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[sevenlayermuddle]

My OnePlus 5T's dash charger would like a word - 0-80% in 40 minutes, or something daft. Charger is 4A :|

Fast charging is certainly something I think I’d appreciate.    I’m probably not the only person with this weakness but whilst I generally recharge every evening, the time I forget is always the time I have somewhere to go the next morning, and need  to leave in a hurry.

I think it also supports Qi wireless charging, which I know nothing about.   It might be nice to not have to fiddle with the cable, especially as lightning cables have always been somewhat fragile.   At a quick glance though, many of the Qi chargers seem to be ugly, clunky looking things.   Maybe that’s inevitable, a consequence of what’s inside.   Anybody used them, for iPhones or others?

All you Iphone 11users must be on iOS 13 at least. Is anybody suffering the bug with duplicate emails in the sent folder. Seems even 13.1.2 still has this bug there is a fairly long Apple forum thread on it

Oh dear, that sounds depressing.    We’ve not yet updated our other iOS devices to 13, I usually wait a few weeks until the dust has settled.  But as you point out, I’ll not have that choice on a new device.

[g3uiss]

Fast charging is certainly something I think I’d appreciate.    I’m probably not the only person with this weakness but whilst I generally recharge every evening, the time I forget is always the time I have somewhere to go the next morning, and need  to leave in a hurry.

I think it also supports Qi wireless charging, which I know nothing about.   It might be nice to not have to fiddle with the cable, especially as lightning cables have always been somewhat fragile.   At a quick glance though, many of the Qi chargers seem to be ugly, clunky looking things.   Maybe that’s inevitable, a consequence of what’s inside.   Anybody used them, for iPhones or others?

I’ve used wireless charging for about a year. It’s very efficient I wouldn’t  go back to a cable connection. Quite a lot of choice about either flat or as a stand chargers. I’ve used both with 100% success.

Tony

[dee.jay]

Fast charging is certainly something I think I’d appreciate.    I’m probably not the only person with this weakness but whilst I generally recharge every evening, the time I forget is always the time I have somewhere to go the next morning, and need  to leave in a hurry.

I think it also supports Qi wireless charging, which I know nothing about.   It might be nice to not have to fiddle with the cable, especially as lightning cables have always been somewhat fragile.   At a quick glance though, many of the Qi chargers seem to be ugly, clunky looking things.   Maybe that’s inevitable, a consequence of what’s inside.   Anybody used them, for iPhones or others?

Oh dear, that sounds depressing.    We’ve not yet updated our other iOS devices to 13, I usually wait a few weeks until the dust has settled.  But as you point out, I’ll not have that choice on a new device.

Wireless charging hasn't been that much of an interest to me. The quick charging is a godsend, especially as I tether remotely from time to time and that munches battery.

[Chunkers]

I have used wireless Qi charging for years now, my last 3 phones supported it (obviously not Apple), personally I think once you get used to it and place a few charging pads strategically you will never go back.

I like never having to fiddle around plugging in my phones and devices, my preferred devices are the little docks which are super cheap.  They are not particularly fast but since I have on on my desk and by my bed I never really notice.  When I come back into the office I just plop it on the dock or pad.
My wife is now a convert with her iPhone 8, I think once you get used to never plugging in you will enjoy it!

C

[sevenlayermuddle]

Thanks for feedback re Qi.   If I do buy the phone, I can imagine a Qi charger going on my letter to Santa later this year.

[gt94sss2]

One little recognised fact of the 11 Pro bw, is I believe, it ships with a fast 18W charger.  Other Apple devices won’t benefit (but will still charge), whilst capable devices should charge much faster.

I found https://youtu.be/CVda_Tx_VFE helpful.


iPhone 11's also support fast charging (and wireless charging) even though they bundle the standard charger in the box.

[Ronski]

I've used Qi charging for years, I would never buy a phone without it now. First trying it with my S4 back in 2014, but that didn't work very well as I couldn't stop the phone illuminating every time it reached full charge, the illumination would wake me up. I then bought an Elephone P9000 in early 2016 which had Qi charging built in and that worked perfectly, simply place it on the pad when I go to bed, and it's fully charged in the morning - so long as I've got it lined up correctly on the pad. The P9000 came with a fast charger and was USB C, but it's so much nicer not to have to bother to plug in cables, and as I normally charge overnight it doesn't matter if it takes a while. I've also installed a phone holder in the car which has a built in Qi charger, which is great on long trips and tops the phone up a bit on shorter ones.

There is so much choice when it comes to Qi chargers there's got to be one that every one likes, mine is very basic looking thing, but it does what I need it to and it's on my bedside table so doesn't need to look anything special.

I don't like Apple, but it's great news that they've finally added Qi charging to recent models, as there are not many phones that support, so hopefully more will follow suit. This is one reason why I jumped at the chance to buy the Huawei Mate Pro 20 at a knock down price, it had everything that I want in a phone, but was previously too expensive. It even supports reverse Qi charging, something apparently the iPhone 11 does but Apple have chosen to disable it in software, mind you it's not a feature I can see being used very often.

