Google Nexus 4 Wireless Charger – Qi Inductive Charger

I got my Google Nexus 4 Wireless Charger today so I thought I would test it out and report my findings. The Google Nexus 4 Wireless Charger is a Qi Inductive Charger which means that you simply have to set your device on the charger base to begin charging. It is not truly wireless in the sense that your phone can be anywhere, the phone has to be sitting on the wireless charger for it to work. Not having to plug a wire into the bottom of your phone to charge it is a nice luxury.

Wireless charging is not as fast as cabled charging however. From my tests I have noticed that a complete charge from a dead phone to 100% could take as much as 8 hours to complete. Though the phone can be used while you are charging if you use your phone while the charging is taking place, you may defeat the purpose. I don’t believe that the rate in which charging takes place will exceed the rate in which the phone uses it’s batter. Your best bet is to leave your phone alone while it charges.

When I got the device in today I quickly pulled it out and plugged it in so I could witness the magic first hand. My phone had just went from 51% to 50% battery. I also have the Ringke Slim case on my phone. An hour went by and my phone had only made it to 54%. I assumed the case was slowing down the charging process so I removed the case. An hour later, my phone was at 58%. I also noticed that when using the case, the back of the phone got hotter. Not hot enough to worry about, but hotter none-the-less.

I think this is a great piece of technology, however I don’t think it is very practical to use as your only source of power for your device. If you use your phone a lot, like I do, you will need plug-in power to keep your phone charged enough to make it through the day. A typical day for me puts my Nexus 4 at 50% battery life by noon. I typically charge it at my desk during the afternoon so I have a full charge by the time I leave work for the gym.

Regardless, it is a cool device and a neat piece of technology. It won’t be replacing my plug-in charger anytime soon, but I will continue to use it to trickle charge my phone through out the day.

I will be posting a video review shortly.