I've purchased the Nexus 4 and was looking to buy a wireless charger. The TYLT Vu wireless charger seemed like a worthy contender but there were a few things I wanted to find out so I made contact with TYLT and asked the following questions:
Do you or will you be supporting shipment to UK?
Does the back end adjust to allow a custom incline for the phone?
How many charging coils does the stand have?
Do you have a diagram of how and where the charging coils are distributed across the face of the stand?
Does the charger stand plug into the mains via MicroUSB cable?
Is the mains cable included? If so, will the mains cable have different ends for USA and UK or will it just be a USA plug?
Credit to TYLT because they answered extremely quickly with the following answers:
Unfortunately this product will only be available in the US for now.
No, it is inclined at a set angle and it is not adjustable
It has 3 charging coils
There are 3 coils lined up vertically from the base of the charger to the top (no diagram)
The end that goes in the VU is a pin connector, the other end goes into a wall outlet.
The cable is included and for now it’s just a USA plug and that is the reason it will only be available in the US for now.
The fact it is not available for UK is not a massive deal breaker as I could always get a friend who is visiting the states to get it for me. However, there's a few things that do put me off:
It only has 3 charging coils arranged in a vertical line. This means that the device's charging coil will need to be lined up in the centre. The Nexus 4's charging coil is not in the centre and is more at the bottom end of the phone. Therefore, if you place it on this stand in the landscape orientation then it would have to be slightly hanging off one end more than the other. It should still be well supported but could be a little annoying.
I was expecting the charging cable to be a MicroUSB charger as then this would mean you could use a cable that has a mains adapter suited for the region you are from. It also means you could move the Vu around without having to move the cable as most people have spare MicroUSB chargers.
Not such a major issue but the fact the stand can't be adjusted means that the 45degree angle of incline is fixed. Can be worked around by propping the back end of the stand on a book so no big deal.
It will be released at $70 which is a lot more than the other wireless chargers. While it initially seemed like an excellent charging stand, it's appeal for me is no longer so great and thus I can't justify spending so much on the stand.
Everyone's preferences are different so the above negative points may not apply to you. However, I thought I'd share to give everyone else some info. For me, the list of wireless chargers left on my short list are the official Nexus one and the Maxell one. I do hope the Nexus one is priced reasonably.
Thanks for sharing the info
There is already a thread on this accessory. As a reply to your first point, AP did an actual hands on test with the VU and the N4 and it worked in every way possible, landscape, portrait, etc... did not need to be specifically hanging on one edge or whatever fashion to line up the coils. That is the benefit of having multiple coils.
facetubespam said:
There is already a thread on this accessory. As a reply to your first point, AP did an actual hands on test with the VU and the N4 and it worked in every way possible, landscape, portrait, etc... did not need to be specifically hanging on one edge or whatever fashion to line up the coils. That is the benefit of having multiple coils.
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Read the answer to question 4. There are only 3 coils which are lined up vertically. This means that the benefit of having multiple coils is only really true for the vertical alignment of the phone. The horizontal alignment of the phone is no different to that of a single coil charger.
Because the N4's coil is off centre on the phone when you hold it in the horizontal plane, this means that in order to align it with the Vu stand, you must place the phone in a non-symmetrical way (i.e. one side of the phone will hang off the stand more than the other).
My initial thought was that the entire face of the stand was covered with coils such that the phone could literally charge in any location on the stand but with only 3 coils lined up in the vertical plane, then I don't think this would be true.
Having more coils on the charger is better but with this being a stand, you lose the ability to move around the phone to exactly line up the coils because the mobile has to rest on the stand. The charging pads at least allow you to move around the phone in all directions to achieve a decent line up. So in some ways, the extra coils in this stand are needed because it does not allow you to fully position the in all directions.
Another point is that while the N4 might line up exactly with one of the coils when it is placed on the stand. What happens if you use a phone with a slightly different positioned coil such that it does not line up to one of the coils? What if it is smack bang in the middle of two coils? It still has to rest on the stand so you can't position it higher unless you put something on the stand to allow the phone to sit higher. May be having alignment between two coils still gives you charging but at reduced efficiency?
I'm really not sure of the answers to these questions but I'd imagine they would certainly be interesting to anyone who was looking to buy the Vu.
I think your way over thinking this. His point was that Android Police did, in fact, test this dock with an N4 and they found NO issue with it's ability to charge whether in Vertical or Horizontal position. They also tested Vertically upside down just to show that the different coils do work.
