Wireless Charging Questions.

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Landara

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2011
545
138
Brunswick, GA
Been thinking of getting a Wireless Charger for my N5 but I have a very important question. Will they work through a case? I use a case on my phone and there is absolutely no value to a wireless charger if I am going to have to remove my case to use it. So I am wondering if you can place it atop the charge station while in a TPU or plastic case and still get a charge? I would also like to know how much slower Wireless Charging is than regular AC charging? Thank you.
 

beazie0885

Senior Member
Jul 25, 2008
323
26
ATLantA
Been thinking of getting a Wireless Charger for my N5 but I have a very important question. Will they work through a case? I use a case on my phone and there is absolutely no value to a wireless charger if I am going to have to remove my case to use it. So I am wondering if you can place it atop the charge station while in a TPU or plastic case and still get a charge? I would also like to know how much slower Wireless Charging is than regular AC charging? Thank you.

+1

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 

sn0warmy

Senior Member
Jul 26, 2010
3,392
1,642
Boulder, CO
Yes, wireless chargers work with a case. I've used the LG WCP-700 wireless charger with my Nexus 4 flawlessly with countless cases on the Nexus 4. I fully expect the results to be the same with the Nexus 5. Wireless chargers are very convenient and work great. Just make sure to get a reputable one and don't cheap out on a $20 eBay one.
 
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sn0warmy

Senior Member
Jul 26, 2010
3,392
1,642
Boulder, CO
I know the LG one stops charging when full. It also trickle charges so if your phone or tablet falls below a 95% charge it starts charging it again till full, then stops again.
 
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Oct 28, 2013
9
5
All "Qi" standard chargers will work with the N5 with varying degrees of success. They all will generally charge up to a distance of ~3-4mm from coil to coil so they will usually charge thru cases with no problem although there may be a slight degradation in charge rate. I have used several different Qi chargers - the Google Orb, the Owlpad car charger, the LG WCP 300 and the Metrans MWT03. They all charged my N4 'case on' with no trouble although the N4 did seem to charge slightly quicker without the case on. I even mounted the Metrans inside of my desk just under the laminate surface and it charged the N4 fine thru the laminate and TPU case. The Orb was easily the best of lot and charged the fastest, the Owlpad was probably the worst but it was used while driving with the phone generally being used for GPS, music streaming etc and under those conditions, it barely could maintain charge with screen on. With the phone off, it charged fine.

I just got my N5 today and tried it with all of my chargers and they all worked fine, if anything the N5 is less picky than the N4 about placement.
 

kaywalker23

Member
Jan 21, 2013
48
17
Been thinking of getting a Wireless Charger for my N5 but I have a very important question. Will they work through a case? I use a case on my phone and there is absolutely no value to a wireless charger if I am going to have to remove my case to use it. So I am wondering if you can place it atop the charge station while in a TPU or plastic case and still get a charge? I would also like to know how much slower Wireless Charging is than regular AC charging? Thank you.

Shouldn't have problems charging through a case
 

KevinWolfs

Member
Nov 4, 2013
5
0
All "Qi" standard chargers will work with the N5 with varying degrees of success. They all will generally charge up to a distance of ~3-4mm from coil to coil so they will usually charge thru cases with no problem although there may be a slight degradation in charge rate. I have used several different Qi chargers - the Google Orb, the Owlpad car charger, the LG WCP 300 and the Metrans MWT03. They all charged my N4 'case on' with no trouble although the N4 did seem to charge slightly quicker without the case on. I even mounted the Metrans inside of my desk just under the laminate surface and it charged the N4 fine thru the laminate and TPU case. The Orb was easily the best of lot and charged the fastest, the Owlpad was probably the worst but it was used while driving with the phone generally being used for GPS, music streaming etc and under those conditions, it barely could maintain charge with screen on. With the phone off, it charged fine.

I just got my N5 today and tried it with all of my chargers and they all worked fine, if anything the N5 is less picky than the N4 about placement.

