices: wireless charging.

Moving power magically between objects without a cord is something many may have encountered in electric toothbrushes. By placing the toothbrush on its stand, energy is transferred from the metal plate to the brush. Similar charging technology can be found in Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4 and Nexus 5. But just because Apple didn’t include it inside the latest iPhone doesn’t mean iOS users don’t have options.

After using the Aerelight lamp to charge an iPhone case that supported inductive charging, I was hooked. When sitting at my desk, picking up my phone for use and setting it down to charge without wires was too convenient. So I contacted Fonesalesman to outfit my iPhone 6S with one of their wireless charging patches and received a wooden charging puck to go along with it. (The patch and puck usually total around $75-95. Cheaper alternatives exist on Amazon.)

Here are my impressions of a life without wires. But first, a primer.

How Does Wireless Charging Work?

Much like hoverboards and hoverboards, the term “wireless charging” is a bit misleading. Inductive charging isn’t wireless like Wi-Fi or cell service is—i.e.: don’t expect to grab a charge as you’re traversing your city’s streets. But it’s still slightly cooler than plugging in your phone. Most inductive chargers make use of coils to transfer energy. When given power, a transmitter coil (found in the wooden puck) can toss energy over to a receiver coil (found in the phone patch) with the help of a magnetic field. Which is well-illustrated here. This only works when both coils are very close to each other.

The “wireless charging” moniker is also misleading because really, there are still wires involved. Our Fonesalesman wooden puck needed to be plugged in via micro-USB to work. And other charging objects like the Aerelight lamp we initially tested or Ikea’s line of powered-up furniture need to be plugged in somehow too. Plugging in the lamp wasn’t too out of the ordinary, however, since light sources without inductive charging require this anyway.

Read more at: https://www.popsci.com/iphone-6s-wireless-charging