Wireless charging may be inefficient, but it's only a catastrophe if you ignore the alternatives | Android Central
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`AT SCALE
`
`Wireless charging may be inefficient, but
`it's only a catastrophe if you ignore the
`alternatives
`Wireless charging wastes electricity, yes, but so does replacing cables, and
`sometimes, phones.
`
`JERRY HILDENBRAND
`
`7 Aug 2020
`
`! 26
`
`https://www.androidcentral.com/wireless-charging-inefficient-only-if-you-ignore-alternatives
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`Page 1 of 9
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`Apple v. GUI Global Products
`IPR2021-00471 GUI Ex. 2016
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`Wireless charging may be inefficient, but it's only a catastrophe if you ignore the alternatives | Android Central
`
`5/15/21, 10:00 AM
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`TS
`
`ource: Ara Wagoner / Android Central
`
`here's a great article on OneZero from Eric Ravenscraft about how wireless charging's low
`e!ciency wastes so much electricity that its wide adoption could mean dozens of new
`power plants will need to be built across the globe. It's a really interesting read and highlights
`the thing that many people already suspected: wireless charging wastes a lot of energy
`compared to plugging something into a charger.
`
`Once you move past the hyperbolic headline and get to the meat of the matter you'll see just
`how ine!cient wireless charging really is. Every time you set your phone or something like a
`pair of wireless earbuds on a charging pad, you're using about 50% more energy to charge
`them compared to using a cable. Part of the reason is that it can be tough to align
`electromagnetic coils properly to transfer the full amount of energy they are capable of, but
`part of it is simply because wireless charging just uses more power.
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`It's one of the design flaws, if you will, of inductive charging. You're sending power through
`coils that are aligned in a way to oscillate and create a magnetic field. If you know any basic
`electricity theory, that's very close to how a generator "creates" electricity when it builds a
`magnetic field around a conductor. The di"erence is that a much more conservative way to
`charge something like a phone battery exists, and that's just plugging it into a cable that's
`attached to a charger. You know, like the good ol' days.
`
`https://www.androidcentral.com/wireless-charging-inefficient-only-if-you-ignore-alternatives
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`Page 2 of 9
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`Apple v. GUI Global Products
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`Wireless charging may be inefficient, but it's only a catastrophe if you ignore the alternatives | Android Central
`
`5/15/21, 10:00 AM
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`Wireless charging wastes power because of its
`design.
`
`We're not going to go deep into electrical theory and talk about how all of this works or ways
`that energy-producing plants could become more e!cient. What we're concerned with is the
`things we do and how any action from us could contribute to what Ravenscraft calls a
`problem.
`
`Source: Android Central
`
`Whether you agree that this is a problem or not, it's not our problem to solve. Any discussion
`should start right there. Wireless charging isn't becoming popular because of its e!ciency, it's
`becoming popular because of its convenience. I think that the wasted energy from conductive
`charging is something that needs to be looked at but not by consumers.
`
`Consumers aren't the right group to investigate how
`to build high-efficiency chargers.
`
`Companies that design chargers, products that use them, and bodies that set
`standardsshould be investigating how to build equipment that doesn't waste power. And they
`
`https://www.androidcentral.com/wireless-charging-inefficient-only-if-you-ignore-alternatives
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`Page 3 of 9
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`Apple v. GUI Global Products
`IPR2021-00471 GUI Ex. 2016
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`Wireless charging may be inefficient, but it's only a catastrophe if you ignore the alternatives | Android Central
`
`5/15/21, 10:00 AM
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`are. As consumers, all we need to understand is that using a wireless charger could cost us a
`few dollars more each year from higher utility bills and decide if the convenience is
`worthwhile.
`
`That convenience factor goes beyond not having to plug your phone in, too. Repeatedly
`plugging in a charging cable causes wear and tear on both the cable and whatever it is being
`plugged into. Many of us have seen a phone where you have to position the cable just right
`so that it can charge and that's because wear has made the connection less solid. This is
`exactly why I use wireless charging whenever I can — replacing USB ports in phones is tricky
`if you know what you're doing and expensive if you don't.
`
`Cables aren't that expensive. That's because they aren't built to be tough. A cable is a weak
`spot compared to a charger or a phone and I think almost all of us have a handful of them
`stashed somewhere. The sun will rot them while in your car, unplugging them out will cause
`the cable to pull out of the connector, and repeated contact with a socket will misshape the
`metal ends over time.
`
`Source: Android Central
`
`Charging bricks will last a lot longer, but they too can go bad before a phone does. They
`create heat which causes both internal parts to degrade as well as making the plastic shell
`brittle — sometimes brittle enough to crack. You'll have these problems whether you're using
`them to directly charge a phone or if you're using them to power a wireless charger. But
`problems with the connection no longer making contact can also happen when you're
`repeatedly plugging and unplugging a cable.
`
`These "problems" are minor. Nobody complains that they used a cable so much it needed to
`be replaced, and even a very high-quality cable isn't expensive compared to the device it's
`topping up. But like the wasted energy of wireless charging, scaling up the issue to include
`billions of users means it is a real problem all the same.
`
`https://www.androidcentral.com/wireless-charging-inefficient-only-if-you-ignore-alternatives
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`Page 4 of 9
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`Apple v. GUI Global Products
`IPR2021-00471 GUI Ex. 2016
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`