Techno79 said:
Read the answer to question 4. There are only 3 coils which are lined up vertically. This means that the benefit of having multiple coils is only really true for the vertical alignment of the phone. The horizontal alignment of the phone is no different to that of a single coil charger.
Because the N4's coil is off centre on the phone when you hold it in the horizontal plane, this means that in order to align it with the Vu stand, you must place the phone in a non-symmetrical way (i.e. one side of the phone will hang off the stand more than the other).
My initial thought was that the entire face of the stand was covered with coils such that the phone could literally charge in any location on the stand but with only 3 coils lined up in the vertical plane, then I don't think this would be true.
Having more coils on the charger is better but with this being a stand, you lose the ability to move around the phone to exactly line up the coils because the mobile has to rest on the stand. The charging pads at least allow you to move around the phone in all directions to achieve a decent line up. So in some ways, the extra coils in this stand are needed because it does not allow you to fully position the in all directions.
Another point is that while the N4 might line up exactly with one of the coils when it is placed on the stand. What happens if you use a phone with a slightly different positioned coil such that it does not line up to one of the coils? What if it is smack bang in the middle of two coils? It still has to rest on the stand so you can't position it higher unless you put something on the stand to allow the phone to sit higher. May be having alignment between two coils still gives you charging but at reduced efficiency?
I'm really not sure of the answers to these questions but I'd imagine they would certainly be interesting to anyone who was looking to buy the Vu.
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Related
Not sure if this belongs in general or not, but just wanted to give everyone a heads up.
Last night I torn my phone apart to try and be the first one to do the palm inductive charger hack on a sensation, but once I got to the lower circuit board I noticed that the usb pins are way too close to the chip set and are permanently shielded with a metal shroud. I also noticed that there are no + or - terminals like on the EVO so it looks like a no-go for us so far.
Just a warning so you don't waste money on buying the palm stuff and tearing your phone apart.
Hmm, I just did a mod on my Galaxy Nexus (easy due to the pogo pins) and am pretty determined to do it on the wifes Sensation. I work with micro-miniature solder technicians so I'm not worried about that, guess I'll have to cut the shroud away to expose the USB connector though. That might get a little messy. I'll post pics if I can get it to work! Honestly, with the popularity of this phone, I'm surprised nobody has gotten the high WAF mod to work yet.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1283200
This guy made it work with a Sensation.
Daiskei said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1283200
This guy made it work with a Sensation.
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Yep, and I commented in that thread as well lol.
kpjimmy said:
Yep, and I commented in that thread as well lol.
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Oh... Hah... Ooops!
farfromovin said:
Hmm, I just did a mod on my Galaxy Nexus (easy due to the pogo pins) and am pretty determined to do it on the wifes Sensation. I work with micro-miniature solder technicians so I'm not worried about that, guess I'll have to cut the shroud away to expose the USB connector though. That might get a little messy. I'll post pics if I can get it to work! Honestly, with the popularity of this phone, I'm surprised nobody has gotten the high WAF mod to work yet.
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I think the biggest issue is the unibody case. Even if you get the soldering, or conductive glue down the inductive current won't make it through the stock case. I tried. You'll have to sandwich the inductive circuit between the phone and case.
I have since removed the inductive circuit because the tiny (prob around 32 gauge) wire broke and I didn't feel like rebuilding it. Assuming you could get the circuitry down using the positive resistor you might be able to solder a larger coil that may pick up through the case. If you figure it out I would be thrilled to know how you did it.
The only real reason I wanted to do it was because no one had done it on our phones yet. Good luck!
Nice find on that old thread. I've been wanting to do the same with my Sensation. Any idea about the fatty Mugen case? Just picked one up for $20. Seems a lot cheaper. Is the problem with the OEM case metal in the housing? Maybe this Mugen is all plastic.
There's a ton of space between the sim/sdcard and the housing (for the housing to be able to accommodate the double battery) and may be the perfect spot.
My idea is to hide a dozen rechargeable AA's or so inside a leather belt and have a holster (or pocket powermat). Seems like an actual reasonable use for inductive charging. Of course, it's just conceptual at this point. I need to determine if AA's are actually feasible (comfort and style wise) and whatever the inefficiencies are with inductive charging.
