With every flagship phone coming out, wireless charging is becoming more and more mainstream. But is it as good as it sounds?

Sure Wireless charging has its benefits, but everything good comes its own set of disadvantages.

What is wireless charging?

Before we tear apart the pros and cons of wireless charging, let’s talk a little bit about the technology itself.

Wireless charging has been around for quite some time now. The way it works is that you place your gadget (usually smartphones) over a particular platform, and it starts charging. Sounds cool right?

While just dropping your phone over something and have it charge itself, is pretty darn convincing itself, wireless charging isn’t always completely wireless.

Consider this; you still have to plug in your ‘wireless’ charger into a wall outlet. So the only wireless part here is except plugging your phone in, you’re dropping it over a platform.

For some, it may be convincing enough. For some, it may not be worth the price it comes with.

And that’s the first hiccup with wireless charging. Wireless chargers, especially the ones that work well, are expensive.

Moving ahead, wireless charging is still only available on a handful of devices. Most budget segment smartphones are still ages away from wireless charging.

Next up, wireless charging is, in most cases, slow. Unless you have a ‘Qi’ wireless charging and a device that supports it, you’ll be taking way longer to charge your phone than you would by plugging it in.

Also read: Is it okay to leave your phone on charge all night?

The conclusion

Wireless charging might in the start seem to be like an unnecessary gimmick, but once you start using it, it can be a pretty convenient thing.

Just coming home and dropping your phone on a pad is way more natural than plugging it in. Besides, often there are situations where you forget to plug in your phone and end up without any juice the next day. Wireless charging can be a lifesaver there.

Cons

• Usually slow
• Not supported by a lot of devices
• Can be expensive
• Not a lot of options when it comes to wireless chargers

Pros

• You don’t have to plug in your phone
• Looks cool

Wireless charging is still a maturing piece of tech. There are already a bunch of cool wireless chargers in the market, and more options are coming in every day.

If you look at the whole wireless charging scenario, it revolves around convenience and like any other technological innovation, reducing wires.

Depending upon your perspective of wireless charging, it can either be an unnecessary gimmick or a convenient lifesaver. Whether you really need it or not, is up to you to decide.

I’ll repeat it though; it does look cool.

Also read: 7 reasons why your smartphone is heating up and how to tackle it