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`Wireless charging may be inefficient, but it's only a catastrophe if you ignore the alternatives | Android Central
`
`5/15/21, 10:00 AM
`
`To do a fair study, the costs of making and selling
`replacement equipment needs to be factored.
`
`Nobody has done a study about how much electricity is used to manufacture and sell
`replacement cables, but I'm willing to bet it's at least as much as wireless chargers can waste.
`When you add in the cost of repairing or replacing phones because of a failed charging port,
`I'm certain it's more. These costs could all disappear if every phone used wireless charging as
`the only way to charge the battery.
`
`I hate to make light of anyone's work, and that's not what I am doing. The OneZero piece did
`a great job of parsing through data to reach his conclusion, and finding an angle to make your
`writing stand out from the rest of the internet is tough. There are a lot of discussions to be had
`about wireless charging, especially if the tech ever branches out from consumer electronics
`to things like home appliances or automobiles. But that's a discussion for engineers to have,
`not consumers.
`
`What we should be concerned about is that manufacturers try hard to provide us with the
`options we want to see at a price that reflects their true value. If you like wireless charging,
`buy a phone that supports it along with a good wireless charger and ignore the problems
`electrical engineers need to care about.
`
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`THINKING OF THE FUTURE
`What comes next for foldables? Some next-gen folding
`ideas we'd love to see
`
`https://www.androidcentral.com/wireless-charging-inefficient-only-if-you-ignore-alternatives
`
`Page 5 of 9
`
`Apple v. GUI Global Products
`IPR2021-00471 GUI Ex. 2016
`
`

`

`Wireless charging may be inefficient, but it's only a catastrophe if you ignore the alternatives | Android Central
`
`5/15/21, 10:00 AM
`
`From fantasy tech to mundane reality, foldables have shown us a world of mobile
`technology that's more versatile than we were used to. Here at Android Central,
`we had a bit of a think into just how much further they could take us.
`
`REIN IN THE RODEO, PLEASE
`Google desperately needs to take control of Android apps
`on Chromebooks
`We've now had Android apps on Chromebooks for five years, and while
`Chromebooks have come a long way in that time, app performance and
`optimization for Chrome OS have made significantly less progress.
`
`LOOK MA NO WIRES
`Charging is better than ever on the Pixel 5 with these
`wireless chargers
`Wireless charging on past Pixels was always a bit of a guessing game. Unique
`profiles and speeds meant that you had to search high and low to find chargers
`that worked. Thankfully with the Pixel 5, things are much more mainstream and
`chargers are more widely available.
`
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`https://www.androidcentral.com/wireless-charging-inefficient-only-if-you-ignore-alternatives
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`Wireless charging may be inefficient, but it's only a catastrophe if you ignore the alternatives | Android Central
`
`5/15/21, 10:00 AM
`
`https://www.androidcentral.com/wireless-charging-inefficient-only-if-you-ignore-alternatives
`
`Page 7 of 9
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`O N LY O N O L E DO N LY O N O L E DO N LY O N O L E DO N LY O N O L E D
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`Apple v. GUI Global Products
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`Wireless charging may be inefficient, but it's only a catastrophe if you ignore the alternatives | Android Central
`
`5/15/21, 10:00 AM
`
`!
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`Opinions
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`https://www.androidcentral.com/wireless-charging-inefficient-only-if-you-ignore-alternatives
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`Wireless charging may be inefficient, but it's only a catastrophe if you ignore the alternatives | Android Central
`
`5/15/21, 10:00 AM
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