Looking to be able to go a week or so without having to recharge the phone/belt (figure I'm running through 1500mah every 10 hours or so, less when sleeping).
ziddey said:
Nice find on that old thread. I've been wanting to do the same with my Sensation. Any idea about the fatty Mugen case? Just picked one up for $20. Seems a lot cheaper. Is the problem with the OEM case metal in the housing? Maybe this Mugen is all plastic.
There's a ton of space between the sim/sdcard and the housing (for the housing to be able to accommodate the double battery) and may be the perfect spot.
My idea is to hide a dozen rechargeable AA's or so inside a leather belt and have a holster (or pocket powermat). Seems like an actual reasonable use for inductive charging. Of course, it's just conceptual at this point. I need to determine if AA's are actually feasible (comfort and style wise) and whatever the inefficiencies are with inductive charging.
Looking to be able to go a week or so without having to recharge the phone/belt (figure I'm running through 1500mah every 10 hours or so, less when sleeping).
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That sounds good, but with the weight of the rechargeables may pose a issue when it comes to portability when you are talking about a dozen of them. Why not just carry along a power bank? I have a 10000mAh one that charges two devices at once and is no bigger than a phone.
I mean I love the idea of inductive charging. I mean the GSIII has the option to do so.
I got one of these recently for my vacation. It takes AA batteries which is easily available or you can use rechargeables.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Emergency-U...124278?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item2a1aac4676
I think I'll try this one out but I do have one question. Is having 1 pin (assuming it is 5v) enough to complete the circuit? Doesn't it need a ground lead somewhere?
The pic is from http://www.qianqin.de/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/microusb.jpg
I don't understand your picture. Yes, you need a ground to complete the circuit. And without manipulating the data pins, you will be limited to a charge rate of 100mA.
ladys and gentlemen. assuming you are happy with only the 100ma cap then could you not logically just connect the wires to the battery terminals and allow that to charge it. leaving the usb port free?? i have had to do this once or twice in emergency situations when i didnt have the correct charging cable but had a damaged usb + laptop.
Yes, you will need to ground to any metal point to complete the circuit. I just sandwiched the wire between the sim and metal sim holder.
I'm in the process of doing the same thing to my Sensation. I wanted to make sure that the Touchstone charger would support the weight of my phone in it's case, so I took the short cut of using parts from a microUSB charger to route from the induction coil terminals to the charge port. I'm halfway through routing all the necessary connections to go through the board instead of the charge port. In the attached picture, I've highlighted 2 test points that will let you route your +5v line into the board. I'll use the metal housing of the sim card reader to attach the ground.
hxxp://i.imgur.com/koag4.png
Since the back of the phone is metal and its always going to be in a case I'm going to have to use pogo plugs or some other form of metal contacts to go through the back housing to allow me to pull off the case/back whenever I need. I'll have my charge port free to use over USB as well
Did you get it working?
orias said:
I'm in the process of doing the same thing to my Sensation. I wanted to make sure that the Touchstone charger would support the weight of my phone in it's case, so I took the short cut of using parts from a microUSB charger to route from the induction coil terminals to the charge port. I'm halfway through routing all the necessary connections to go through the board instead of the charge port. In the attached picture, I've highlighted 2 test points that will let you route your +5v line into the board. I'll use the metal housing of the sim card reader to attach the ground.
hxxp://i.imgur.com/koag4.png
Since the back of the phone is metal and its always going to be in a case I'm going to have to use pogo plugs or some other form of metal contacts to go through the back housing to allow me to pull off the case/back whenever I need. I'll have my charge port free to use over USB as well
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Hi there, I have a htc sensation with a broken usb port and want to use it for inductive charging instead. So im wondering if you managed to ever get it working?
Regards Shaun.
I did!, but not with pogo plugs for an elegant solution. I ended up just running the wires from the inductive charger through a hole drilled into the metal back and than routed to the pad shown in the picture and the sim card metal housing.
orias said:
I did!, but not with pogo plugs for an elegant solution. I ended up just running the wires from the inductive charger through a hole drilled into the metal back and than routed to the pad shown in the picture and the sim card metal housing.
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Did you have difficulty with the metal backing interfering with the induction charger?
Having seen some super creative members do some amazing stuff to make one-off accessories I thought we could start a thread to share ideas on making a magnetic Qi car dock for the N4. Too bad the Palm Touchstone isn't comparable because you can get them cheap to disassemble and work to mod. I am thinking of doing so with a Nexus Orb or whatever LG calls it when it is released. These other pad type chargers would need magnets incorporated. Then there is the power supply to figure out.
