There are two main wireless charging leagues – Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) and AirFuel. After Apple became one of the members of WPC and announced that iPhone 8 and iPhone X support wireless charging, Qi becomes one of the hottest topics. This also makes WPC dominates the wireless charging industry. A variety of charging pads are sold online. Some of them claim that they have Qi charging, but some only describe wireless charging. However, they look exactly the same. So what is wireless charging and QI standard?

What is wireless charging?

Wireless charging, also knowns as inductive charging or cordless charging, is a technology that uses electromagnetic fields to transfer energy between two devices by electromagnetic induction. Electrical devices can receive energy through inductive coupling and use that energy to charge the device. The concept of induction charging is using two induction coils to deliver power from two electromagnetic fields. The receiver will charge the batter by taking power from an electromagnetic field and convert it into electrical current.

What is Qi Standard?

Qi is named after Chinese word “氣”- “Energy Flow”. It is an open interface standard developed by Wireless Power Consortium. It defines low power wireless induction transmission for short distance up to 1.6 inches (40mm). The main purpose of Qi is providing standards for portable electronic devices to charge wirelessly.

Below are specifications of three different versions of Qi standard

After knowing what Qi Standards is, there is another article to teach you how to find out if your products are certified by WPC. 

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Do your gadgets have Qi Certification? How to check?

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