Re:Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powere...
by aninhumer on Wednesday July 05, 2017 @04:46PM
(#14705952)
I'm using a generic charger, and while you do have to position it correctly, I find it fairly forgiving. Basically as long as I vaguely line it up with the pad surface it works fine, and there's an LED that turns green to let me know it's correct.
I didn't know the official Nexus 5 charger used magnets though. I passed on it because IIRC it was a weird cylinder stand that looked less stable than the generic flat pad I bought. (That and it was a good bit more expensive.)
EDIT: I just played around with mine now, and the margin for error is at least a couple of cm. I think my sense of neatness objects to the offset before the charger does.
Re:Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powere...
by WorldMaker on Wednesday July 05, 2017 @05:14PM
(#14706164)
Indeed, just today I was late to work because my phone was just a few millimeters off from the correct charging position (on a Qi charger) and I failed to triple check the charging indicators and LED lights before I went to bed and I slept through my non-phone alarms. Inductive charging is handy, but it is its own nuisance.
The Nexus 5 charger had a small addition that more or less addressed the problem entirely: it added magnets at the corners of the chargers that would align with something (probably other magnets?) inside the phone, so you would know where the sweet spot was because it would pull your phone and hand into it. But with generic Qi chargers, I would have to fiddle around and check the charge symbol.