Xiaomi today announced its “Mi Air Charge Technology”, which can charge devices wirelessly from a room with 5W power.
Mi Air Charge Technology offers a “true wireless charging” solution, without cables or stands. Devices charge remotely with 5W power using advanced spatial position and beamforming energy transmission.
Xiaomi has developed an insulated charging pack unit with five-phase interference antennas, which can accurately detect the location of a smartphone. A phase control assembly with 144 antennas then sends millimeter-wide waves directly to the telephone through beamforming.
For smartphones, Xiaomi has developed a similar miniaturized antenna array with a “beacon antenna” and a “reception antenna array”. The beacon antenna transmits positional information at low power, while the receiving antenna array uses 14 antennas to convert the millimeter-wave signal emitted by the charging pole directly into an electric circuit.
The remote control technology can charge several devices within a radius of a few meters, and each device can get 5 W of power. Xiaomi also notes that physical objects placed between the charging pack and the device do not reduce the charging efficiency.
Xiaomi says it wants to expand the technology in the future to smartwatches, wristbands and other portable equipment, as well as smart speakers, desk lamps and more. It’s unclear how close Xiaomi is to bringing its Mi Air Charge Technology and charging pack to the consumer market, but today’s revelation may indicate that it will be sooner rather than later.
The announcement indicates that progress with remote wireless charging technology is gradually evolving within the industry. Several years ago, Apple reportedly partnered with Energous to deliver its own remote charging solution. It is believed that Apple is still investigating new wireless charging technologies, and with the advent of MagSafe on the iPhone 12 models, the company is clearly interested in new ways to power devices.