Hacker News Reader

Comment by clay_the_ripper | Hacker News Reader

What a shame, this would be the actual experience of wireless charging that I had envisioned it was. The reality of wireless charging is quite different: fiddly and possible to have your phone be dead in the morning.

I wish someone could figure out how to make a true wireless charging mat like this. As it stands, I wouldn’t buy a wireless charger for my wife for example. She’ll just plonk it on there and then ask me why her phone is dead in the morning.

Who cares about convenience when there is a non-zero chance of waking up to a dead phone?

I hope someone figures out how to make “true” wireless charging that just works so that there’s no more fiddling with positioning.

I think that’s why there is so much hate on AirPower, people say “who cares there are plenty on the market”. Yeah true, but not any that my wife would want to use. And I’m betting there are a lot of people like that out there.

View on HN

I've had really good luck with the tilted stand ones. If my phone is propped up on it, it's charging. I have had much worse luck with the lay-down pad ones.

Yeah I've had problems with previous chargers but my Pixel Stand works great every time. The design makes it very easy to get it in the right spot and keeps it there.

Same. I have an anker stand and it works great.

Hah, I just saw a YouTube ad for I think a Kickstarter that claims to have solved this by redesigning the coils.

Both Qi chargers that I have make it very clear if charging is happening. The "just plonk it down" problem is human, not technical.

I'm sure you're most likely underestimating your wife's ability to learn what is, in reality, a quite simple task.

If a human can mess it up, they will mess it up.

(Modification of Murphy's Law.)

When compared to plugging into a grounded AC wall socket or even a standard USB port, I find positioning an iphone on a wireless charger far easier.

It’s not about how easy it is to do right. It’s about how easy it is to do it wrong and not notice.

And even if you are right, it’s moot if it’s on a nightstand and your cat bumps it in the middle of the night.

I believe you may be conflating ability with willingness. I've seen many people seemingly wilfully avoid learning things of which they're clearly capable.

My problem is it's really easy to get just barely on the edge of the charge zone, and then at some point in the night you bump it ever so slightly and it leaves the zone and stops charging.

I've had my wireless charger for 4 months now and never once experienced this. You put it down and it makes a slight vibration to tell you its charging. Sometimes if I've had a few beers I don't hear the noise and I have to pick it up and drop it down again.

This is still way easier than digging out the cable from between my bed and my nightstand and fiddling with it 'till it gets in exactly the right spot. Now I use my phone in bed and don't worry at all until I go to sleep and then it just works.

It occurs to me that what made my phone fall off the sweet spot wasn't actually me bumping it, it was vibrations from notifications received during the night.

“You're holding it wrong” is always the wrong answer.

You'd have to intentionally position a phone to not work on the Samsung charger. Plus it tilts and looks a lot nicer than the apple version. People hated on the airpower because it is a crowded market with multiple mfgs already making superior ones.

Although why would the phone be dead in the morning anyways? Even on low battery it should still be on low battery in the morning.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com