无线(Wireless)充电让您无需插入USB 数据线(USB cable)即可为您的小工具充电。它非常简洁，但它实际上是如何工作的？为什么还要打扰？有什么缺点？
我们将在这里解决您需要了解的有关无线充电工作原理的所有信息。很快(Soon)你就会忘记那些杂乱的电线是什么样子的！
感应(Induction)问题，我亲爱的瓦特(My Dear Watt)（儿子）
通常，无线充电器使用称为“感应”充电的磁和电特性。基本上(Basically)，电流被转换成磁场。然后，该场会在您要充电的设备中感应出电流。
这有点过于简单化了，但它本质上就是无线充电过程中发生的事情。每个设备中有两个线圈，用于将能量从一种形式转换为另一种形式。
这是您可能在智能手机或智能手表等个人小工具中找到的最常见的无线充电形式。感应(Induction)充电仅适用于非常短的距离。通常为 10 毫米或更小。因此，尽管电源是“无线”的，但您通常需要将设备放在某种充电板上，以便电源流动。诸如此类的感应充电器使用低频信号将电源从充电器传输到设备。(Induction)
共振替代品
走进一个房间让你所有的设备都通电不是很酷吗？这就是共振充电的承诺。使用高频无线电波以无线方式向设备供电。
这种方法的一大优点是相对高频的波可以传播得比感应充电器可以管理的更远。我们说的是多英尺。因此，只要您停留在线圈的范围内，您的设备就会启动。
这是一个未来主义的想法，但电气先驱尼古拉特斯拉在(Nikola Tesla)一个多世纪前就(more than a century ago)已经这样做了。如果(Had)历史朝着稍微不同的方向发展，那么无线电力可能已经成为当今做事的标准方式。
两马赛跑
无线充电的工作方式有不同的方法，每种方法都有自己的优缺点。不同的公司对于我们都希望如何在日常生活中使用无线电源有不同的看法。这导致了无线充电的多种标准，正如您可能已经猜到的那样，这些标准不能互操作。
Qi 无线充电器(Qi wireless chargers)使用短距离感应方法，这是您在大多数无线充电的个人设备中都能找到的方法。
AirFuel标准使用远程(AirFuel)共振方法，您不太可能发现它已内置到您的小工具中。但是，您可以为智能手机购买特殊的充电盒(special charging cases)，为其添加AirFuel功能。
快点！快点！
无论标准如何，您可能会注意到关于无线充电的一件事是它们不提供那么多功率。使用电缆时，快速充电几乎已成为标准。现代USB-C智能手机和笔记本电脑通常可以接受 40 到 60 瓦之间的任何功率。使用USB-C Power Delivery，您实际上可以通过USB-C电缆传输 100W 的功率，但目前手机中的锂离子电池无法接受这一点。
Qi 或AirFuel充电器的功率几乎没有，但两种标准都在不断发展。在撰写本文时，40W 无线快充已经开始进入市场，AirFuel希望在未来的某个时候达到 100W。我们还可以期待电池技术得到改进，从而更容易更快地为设备充电。
然而，就目前而言，无线充电的一个主要缺点是它比使用直接有线连接要慢，并且它不能主动为需要中等电量才能工作的设备供电。
一个充电器来统治他们
无线充电的一大优势是它消除了所有不同的电缆标准。嗯(Well)。这是假设您的所有设备都使用相同的标准，但 Qi 充电在智能手机等设备上变得非常普遍。
因此，任何拥有 Qi 设备的人都可以简单地将其放在您的平板电脑上并充电。这很酷，但真正的杀手级功能是能够同时在同一个充电板上为多个设备充电。您需要为每个要充电的设备配备一个带有一个线圈的充电器。
例如，“三重充电器(triple chargers)”具有三个线圈，因此具有三个充电点。您可以将三个设备并排放置并让它们同时充电。这可能是一个非常优雅的解决方案。例如，如果您将三重充电器放在客厅的边桌上，那么它就是人们可以放置设备的中心位置。
仅无线充电的设备
大多数无线充电设备（例如智能手机）也为您提供有线充电选项。但是，有些设备只能让您无线充电。智能手表就是这方面的一个例子，(Smartwatches are one example of this)当你考虑它时，它是有道理的。
如果您想创建一个真正防尘和防水的设备，拥有一堆端口可能会很痛苦。更不用说无线耳机或智能手表等小型设备通常没有空间容纳标准连接器。
无线充电如何在更大的设备上工作？虽然目前还没有我们所知道的具有独家无线充电功能的手机、平板电脑或笔记本电脑，但不要认为它永远不会发生。在加固和设计方面，仅使用无线通信和充电的完全密封设备将为您打开新的大门。
(Phones)提供无线充电的(Power Banks That Provide Wireless Charging)手机和移动电源
无线充电器本身已经无线化，因为您现在可以获得移动电源，甚至可以使用 Qi 标准为设备无线充电的智能手机。
Note 10+等智能手机具有称为“无线共享电源”的功能，它非常适合为无线耳塞或智能手表等设备充电。无线移动电源(Wireless power banks)当然也适用于该用例，但它也带来了一种有趣的可能性，即将手机连接到移动电源并暂时将其用作一个无线大块。
无线未来
短距离 Qi 感应充电肯定会继续存在，但我们已经看到了一些令人印象深刻的使用共振方法进行长距离充电的演示。为液晶(LCD)电视安装接收器线圈，只需将其置于安装在墙壁内的另一个线圈的范围内即可打开它。