If there is an existing option, please share. If you have a plan, help us brainstorm it and share it.
N4 shipped today. Can't wait
lpasq said:
Having seen some super creative members do some amazing stuff to make one-off accessories I thought we could start a thread to share ideas on making a magnetic Qi car dock for the N4. Too bad the Palm Touchstone isn't comparable because you can get them cheap to disassemble and work to mod. I am thinking of doing so with a Nexus Orb or whatever LG calls it when it is released. These other pad type chargers would need magnets incorporated. Then there is the power supply to figure out.
If there is an existing option, please share. If you have a plan, help us brainstorm it and share it.
N4 shipped today. Can't wait
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Yeah, its what i thought when they annouced the orb thing. I would love a charger that is like the orb, that i can just chuck my phone onto, no hassle, and the magnets just stick too it, and it charges.
Can't wait for this!
The roads I usually drive are a little bumpy, and having a SRA doesn't help with that, so I don't think I'd be comfortable putting my phone's fate in the hands of a couple of magnets.
Here is something I did a few years back with a Palm Pre & their Touchstone charger. http://forums.webosnation.com/webos...-mounting-charger-car-solution-its-alive.html
If the Orb is light enough, I bet the same could be done.
Would it be feaseable to use velcro on the back of a mat and stick it somewhere? I'm not sure if you'd be able to get a cigarette lighter plug for an existing mat. Probably too simple, but I don't know about modding equipment lol.
The orb might work if its in a center console tray where the phone is more so leaning against the orb rather than having the orb fulling support the weight of the phone.
This goes counter what most people want and expect out of a car dock though, its more like a car stand
I'd be more inclined to do it this way as a DIY solution as well since we won't known till we try it out sturdy it will be... And sliding down onto a rubber center tray wont do much in terms of harm to the phone
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
xAshxMoneyx said:
Would it be feaseable to use velcro on the back of a mat and stick it somewhere? I'm not sure if you'd be able to get a cigarette lighter plug for an existing mat. Probably too simple, but I don't know about modding equipment lol.
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There are some advantages to using a Touchstone (or Wireless Orb)-like solution. Mats usually don't have magnets, and you need to align the thing, besides in a car it will move. So that's done. Also you can tilt the thing and use it with a car dock mount. I have a pretty cool one . The suction cup is big and a special sticky material that you can actually stick to the dashboard and it's extremely secure. I have had another Arkon mount and they don't disappoint with quality. They offer a lot of different design selections for mounts and docks (mix and match). I found the dock I bought the least intrusive/ugly (including other brands). But the mount is really amazing.
So I plan to do what the OP is planning. Only that I suspect the Wireless Orb will be too expensive, and so far for me all the other available Qi chargers are still very expensive, even compared to Powermat. So I'm waiting to see what comes out and if the prices go down.
jnewman1991 said:
The roads I usually drive are a little bumpy, and having a SRA doesn't help with that, so I don't think I'd be comfortable putting my phone's fate in the hands of a couple of magnets.
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take a rubber band and tie it to the orb.
peestandingup said:
Here is something I did a few years back with a Palm Pre & their Touchstone charger. http://forums.webosnation.com/webos...-mounting-charger-car-solution-its-alive.html
If the Orb is light enough, I bet the same could be done.
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dude. while driving today i imagined using my spare brodit clip like you did to somehow mount an "orb". how did you adress the the power conversion to 12v or did the touchstone have a car power adapter?
xAshxMoneyx said:
Would it be feaseable to use velcro on the back of a mat and stick it somewhere? I'm not sure if you'd be able to get a cigarette lighter plug for an existing mat. Probably too simple, but I don't know about modding equipment lol.
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i have an lg mat coming to check it out. yeah the power supply question is one i hope someone with an electrical understanding can enlighten us on.
andy o said:
There are some advantages to using a Touchstone (or Wireless Orb)-like solution. Mats usually don't have magnets, and you need to align the thing, besides in a car it will move. So that's done. Also you can tilt the thing and use it with a car dock mount. I have a pretty cool one . The suction cup is big and a special sticky material that you can actually stick to the dashboard and it's extremely secure. I have had another Arkon mount and they don't disappoint with quality. They offer a lot of different design selections for mounts and docks (mix and match). I found the dock I bought the least intrusive/ugly (including other brands). But the mount is really amazing.
So I plan to do what the OP is planning. Only that I suspect the Wireless Orb will be too expensive, and so far for me all the other available Qi chargers are still very expensive, even compared to Powermat. So I'm waiting to see what comes out and if the prices go down.
