Anyone speak wireless charging?

I figured now that I got a new phone and I'm squarely out of the dark ages, I should have a wireless charger.  I do hate cords.

What I'm looking for  is more or less like the magnetic mount I have now.  Sticker on one side, magnet on the other, with a rotating ball in the middle.  Like this:

But... with a wireless charger in it.

Two problems:  First, I'm finding that there are a bunch of charging protocols:  Qi, QC3, etc.  Are they compatible?  Does the charger have to match the phone exactly?  Second... why don't they make them like this picture?  Nearly all of them are massive suction cup things, vent mount things, or cup holder applications.  Are the chargers super heavy?

Depends on your phone.  Most of them can only accept 5W charging, but Samsung can accept up to 10W from a charging pad.  Qi is the closest to a universal standard out there for a charging pad and puts out 5W.  Most Qi chargers are not heavy at all, an ounce or two.

QC3 sounds like QuickCharge 3.0, a charging protocol/standard for plugged in phones.  I did some google and haven't been able to find a charger that uses QC3 as a wireless protocol.  Is there a particular one you're seeing that says that?

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Not sure about any of it.  I have a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.  The Samsung-branded wireless charger is 9W.  Samsung's website is really pretty, but doesn't have anything of substance on it.  There is no owner's manual or anything.  The box came with a Quick start guide with three steps and a USB-c cord.

I'll show you what I've found.

Here's one that says QC3.0 and nothing about Qi, but says it will charge a Samsung S20.  It doesn't specifically say S21, and the QC3.0 might refer to the adapter.  It's also monstrously huge.

Here is one that has a small footprint, but is vent-mount only.  It also says it will do 15w charging.  Is that going to fry the phone, or will my phone limit the juice?

Then there are countless behemoths with a huge suction cup that mounts up on top of the dash and droop down over, but suction cups that look like this:

I just want something that has a little 3M adhesive on the back, sticks to the dash, and charges my phone without a wire.  I'll route the cable behind the dash somewhere.

I have had a few cheapo ones and they have work with apple and samsung phones of different generations. I think they were all Qi style. All super cheap or like swag from a company at a conference.

An el cheapo disk desktop style and use a piece of 3M double sided tape to your dash might work nice. Might have have one of those non slip rubber mats on top.

I'm no expert, but I think the metal plate for the magnetic phone attachment is an issue for a contact wireless charger & may be why you aren't finding what you seek.

secretariata (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm no expert, but I think the metal plate for the magnetic phone attachment is an issue for a contact wireless charger & may be why you aren't finding what you seek.

This is correct, anything that would enable magnetic attachment to the charger also prevents a wireless charger from working.

In reply to RossD :

I need it to hold the phone vertically for things like navigation... and making turns.  The charger itself needs to have a magnet.

red_stapler said:

secretariata (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm no expert, but I think the metal plate for the magnetic phone attachment is an issue for a contact wireless charger & may be why you aren't finding what you seek.

This is correct, anything that would enable magnetic attachment to the charger also prevents a wireless charger from working.

I... don't... think that's... true.

I'm no expert (obviously) but from the proliferation of magnetic charging devices out there I have to wonder....

So you're saying that the (quite literally) thousands of these that I have researched are fakes?

Metal in the case (and I'd assume a car mount) could affect the charging capabilities.  

The looking at the link you included it appears the mag safe is specifically designed for the combined charging and magnetic attachments, where your previous mount probably didn't include compatibility with wireless charging. 

I know my folio case has as magnet and metal plates to allow the folio to be removed easily, but attach securely. Using a wireless charger with the folio attached is iffy, and the metal plate in the case actually gets hot when trying to charge wirelessly. If I remove the folio (and the magnet in it), then my phone will charge fine using a wireless charger.

I may need to check out the mag safe vent mounts like what you linked, My son claimed the one I had in the truck for his car so I need a replacement. 

Well, the phone has an aluminum case... not that aluminum is magnetic but it can be affected by high-intensity magnetic fields.  In order for the magnet to hold the phone in place, it has to have a ferrous thing on it.  No way to avoid metal in this process.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

True, there needs to be ferrous materials to allow the magnet to hold, but it appears the MagSafe designs use a ring of magnets to avoid interfering with the coil rather than a solid plate.

I'm surprised that the phone has an aluminum back. I'm not familiar with the Galaxy line, but I'm pretty sure all the wireless charging compatible iPhones have glass backs.

Im watching to see what is recommended since this is relevant to my charging needs for my iPhone 12 mini in vehicles. 

Beware EMF-induced membrane excitation!

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29890049/

In reply to No Time :

The specs say aluminum, and it looks, feels, and sounds like aluminum when I tap it, but who knows what fancy stuff they do.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

So you're saying that the (quite literally) thousands of these that I have researched are fakes?

Nope, I didn't realize those existed!  I was thinking of the typical magnet mounts that use a larger plate instead of a ring.  The hard part of one of those would be getting the ring attached to the phone in a way that aligns the coils so that they will charge.

S21 Ultra has 'hazed(?)' glass backs. Normal S21 has plastic. S21 does support upto 15w wireless charging, but only on Samsung's own charger, I guess. With Baseus 15w charger my S10e only charges wirelessly with 5w or 10w.

Looked some magnetic wireless charging stuff on Aliexpress, but almost all chargers are only for Apple MagSafe. Some do offer magnetic stickers for Samsung phones, though.

This(https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002004382781.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.42656486K60gfb&algo_pvid=5e4cafa5-07d6-443c-aa7c-b6cb0ba27d15&algo_exp_id=5e4cafa5-07d6-443c-aa7c-b6cb0ba27d15-2) fits your criteria, but the reviews say that the magnet is too weak.

This one from Baseus(https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002425753518.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.409b66ccjJiZna&algo_pvid=1ddb1183-5f8e-4003-b8f7-c70b0183982c&algo_exp_id=1ddb1183-5f8e-4003-b8f7-c70b0183982c-4) is Apple Magsafe compatible, but reviews say that it is also compatible with android phones. Being a Baseus product I guess it is going to last much longer than a no-name brand.

But I think wireless chargers doesn't really work in cars. It always ends up overheating, so the phone cuts off charging. Especially when using GPS. I used several of them, and they all end up overheating and not charging in hot summer days. Even the ones that come from the factory!

In reply to karussell :

Thanks for the update.  Not promising news.  I found one to try and I ordered it, but made sure it had free returns.