Dit you try the N5 in the Owl Carpad? did it work or did you neet to do some mods?
I'm also looking at this charger:)
 
Oct 28, 2013
9
5
Dit you try the N5 in the Owl Carpad? did it work or did you neet to do some mods?
I'm also looking at this charger:)

I bought the owlpad for my N4 and the N5 doesn't play well with my N4 Owlpad. The coils are not aligned and there is little wiggle room in the phone holder. Owlpad does make a N5 version (or a $29 conversion kit to make the N4 Owlpad into a N5 charger). Overall, I wouldn't recommend wireless charging for a car dock. Wireless chargers can't charge at the same rate as a cable and if you, like me, put heavy use on your phone while driving (GPS, bluetooth, music streaming, etc), the charger at best will barely maintain charge and often will lose charge. The beauty of wireless charging is being able to drop your phone at home or office and have it always 'topping off' without bothering to hook up a cable. If you put heavy use on your phone in the car, I recommend direct cable. For the home or office, I definitely recommend wireless. Since going wireless with my N4, my phone seems always fully charged when I leave home or work.
 
Nov 5, 2013
18
9
Been thinking of getting a Wireless Charger for my N5 but I have a very important question. Will they work through a case? I use a case on my phone and there is absolutely no value to a wireless charger if I am going to have to remove my case to use it. So I am wondering if you can place it atop the charge station while in a TPU or plastic case and still get a charge? I would also like to know how much slower Wireless Charging is than regular AC charging? Thank you.

Yes, they will work though cases. I had a Diztronic on my N4 and it worked great. The charging is a bit slower but rapid charging isn't the point of the wireless chargers.
 

duanev

Member
Aug 14, 2010
6
0
Charging rates: with/without a case, wireless vs. wall ?

Been thinking of getting a Wireless Charger for my N5 but I have a very important question. Will they work through a case? I use a case on my phone and there is absolutely no value to a wireless charger if I am going to have to remove my case to use it. So I am wondering if you can place it atop the charge station while in a TPU or plastic case and still get a charge? I would also like to know how much slower Wireless Charging is than regular AC charging? Thank you.

So we have the easy answer here ("yes wireless charging works with a case") but no careful studies on charge rates.

The OP also asked how wireless charging rates compare to wired charging.

I would also like to know if and how much using a case for wireless charging affects the charge rate? I use the Google charger (I would post a working link but the XDA site is being *****y about my lack of participation) ( .. play.google.com/store/devices/details/Nexus_Wireless_Charger?id=nexus_wireless_charger ) which also includes a permanent magnet to help align the Nexus 5 to the charger. This is important because if the charging coils are not well aligned charging doesn't work at all and there is much less than a centimeter of margin. Using a case definitely weakens the alignment field because without a case the phone "snaps" to the correct position, whereas with a case you have to feel the alignment field and for the most part position the phone over the charger manually.

We know the distance between the phone and charger coils affects energy transfer (inverse square law for fields), but perhaps wireless chargers automatically adjust the strength of the charging field based on charging amperage or feedback from the phone to optimize charge rates? This would help mitigate the effect of a case but there would still be larger distances at which the field cannot optimally charge the phone. What are these distances, and do some chargers vary the charging field strength based on any kind of feedback?
 

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    All "Qi" standard chargers will work with the N5 with varying degrees of success. They all will generally charge up to a distance of ~3-4mm from coil to coil so they will usually charge thru cases with no problem although there may be a slight degradation in charge rate. I have used several different Qi chargers - the Google Orb, the Owlpad car charger, the LG WCP 300 and the Metrans MWT03. They all charged my N4 'case on' with no trouble although the N4 did seem to charge slightly quicker without the case on. I even mounted the Metrans inside of my desk just under the laminate surface and it charged the N4 fine thru the laminate and TPU case. The Orb was easily the best of lot and charged the fastest, the Owlpad was probably the worst but it was used while driving with the phone generally being used for GPS, music streaming etc and under those conditions, it barely could maintain charge with screen on. With the phone off, it charged fine.

    I just got my N5 today and tried it with all of my chargers and they all worked fine, if anything the N5 is less picky than the N4 about placement.
    1
    Yes, wireless chargers work with a case. I've used the LG WCP-700 wireless charger with my Nexus 4 flawlessly with countless cases on the Nexus 4. I fully expect the results to be the same with the Nexus 5. Wireless chargers are very convenient and work great. Just make sure to get a reputable one and don't cheap out on a $20 eBay one.
    1
    i also heard that once ur phone is fully charged..the wireless charger will stop charging
    1
    I know the LG one stops charging when full. It also trickle charges so if your phone or tablet falls below a 95% charge it starts charging it again till full, then stops again.