Reverse charging has been around since at least 2016. Wireless reverse charging was introduced by Huawei last year and Samsung followed suit this year.
The idea is great and the feature is very useful. Of course, there aren't many accessories you can wirelessly reverse charge at the moment but the amount will increase.
Clearly, it isn't a tentpole feature but it will prove useful (and offer more power) over time if users have wireless charging accessories. Huawei already has its own wireless charging earbuds case and is releasing some glasses/sunglesses models this year. At some point I can imagine placing those glasses on the phone to top them up.
Batteries will have to have large capacities but all phones that can reverse charge already have them.
Huawei's new wireless (but not truly wireless) FreeLace buds have a hidden USB-C connector in them that manages first pairing through hardware and then take advantage of the phone's reverse charging feature, offering fours of use after just a five minute charge. No need to carry a case around with you. They have active noise cancellation too.
I wouldn't be surprised if Apple offered the same options at some point.
Will it be able to charge the Apple Watch? If so, I don’t need to buy a portable charger for the watch. If not, I’ll save myself $800 and just get the portable charger.
I think this is a dumb gimmick and just copying Samesung!!!
I've always been for Apple just making these iPhones a little thicker so there would be no need for a camera bump, which in turn gives a little more space for more battery. Because I think a larger percentage of iPhone users would like a larger battery. Apple makes the iPhone a little more energy efficient. You think great, the iPhone will last longer, but no, Apple at the same time just shrinks the battery right along with it even more so. In the end, just making Apple a even larger profit.
I don't see much need for the iPhone to wireless charge Airpods. I think it's a feature few would even use.
The battery in the AirPods case lasts up to 24 hours. Why would you need to charge them off your iPhone? If you have to go that long, odds are your phone is dead, too.
From the first time I saw Samsung's reverse charge feature I've said it was a dumb gimmick. I don't know about Samsung's hearing-aid headphones, but with AirPods, the battery in the case makes this unnecessary. Beyond that, you can't effectively use your phone while reverse-charging, doing so sucks battery from your phone when many people have trouble getting their phone battery to last long enough, and to top it off, you lose energy in the charging process. Lose-lose-lose.
You can use the reverse wireless charging while your device is charging via USB-C (dual charging). In the case of Samsung, you can use this to charge your watch, wireless earbuds or even another person's phone while plugged in. Of course, now all you need is a single USB-C cable.
It's also worth noting that the earbuds or watch have relatively small batteries and won't drain your phone too much even when topping up on the go.
Nothing about this is a "dumb gimmick", it's actually quite useful once you understand the applications.
If all you need to do is 'top off' your AirPods, that can be done in 15-20 minutes with a lightning cable. My gen3 apple watch routinely gets 2 days of use on a single charge, so the likelihood of me needing to top it off is quite low as well.
The one scenario where I can see this being useful is if you're traveling and forget to bring your watch charger, beyond that, I stand by my original assessment of useless gimmick.
So not a single other person of the millions of iPhone users would find this functionality useful because you don’t. Got it.
Well, that’s how everyone else around here seems to think - I’ve pointed out the use of the 3.5mm jack and got many replies saying “I use Bluetooth it doesn’t matter!”
No, I even stated in my last reply there were potential use - my point was that the true usefulness and benefit is actually quite limited. It’s like many things in marketing - it seems far more neat and useful than it is in reality. The fact that you can use it while charging your phone is what gives it some actual usefulness.
Comments
The idea is great and the feature is very useful. Of course, there aren't many accessories you can wirelessly reverse charge at the moment but the amount will increase.
Clearly, it isn't a tentpole feature but it will prove useful (and offer more power) over time if users have wireless charging accessories. Huawei already has its own wireless charging earbuds case and is releasing some glasses/sunglesses models this year. At some point I can imagine placing those glasses on the phone to top them up.
Batteries will have to have large capacities but all phones that can reverse charge already have them.
Huawei's new wireless (but not truly wireless) FreeLace buds have a hidden USB-C connector in them that manages first pairing through hardware and then take advantage of the phone's reverse charging feature, offering fours of use after just a five minute charge. No need to carry a case around with you. They have active noise cancellation too.
I wouldn't be surprised if Apple offered the same options at some point.
No, I even stated in my last reply there were potential use - my point was that the true usefulness and benefit is actually quite limited. It’s like many things in marketing - it seems far more neat and useful than it is in reality. The fact that you can use it while charging your phone is what gives it some actual usefulness.