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akron and brodit too have been my go-to solutions when oem car docks don't cut it.
I think this is a great idea and would love to have a wireless charger for my car. I was thinking of finding a way of modding one of these
Shady Gambino said:
Arkon Galaxy Nexus Dash mount
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to allow wireless charging and NFC to turn on Bluetooth and GPS, open GMusic and turning off WiFi. Don't know how easy it would be though.
Also, if you can only find mains powered chargers you could always check out something like this.
Lastly, multi-quote might be good for replying to multiple posts
lpasq said:
i have an lg mat coming to check it out. yeah the power supply question is one i hope someone with an electrical understanding can enlighten us on.
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EE here, well CE but its the same major at Purdue minus 2 classes. Okay when it comes to the wireless charging inductance Faradays law blah blah.. No one cares about that not even me really haha.
What you want to know is will it work in your car with a car charger, there is always a way whether it be running an inverter right off of the battery or from the Aux power source.
One factor is unknown right now, or at least I haven't looked enough.. What is the amperage draw of the charging station. Most phones charge off of 5V at 1 amp. Tablets usually 5V 2.1A and so on besides Sony Tablet S...
What I'm getting at is most chargers then charge at these voltages so if the orb needs 12V, 120V w.e. it may be anything other than 5V an inverter will have to be run, with the original AC adapter. Unless you can find a charger that charges at the correct voltages the original AC adapter plugged into the invertor will be your best idea for now.
Now onto the car mount idea, I also had one for my pre and my current touchstone modded Nexus ..
I am thinking of buying an energizer Qi station and finding a way to mount at an angle with some sort of lip on the bottom to stop a slide off, but may look terrible have to see and energizer station in person first..
I don't really care to mount my phone to use as a GPS or anything like that. That being said I will probably make some sort of holder thing to put in my cup holder to charge the phone when I am in my car. So now dumb question; the phone being in a vertical position should not affect the qi charging as long as it is close enough right? Once I have my phone and get around to it I will post pictures of it. I might be a few weeks though, got backordered.
cchap07 said:
I don't really care to mount my phone to use as a GPS or anything like that. That being said I will probably make some sort of holder thing to put in my cup holder to charge the phone when I am in my car. So now dumb question; the phone being in a vertical position should not affect the qi charging as long as it is close enough right? Once I have my phone and get around to it I will post pictures of it. I might be a few weeks though, got backordered.
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from looking at this http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+4+Teardown/11781/1 and already having a qi pad it seems the wireless charging contact area is rather centered.
lpasq said:
from looking at this http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+4+Teardown/11781/1 and already having a qi pad it seems the wireless charging contact area is rather centered.
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So you have a Qi charger already? My question is how good is the magnetic pull with it? Also which one do you have? I want to try and mount the charger to my wall like I had my touchstone for my GN... But that had a good magnetic pull due to the touchstone and rare earth magnets
runningwarrior08 said:
So you have a Qi charger already? My question is how good is the magnetic pull with it? Also which one do you have? I want to try and mount the charger to my wall like I had my touchstone for my GN... But that had a good magnetic pull due to the touchstone and rare earth magnets
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i have these and neither have magnetic pull as you'd need: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1962570&page=31
lpasq said:
i have these and neither have magnetic pull as you'd need: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1962570&page=31
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Hey if you have the time could you take a ruler to your lg pad? I I want to know the dimensions to see if my idea could even work with it. Unfortunately I was not able to find those dimensions anywhere online :/
cchap07 said:
Hey if you have the time could you take a ruler to your lg pad? I I want to know the dimensions to see if my idea could even work with it. Unfortunately I was not able to find those dimensions anywhere online :/
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i will but i am away from it until later
I'm about to build one but I haven't found any experiences of people with a note 4 in regards to battery temps. Are any of you using this set up in your car? I'm a limo driver so it'll be running bluetooth music, navigation, voice, text, and Gsheets 55 hours a week. A spare battery wouldn't be awful but it would cause a hasty case peeling every day.
I plan to simply tape magnets into a plate charger and my case, tape the plate into an iottie, and connect it to a 3amp connection.