由于可以无线传输电力和数据，产品设计人员可以采用新的途径。我们可能会走向一个有趣的未来，即始终有电、无需打开并且在某些情况下可能不再需要电池来运行的设备。
当然，远距离无线电力成为常态还需要一段时间。您当然也可以期待相当多的阻力。对于电磁辐射技术（例如 5G）会导致健康问题或环境问题，已经存在很多（通常是没有根据的）担忧。我们预计，当远程无线电力传输变得更加普遍时，也会出现同样的抱怨。
然而，就目前而言，似乎没有人对非常短距离的感应充电存在问题。您有多少(How)设备可以无线充电？您多久(How)使用一次该功能？我们很乐意在评论中听到它。
How Does Wireless Charging Work?
Wireless charging lets you charge up yoυr gadgets without havіng to plug in a USB cable. It’s pretty neat, but how does it actually work? Why even bother? What are the downsides?
We’ll tackle everything you need to know about how wireless charging works right here. Soon you’ll forget what all that wire clutter was like!
A Matter Of Induction, My Dear Watt(son)
Generally, wireless chargers use a property of magnetism and electricity known as “induction” charging. Basically, electric current is converted into a magnetic field. This field then induces an electric current in the device you want to charge.
That’s a bit of an oversimplification, but it’s essentially what happens in the wireless charging process. There are two coils, one in each device, that convert the energy from one form to another.
This is the most common form of wireless charging you’re likely to find in personal gadgets such as smartphones or smart watches. Induction charging only works over very short distances. Usually 10mm or less. So although the power is “wireless” you usually need to set the device down on some sort of charging pad for the power to flow. Induction chargers such as these use low frequency signals to move power from the charger to the device.
The Resonant Alternative
Wouldn’t it be cool to just walk into a room and have all of your devices receive power? That’s the promise of resonant charging. Using high-frequency radio waves to send power to devices wirelessly.
The big advantage of this method is that the relatively high-frequency waves can travel much farther than induction chargers can manage. We’re talking multiple feet. So as long as you stay within range of the coil, your device will power up.
It’s a futuristic idea, but electrical pioneer Nikola Tesla was doing it more than a century ago. Had history gone in a slightly different direction, wireless electricity might have been the standard way of doing things today.
