Why wireless charging is the best backup for a broken charging port

For him, wireless charging is essential as a backup solution in case something happens to his phone’s charging port. But in the end I decided that wireless charging was not a necessary feature for me.

A little over a week later, I found myself searching for a wireless charger and thanking my former self for purchasing a phone with wireless charging support.

Wireless charging hasn’t really been on my radar in any significant way for years. In fact, I needed to check if my current daily driver supports the feature because I pay very little attention to it.

However, every once in a while I receive a wireless charging pad from a company and remember why I ignore it: the slow charging speeds. The last wireless charger I received in 2024 maxed out at 15W.

Considering I’ve gotten used to 100W wired charging on my last two smartphones, using 15W charging seems unfathomable. Even my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 45W wired charging is a little slow for my liking, so 15W seems glacial in comparison.

It’s true that some phone companies offer faster wireless charging. In fact, my Honor 400 Pro supports 50W wireless charging. However, this requires the purchase of a separate charging base.

With so many companies using proprietary charging standards and the high cost of charging accessories, it’s not worth buying a dock that may not work with my next device. I feel this more acutely with brands like Samsung, as you already have to purchase the wired charging brick separately.

I miss the days when premium phones came with all the accessories you needed. Even buying a case and screen protector is a spiteful purchase for me, so I’m really resistant to the idea of ​​buying a wired and wireless charger.

So what happened that made me turn around so suddenly?

A port moisture warning on my Samsung phone quickly made me change course on wireless charging. At first I wasn’t too alarmed, as I had received this warning before.

But more than four hours later, the warning persisted and I still couldn’t charge my phone. I knew the warning was not a software error because I had exposed my phone to water. I was worried that the humidity wouldn’t go away as my battery dropped below 30%. I also knew I didn’t have the budget to repair the device if I had permanently damaged the charging port.

It was actually the phone’s software that recommended I use wireless charging. But I realized I didn’t know if I actually had a dock I could use.

What about those wireless charging pads I mentioned receiving over the years? Most of them he had given away or thrown away. As my panic increased, I realized I had a spring in the box I had set aside for e-waste recycling.

In this case, my own procrastination saved the day. I packed the springs into the e-waste box weeks ago, but hadn’t had time to take them to the recycling center. If I had, I wouldn’t have had a dock to use.

I finally got rid of the humidity warning by placing my phone upright on the couch for a few hours. But the nearby situation reminded me why I should have a wireless charger on hand at all times.

Now, I wouldn’t consider myself a convert to wireless charging. Rather, I recognize its usefulness as a backup solution. But it’s still just that: a backup.

My concerns about speed and compatibility remain. Qi2 25W improves wireless charging on Android phones, but is still much less efficient than wired charging. And that’s if chargers that support the standard consistently deliver the advertised speeds, which My colleague Rita’s Google Pixel Snap review found that’s not the case.

However, there are other drawbacks to wireless charging, including increased heat during charging. Since heat damages battery health, I don’t want to expose my phone to high temperatures for long periods of time. At least when I use wired charging, my phone is not connected for more than 20 minutes.

However, I can say that I’m glad that so many phones support some version of wireless charging. While it’s less common in budget phones, many brands have incorporated the technology into their premium offerings.

I’ve had a set of essential smartphone features that I refuse to give up for some time. I may need to add wireless charging to the list, however, so I have a backup solution in case my charging port is compromised again.

Part of me wants to say that I’ve only had one incident in several years, so I shouldn’t worry about wireless charging. But that’s almost exactly what I was thinking the week before the whole humidity disaster happened.

In this case, I’d rather have the feature as a fallback than not have it at all. It could be the difference between keeping a device running while I have the budget for a repair and not being able to use the phone at all.