If you are having heat problems please mention your feed amperage and if you've seen any battery capacity changes. I'd pay 20$ every six months to replace it but I don't want a steady decline in capacity.
http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Char...23677303&sr=8-12&keywords=qi+wireless+charger
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P48BIFY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/iOttie-Holder...77348&sr=1-1&keywords=iottie+easy+one+touch+2
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O7RA3Q8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Coupon for iottie and mpow got me 5$ off each, magnets and tape from leftover projects. 50$ total, plate fits perfectly like it was a phone and tastefully wrapped gorilla tape should make it non slip, well anchored to the iottie, but still easily removable with a knife. Phone then sticks just outside of the claws against the plate. Just waiting and stressing over heat before the qi adapter to arrives tomorrow
Props to this thread for inspiring this. http://forum.xda-developers.com/goo...to-make-magnetic-qi-car-charger-dock-t2531754
Don't know about magnets... would it throw off gps and mess with the magnetometer? It may act up.
As for wireless charging, its not a problem. It gets warm at times, but when your phone's already charged up and its just trickling, its not. It's hit or miss sometimes. Some days at home, its gets pretty warm, like if you were playing graphic intensive games for a while. But at work where i'm streaming music all day long, its not that hot.
i use an itian wireless charger with a samsung oem qi back and the iblason armorbox case. i mounted the itian vertically on the car dash with scotch outdoor waterproof double sided tape. it works very well. instant charging when i push it into the itian charger and i can pull it out with no problems. note that the phone is too heavy for the air vent mounting (it cracks the air vent) and the suction cup works very badly. magnetic is bad too -- it will throw off your GPS/mess with the signal. just get the itian and armorbox.
madmike23 said:
Don't know about magnets... would it throw off gps and mess with the magnetometer? It may act up.
As for wireless charging, its not a problem. It gets warm at times, but when your phone's already charged up and its just trickling, its not. It's hit or miss sometimes. Some days at home, its gets pretty warm, like if you were playing graphic intensive games for a while. But at work where i'm streaming music all day long, its not that hot.
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Which charger do you use? When I connected this plate to a 1amp charger it would make my note3 battery temp hit the high 40s, with a 2.5 min it would barely change the temp but that was overnight and not running a half dozen tools with the screen on. When you play games that's the processor heating up, and it's made to handle much higher temps than the battery. Have you perchance checked the battery temps when it feels warm?
zurkx said:
i use an itian wireless charger with a samsung oem qi back and the iblason armorbox case. i mounted the itian vertically on the car dash with scotch outdoor waterproof double sided tape. it works very well. instant charging when i push it into the itian charger and i can pull it out with no problems. note that the phone is too heavy for the air vent mounting (it cracks the air vent) and the suction cup works very badly. magnetic is bad too -- it will throw off your GPS/mess with the signal. just get the itian and armorbox.
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Have you guys experienced the magnet/gps problem or is it just the assumption that a magnetic field will effect radio waves? I used a magnetic dock with my note 3 without any issues and there are very few reports of that in other diy mag/qi threads claim there was any change... I might change the case magnets to thin steel plates so they double as shielding if there's an issue though.
I use 2 amp chargers on all of them. Have a lot. I have mixed ones. Got a samsung one and a bunch of those cheapies you find on ebay and amazon. The cheapies work much better than the samsung one. The Samsung is very finicky with the placement in order to charge. Battery temps? I dont check since it's not beyond the realm of "warm".
dont use magnets. it will throw off your inertial guidance in tunnels and areas of bad GPS reception. your phone has a very sensitive MEMS magnetometer. you will likely damage that as well. there is zero need to use magnets.
a 3 coil charger will keep the phone at ambient temps. A 1 coil charger will heat up the phone if not properly aligned. The itian one from ebay is cheap and good - use that. It holds the phone very securely and expands all 3 holders - bottom left and right sides - to clamp the phone very securely. battery temp should be in the 35 or below range if you have a 3 coil charger.
zurkx said:
dont use magnets. it will throw off your inertial guidance in tunnels and areas of bad GPS reception. your phone has a very sensitive MEMS magnetometer. you will likely damage that as well. there is zero need to use magnets.
a 3 coil charger will keep the phone at ambient temps. A 1 coil charger will heat up the phone if not properly aligned. The itian one from ebay is cheap and good - use that. It holds the phone very securely and expands all 3 holders - bottom left and right sides - to clamp the phone very securely. battery temp should be in the 35 or below range if you have a 3 coil charger.