A Two-Horse Race
There are different approaches to how wireless charging works, each with their own pros and cons. Different companies have different visions as to how we all want to use wireless power in daily life. This has given rise to multiple standards for wireless charging and, as you’ve probably guessed, these standards don’t inter-operate.
Qi wireless chargers use the short-range induction method and this is what you’ll find in most personal devices that charge wirelessly.
The AirFuel standard uses the long-range resonant method and you’re not likely to find it built into your gadgets quite yet. However, you can buy special charging cases for smartphones that add AirFuel capability to them.
Faster! Faster!
One thing you may notice about wireless charging, regardless of the standard, is that they don’t offer that much power. Fast-charging has become pretty much the standard when using a cable. Modern USB-C smartphones and laptops can often accept anything between 40 and 60 watts. Using USB-C Power Delivery, you can actually move 100W of power over a USB-C cable, but not current lithium ion batteries in a phone can accept that.
Qi or AirFuel chargers don’t offer nearly as much power, but both standards are evolving. At the time of writing, 40W wireless fast charging has started to enter the market and AirFuel hopes to reach 100W at some point in the future. We can also expect battery technology to improve, making it easier to charge devices more quickly.
However, as of right now, one major downside of wireless charging is that it’s slower than using a direct wire connection and it can’t actively power devices that need even a moderate amount of power to work.
One Charger To Rule Them All
One great advantage of wireless charging is that it does away with all the different cable standards. Well. that’s assuming all your devices use the same standard, but Qi charging is becoming pretty ubiquitous for devices like smartphones.
So anyone with a Qi device can simply put it on your pad and charge up. That’s cool, but the real killer feature is the ability to charge multiple devices on the same charging pad at the same time. You need a charger with one coil for each device you want to charge.
For example, “triple chargers” have three coils and therefore three charging spots. You can put three devices next to each other and have them charge at the same time. That can be a pretty elegant solution. For example, if you place a triple charger on a side table in your living room, it’s a central place where people can put their devices.
Devices That Only Charge Wirelessly
Most devices that charge wirelessly, such as smartphones, also give you the option of wired charging. However, there are some devices that only let you charge them wirelessly. Smartwatches are one example of this and when you think about it, it makes sense.
If you want to create a device that’s truly dust and waterproof, having a bunch of ports can be a pain. Not to mention that small devices such as wireless buds or smartwatches often don’t have space for standard connectors anyway.
How does wireless charging work on larger devices? While there are as yet no phones, tablets or laptops that we are aware of with exclusive wireless charging don’t assume it will never happen. A completely sealed device that uses only wireless communication and charging would open up new doors when it comes to ruggedization and design.
Phones & Power Banks That Provide Wireless Charging
Wireless chargers themselves have gone wireless in the sense that you can now get power banks and even smartphones that can charge devices wirelessly using the Qi standard.
Smartphones such as the Note 10+ have a feature known as “Wireless Powershare” and it’s very handy for charging devices such as wireless earbuds or smartwatches. Wireless power banks are of course also useful for that use case, but it also brings up the interesting possibility of sticking your phone to the power bank and temporarily using it as one cable-free hunk.
A Wireless Future
Short-range Qi induction charging is certainly here to stay, but we’ve seen some impressive demonstrations of long range charging using the resonance method. Fitting an LCD TV with a receiver coil, simply bringing it within range of another coil installed within a wall will power it on.
With both power and data transfer possible wirelessly, there are new avenues product designers can take. We might be heading for an interesting future of devices that always have power, don’t need to be opened and in some cases may no longer need batteries to operate.
Of course, it will be some time until long range wireless power becomes the norm. You can certainly expect quite a bit of pushback as well. There’s already plenty of (usually unwarranted) concerns about electromagnetic radiation technologies such as 5G causing health issues or environmental problems. We expect the same sorts of complaints to arise when long-range wireless power transmission becomes more common.
For now however, no one seems to have an issue with very short range induction charging. How many of your devices can charge wirelessly? How often do you use that feature? We’d love to hear about it in the comments.
