Vet claims: As far as gadgets are concerned, nothing is really wireless unless the user experience is free of movement. Wireless headphones achieved this feat a few years ago, and if you ask Xiaomi, it seems that wireless charging has done the same. The company says that its new Mi Air Charge technology can charge multiple devices (5 W each) over a few meters remotely without interference by physical obstacles.
Counterpoint: While it’s great to see innovation and the advancement of technology, this Xiaomi announcement is pure marketing hype and will certainly never reach the market. From an engineering perspective, the efficiency of these transmitters is so low that it probably requires 1000 W + input power to supply 5 W to a telephone. Unless the phone is held precisely, no power will be delivered. This means that you can not place your phone on a table, that you can not turn it and that you can not cover it with your hand. Plus, the cost can easily be $ 1000. Announcements like these come every few months and without fail it never comes down to an actual product.
The Qi wireless charging standard that most electronics use nowadays still requires the host and receiver to be very close and not accept more than 4 cm (1.6 inches) of distance to charge. And while power delivery has gradually improved over the years, companies like Xiaomi have come up with their own fast-charging wireless solutions that recently touched an insane 80W, though the range limit was still in place.
In its latest announcement, the Chinese conglomerate unveiled Mi Air Charge, a technology that they say enables the right wireless charging within a radius of a few meters. The in-house evolving technology uses phased antennas to detect and send radio waves to the receiving device which also has a built-in antenna system to convert these waves into electrical energy.
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Xiaomi also notes that Mi Air Charge can juice multiple devices at 5W simultaneously, and that physical objects do not interfere with the charging efficiency of the technology. The company aims to make it work with smartwatches, portable products and smart home products such as desk lamps and speakers. However, do not expect Mi Air Charge to appear on the market soon since a driver from Xiaomi tweeted in a reply that the technology will not come on consumer products this year.
It remains to be seen how Mi Air Charge will affect Xiaomi’s hardware prices in the future and whether users will swap their fast charging equipment (cables, power banks, wall chargers) for 5W wireless charging. The company may also need to address safety concerns and actually send Mi Air Charge to prove that ‘it’s not science fiction, it’s technology’.
Editor’s note: Counterpoint added, written by William Gayde.