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Do you rep for itian? All the posts I've seen from you mention them... I need something I can use in a different vehicle every day, so tape isn't my bag. Modern phones are made without ferrous metals since otherwise being near decent magnets(giant speakers at a concert, keychain magnets, etc) would permanently ruin your magnetometer, the magnetometer won't work when the phone's docked but it'll be fine once it's taken off. Thanks for getting me to do the research, I learned a lot
The magnets let you get perfect alignment so you can use a much smaller 1 coil unit, then it's low amperage that creates the heat. They'd also let me easily grab my phone on and off without worrying about wearing out mechanical stuff or reattaching problems. Limo driving means I grab my phone at least ten times an hour to enter data or let customers pick music, that's 550 times a week minimum, and at that rate I wear through an iottie 1 touch 2(that takes two hands to reattach) in four months.
Still looking for someone with personal experience of heavy load qi charging on a note 4, what worries me is that there doesn't seem to be many when it's such a great option...
no i dont rep for em. i have an itian and 4 others. the itian works the best so i mention it. the armorbox also works great for me and im not an iblason rep either. i promote stuff which i like and works for me personally.
the magnetometer is for finding headings and for your inertial guidance but if those are not important to you, whatever. good luck with your magnetic mount. im sure the next set of posts are going to be - why doesnt my GPS work properly anymore.
I just got the current Samsung Vehicle dock and have to say, it's TERRIBLE. There are large side arms that grab the phone and they GET IN THE WAY. There doesn't appear to be any way to reduce this, short of hacking up the plastic and rubber.
It's a shockingly dumb design. It's not like the arms need to be that deep. Because none of the phones intended for this dock would ever need that much grab area. Because if you put a thick case on the phone, well, you'd have no need for the wireless charging aspect of this dock. Which is the only reason you'd shell out the money for it, as it's quite a lot more expensive than a non-charging one. That and the click-to-release button is kind of awkward to use. It's tucked around the back and, depending on how you mount the dock, kind of hard to get to if the usb power cable is in the way.
I should point out that with a Spigen Neo Hybrid case the S6 still charges in this dock. But the side ears still get in the way.
So, any suggestions on other wireless Qi charging vehicle docks that are known to work reliably with the S6? While still allowing some reasonable use of the phone while docked?
wkearney99 said:
I just got the current Samsung Vehicle dock and have to say, it's TERRIBLE. There are large side arms that grab the phone and they GET IN THE WAY. There doesn't appear to be any way to reduce this, short of hacking up the plastic and rubber.
It's a shockingly dumb design. It's not like the arms need to be that deep. Because none of the phones intended for this dock would ever need that much grab area. Because if you put a thick case on the phone, well, you'd have no need for the wireless charging aspect of this dock. Which is the only reason you'd shell out the money for it, as it's quite a lot more expensive than a non-charging one. That and the click-to-release button is kind of awkward to use. It's tucked around the back and, depending on how you mount the dock, kind of hard to get to if the usb power cable is in the way.
I should point out that with a Spigen Neo Hybrid case the S6 still charges in this dock. But the side ears still get in the way.
So, any suggestions on other wireless Qi charging vehicle docks that are known to work reliably with the S6? While still allowing some reasonable use of the phone while docked?
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Airdock 2.0...
Tylt makes a dock with wireless charging built in. If I was gunna get a car dock that's what I would look in to
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
The reviews for the Tylt are all over the map, and lots focus on crappy manufacturing issues.
The Airdock isn't for me. I prefer having some physical borders of some sort to avoid having to fiddle with positioning the phone for charging.
I've had Droid slider phones for years and loved their molded cradles (that and the keyboard). I've used a number of Qi charging pads with some tablets and really dislike not having a reliable plunk-it-down way to get them situated. Curiously, though, a Bobj case for a Nexus 7 straddles a Docooler pad perfectly. Trouble is it leaves the tablet looking like a drink coaster...
The Samsung dock fit right onto the same ball as the one in the back of my D4 mount.
I've also kept all my vehicle mounts on a Pro-Clip bracket. I'm using this one currently. I've had different mounting brackets over the years, and swapped around different mounting components. I use a Dual-T screwed onto the bracket and then a Dual-T Ball (from Arkon, iirc). This lets me pop just about all of it off the bracket to reduce theft risks. These have been MUCH more stable and useful (for me) than any sort of suction cup, vent or other mounting gizmos.
I've ordered an iOttie, we'll see how that goes.
