How can I get the best from wireless charging?

CHARLOTTE HOUSE

Wireless charging is sorcery that few truly understand, so let Dr Gauss offer you a quick explanation in anapestic tetrameter: In the back of your phone a flat coil of wire lies / Find the same in your Qi-charging power supplies / When the coil in the charger is given some juice / It excites the phone’s coil with a magnetic boost / If you have a new hob which features induction / The tech is a similar type of construction / But be warned – do not try charging phones on your hob / (Unless fire is your aim – to turn phones to a blob).

To be honest that probably didn’t help you understand it any better, but it did amuse Guru for a few minutes. Let’s leave it at ‘it just works’ and move on. Step one is improving your aim. The better the coils are aligned, the more efficiently they’ll be able to transfer their power. Apple’s newer devices mostly make this a non-issue with the new generation of MagSafe, which gives the alignment some exacting precision; many charging stands will do the same, force-aligning your phone for ultimate performance; Belkin’s Boost Charge TrueFreedom Pro solves the problem simply by hurling a whole load of individual charging coils into a single mat, meaning wherever you put your phone you’ll always be sort of right.

Secondly, power can be an issue, particularly if you’re trying to charge a newer phone. Most Qi-charging devices draw a maximum of 5W, but iPhones and Samsung phones contain tech that can take a little more. Give them a charging pad with 10W output – maybe even something frivolous like Numskull’s flux-capacitor-shaped Charging Matz – and they should be a lot happier. And consider a thinner case, because bulky silicon numbers can reduce the proximity between coils.