Does Wireless Charging Impact A Phone's Battery Health?

Wireless phone charging has become extremely popular due to how convenient it is. There’s no need to pack your phone charger or mess around with different cables for different devices, just place your smartphone face-up on the mat, and it’s ready to go! These days you’ll find wireless charging mats in hotels, cafes and wherever else you might need a quick battery boost.  

When you think of wireless charging, big names like Qi and MagSafe are usually the first to come to mind. At 15 watts, MagSafe is exceptionally fast but only works with Apple devices and some select Androids. Qi chargers work for all devices that carry a Qi logo, which makes things considerably easier, especially while travelling.

The wireless charging market is thriving as this charging style becomes an increasingly popular way to power up devices. Yet wireless charging has existed in some form for more than 100 years. Wireless charging works on the principle of magnetic resonance coupling, which electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla first demonstrated in the late nineteenth century. Despite a slow start, the benefits of the technology are now changing the face of several industries, including everything under the Internet of Things (IoT) umbrella.

What about your smartphone itself? Is wireless charging bad for your phone? Is using a wireless charger on a refurbished phone any different from using the same charger on a new one?

Impact of Wireless Charging on Smartphones 

These days, most flagship and mid-range smartphones of both the Apple and Android varieties come with the option to wirelessly charge. But while it’s a standard feature now, you may have heard that wireless charging is bad for your phone because it generates more heat than charging from a wall socket. However, the truth is a little more complicated.

Wireless charging is not bad for your phone. At least no more than regular charging. All charging has the potential to wear out your battery life slowly but surely, especially if you’re in the habit of charging overnight or charging all the way to 100% each time. While wireless charging does generate more heat, the best chargers include fans to keep the temperature levels manageable.

While wireless charging has minimal impact on either the battery health or the overall health of your smartphone, here are some effects you may notice from using this method:

Increased heat generation

The additional heat that wireless charging generates comes from the fact that not all the power from a wall outlet reaches your smartphone’s battery. Charging with a cable is still the most powerful form of charging, while the efficiency of the wireless option hovers between 50-80%. The energy that doesn’t make it gets turned into heat. However, quality wireless chargers have mechanisms that regulate the temperature and prevent your phone from overheating.

Charging speed

Wireless charging can be a little slower than wired charging, which gives plugging in your charger a slight advantage if you’re in a hurry. Although, that doesn’t mean wireless charging speeds are slow. For example, the MagSafe charger can charge an iPhone 14 Pro Max to 50% in just over 45 minutes.

Charging standards

It’s important to choose a wireless charger that’s compatible with the smartphone you have. Making the wrong choice can lead to slow charging or, worse, no charging at all.

Wondering about the practicality of using a wireless charger on a refurbished phone? The process of refurbishing a smartphone doesn’t compromise the smartphone’s wireless connectivity at all, so using a wireless charger on a refurbished phone isn’t a problem.  But checking your second-hand phone’s battery health when you receive it is a good way to prevent any nasty surprises.

Worrying about whether wireless charging is bad for your phone is usually because you are trying to keep your smartphone’s battery healthy. There are many ways to preserve the battery in your smartphone and stop it from declining before its time, whether you charge your smartphone wirelessly or not. 

Refurbished Phone Healthy Battery Tips 

Here are some tips for a healthy, long-lasting smartphone battery life:

Check your second-hand phone’s battery health

To check your second-hand phone’s battery health on an Android smartphone, involves dialling in a code or using an app like AccuBattery. On an iPhone, it’s a simpler process as Apple offers a built-in battery monitoring tool. Keeping an eye on your smartphone’s battery health isn’t the same as protecting it, but it gives you a reference point to start from.

Don’t charge your battery to 100% or let it drop to 0%

Fully charging and discharging your smartphone battery wears the lithium-ion batteries of today out faster. A good rule of thumb is not to plug in your smartphone until your battery drops below 20% and only charge it to about 80%.

Avoid very high or very low temperatures

Batteries work best at room temperature and drain faster when it’s very hot or very cold. Batteries that drain faster need to be charged more often, and more charge cycles mean a shorter battery life.

Don’t play games or watch videos while your phone is charging

This has an effect called ‘parasitic load’, which takes an extra toll on your battery. Parasitic load increases the heat of your battery and causes it to cycle faster, wearing out faster in the process.

Now you know wireless charging isn’t bad for your phone, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find out just how many smartphones are compatible with this mode of charging. 

What Refurbished Phones Are Compatible With Wireless Charging? 

Whether you’re using a Qi, MagSafe or Belkin charger, there are so many smartphones out there in both the Apple and Android ranges that are compatible.

All recent model iPhones, like iPhones 12, 13, 14 and 15, are compatible with MagSafe except for the iPhone 12 and 13 Mini models. There are also a small number of MagSafe-compatible Android smartphones on the market, including the Google Pixel 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2.

Smartphones with Qi charging capability include the mid-range Google Pixel 6 line-up and the Samsung Galaxy S22+ and S23 Ultra. iPhones are also compatible with Qi as well as other Android brands like Google, Huawei, Oppo, Nokia etc. When it comes to using a wireless charger with a refurbished phone, you’ll never be short on options. 

Buy Refurbished Phones at OzMobiles

Wireless charging isn’t bad for your phone, and it won’t affect your battery health. Here’s some further good news: OzMobiles has a wide range of refurbished iPhones and Samsung Galaxy smartphones that are compatible with wireless charging.

We put all of our refurbished phones through a 72-point checking process to make sure they meet high Australian standards. This includes battery life, which we make sure is at least 80%. With the level of quality we guarantee, there’s no way that wireless charging will be bad for your phone when you buy from OzMobiles.

If you have any questions about our refurbished phone range, get in touch with the OzMobiles team.