Yep, as I expected, the iOttie is an improvement, at least in usability of the phone while docked. The side clamps on the iOttie sit higher on the side of the S6 than the Samsung dock. The right side clamp is mighty close to the side power button, but JUST barely below it. I may, at some point, nibble a small bit of the rubber out of that part of the clamp to avoid the button entirely. But for now it's not a problem. The S6 charges just fine in the dock. The lower clamp drops down enough to allow the S6 to detect the coil. And it also slides left/right to allow plugging an audio cable into the headphone jack on the bottom of the S6, should you so desire.
I'll report back more in another thread for it. But that won't happen until I get my replacement Pro-Clip mount for my Jeep. I managed to crack the tab that it uses to fit into the seam of the dashboard. Either it was me being ham-fisted, UV damage to the plastic or some combination of the two.
Regardless, FedEx tracking claims it'll be here on Tuesday. I won't hold my breath as FedEx has routinely missed their delivery targets. UPS, on the other hand, seems to be glad to get stuff in and out of their system as fast as possible, regardless of the delivery speed selected. FedEx seems to think that unless you've 'bent over' for their overnight fee then they'll route it to Hell and back instead of anything that might be quicker.
How is the charging speed in the Qi docks compared to the power usage of the phone sith gps nav running? I remember most of the phones I had were slowly discharging when using 1 amp charger in the car, I had to switch to 2 amps to make sure they sustain the power drain and charge the phone while navigating. Qi has like 750 mA charging current if I recall, isn't that too little?
Been using the air dock for couple of months now. Overall have really enjoyed it, works well when you position it properly.
It takes a bit do getting used to but once you have the right surface and positioning technique it works a charm!
+1 for air dock.
Sent from my SM-G920I using XDA Free mobile app
Got this charger for £12.99 on Amazon:
mod edit - link removed
Feels cheap and looks cheap but it works and does the job well enough. It's foldable too, so you can use it either horizontal or vertical.
Worth it, if you need to buy a cheap one to leave at the office.
Would be great if wireless charger can work even with a metal piece on the back of casing for magnetic car phone holder
speed8081 said:
Would be great if wireless charger can work even with a metal piece on the back of casing for magnetic car phone holder
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There are magnetic holders that claim to work without blocking the wireless charger. They use a metal piece shaped like an upside down "U" instead of a square one. Given all the warnings against mixing credit cards and metal on cases and what not with wireless charging, I'd be weary of trying it out myself on my own phone, but they do exist. Just search for wireless charging compatible magnetic mount, I'm sure some will turn out.
Could be that I'm missing something (perhaps even a crucial factor), but why couldn't you use a wireless charger at the same time you have a metal plate in your case? It can't be harmful to the phone right?
I have a strong enough carkit so I can use a relatively small circular piece of metal in my slim fit case for the Note 9, works a charm. I've tested the location in the case, so I can use this in my car and still be able to put it down on a wireless charger so it charges without a problem. Okay, so when I put my phone on the charger pad a bit to far down or up, it doesn't charge, but that's just a matter of trying which position is best and this will become a non-issue the more you use it (since you know exactly how to put it on the charging pad).
Please enlighten me whether or not it could be harmful in any way to the phone because I don't want to risk a $1250 phone for the convenience of charging wirelessly. But I haven't ran into trouble this way just yet. Been doing this also with my Galaxy S8 for over a year btw, it still works like new.
Btw, @OP, can you share a link to the charger?
bramgg said:
Could be that I'm missing something (perhaps even a crucial factor), but why couldn't you use a wireless charger at the same time you have a metal plate in your case? It can't be harmful to the phone right?
I have a strong enough carkit so I can use a relatively small circular piece of metal in my slim fit case for the Note 9, works a charm. I've tested the location in the case, so I can use this in my car and still be able to put it down on a wireless charger so it charges without a problem. Okay, so when I put my phone on the charger pad a bit to far down or up, it doesn't charge, but that's just a matter of trying which position is best and this will become a non-issue the more you use it (since you know exactly how to put it on the charging pad).
Please enlighten me whether or not it could be harmful in any way to the phone because I don't want to risk a $1250 phone for the convenience of charging wirelessly. But I haven't ran into trouble this way just yet. Been doing this also with my Galaxy S8 for over a year btw, it still works like new.
Btw, @OP, can you share a link to the charger?
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I put a link to charger on the video description.
I just bought this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C5KCQQ4/
Fast charges a little slower than directly plugging the Samsung charger into the phone (as expected).
The hinge is a tight friction fit, so the angle is adjusted wherever you like.