[sevenlayermuddle]

One thing worries me about the cheap Qi chargers, is safety.

We’ve known for years that cheap, fake branded, usb power bricks are often dangerous, and have set homes on fire.     We can deal with that hazard by buying official products Apple/Samsung etc bricks, even if they cost more and I have always done so.

Yet I am personally very fussy about any device that will be left powered on 24/7, or even just overnight.   So, what confidence can I have that the cheap Qi chargers, from unheard of manufacturers, or even from slightly dodgy ones like Belkin,  are really safe?

[Ronski]

Simple answer is you can't, same goes for anything you buy, even from a decent manufacture but of course its less likely.

My Qi charger is USB powered (as I think most are), so you could buy a name brand you trust for the bit that handles 240v, that leaves just the 5v Qi charger (is 5v likely to catch fire???), so again buy a name you trust.

I used to use a smart plug to switch the power on over night for my Qi charger, but then I figured the smart plug probably used more power than the Qi charger left powered on all day, suppose I could use a mechanical timer, but I suspect the power is negligible. And of course the timer could always catch fire to.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I’d say an outbreak of fire is just as likely, if not more likely, with a charger connected via USB vs mains.

If the charger is drawing (say) 10 watts to charge a battery, it will draw a current of just over 40mA down a 230V mains lead. There’s not many circumstances where 40mA can produce enough heat in a conductor to ignite it, especially a mains lead rated for perhaps 100 times that current.

But from 5V USB, to produce the same 10W, 2A will flow down the (probably much thinner) conductors.   Plenty enough to start a fire, under fault conditions. 

I always take things apart when they fail, to see what broke.   Where there is evidence of any kind of burn-up it is nearly always on the low voltage side of the circuit, as that’s where currents are higher.

My most recent observations of such burn ups are often due to wires being fractured due to repeated stress (an oscillating fan) or having insulation punctured due to poor routing (an automatic night light).   That is not bad luck, it is shoddy design and manufacture.  Buying from a manufacturer with a reputation he doesn’t want to lose, really should reduce the risk.

Just my opinion, backed by personal observations that may not be reflected elsewhere.

[Chunkers]

I share your paranoia about fires, Qi chargers typically don't come with a charger / PSU and only operate 5-12V so pretty low risk, the charger is the big risk.

IMHO the best thing to do is only buy a charger, even a cheap one, from a UK branded supplier e.g. the Amazon or IKEA branded ones should meet the EU standards and are not that expensive.

Some of the cheap ebay - Chinese - street vendor devices are very unsafe, I am sure you have seen the Youtube videos. If you want to get fancy you could always buy a pirl charger - awesome but expensive

[Ronski]

Yes, I really should have thought about the lower voltage higher current as work with 12/24v systems.

Talking about stupid designs, I had to replace a metal power steering pipe the other week. It had a hole blown in it where the main battery cable to the starter had arced out as it was extremely close and had managed to touch, extremely lucky that it didn't catch fire. 24v with two huge 12v truck batteries it most have look like arc welding. Only option I had when refitting was to wrap the pipe and terminal with self amalgamating tape as neither could be moved far apart, just a very bad design.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I’ve actually lost faith in Amazon Basics brand as well, these days.   I bought 2 x car Apple lightning chargers, they worked well.   One day, I discovered my car’s 12V accessory supply was dead, the 20A fuse having blown.

Culprit was the Amazon charger.   On taking it apart, a spring that operated the contact ‘plunger’ had broken through its mounting restraint, which was the flimsiest whisker of plastic you can imagine.   This had allowed a short circuit, hence blown the fuse.   But heck, that fuse was 20A, they don’t blow easily, I think it was pure luck the thing hadn’t caught alight by the time the fuse blew.

Of course, as I had two of them, I then checked the other one.   The same plastic spring restraint was cracked and broken, ready let go at any moment, shorting just like the first.

Incidentally, now far of topic, you really don’t want to have to replace that fuse in a Volvo.  There are many fuse boxes around the car, some more accessible than others.  That one is beneath the steering column, tucked up inside an access panel on the dashboard moulding, facing down towards the pedals.   I won’t try to describe the body posture required to get at it, but it would have given the neighbours something to think about if they’d seen me.

[Ronski]

No need to describe, I'm well used to those body postures, but getting older I find them harder.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Still failing on this one.    I actually went into town last week and took a closer look.   I basically decided to buy one, and they had one in stock, but I decided to chew on it just a little longer, so came home without it.  Big mistake.   

They've not been in stock again at my nearest shop, ever since.  Then, this morning, I checked during morning tea, and whoopee.. in stock!  I finished my tea then stepped into the garden for a big deep breath of fresh air, and final chance to rethink.  My mind hadn't changed so I dusted off my bank card, and sat down to order.  You guessed, by that time, out of stock again!   

They are of course available for delivery, but delivery time is a couple of weeks and I'm not noted for my patience.