The very day that Xiaomi surprised us with Mi Air Charge, a wireless charging system several meters away, Motorola / Lenovo announced their own contactless wireless charging. For the moment, without a catchy name and with less technical details available, but under the same principle: charge the mobile without being literally on the charger.
Lenovo didn’t give us all the details on how their system works, but they did give us a video demonstration. At first glance It seems a more rudimentary system than Xiaomi, that yesterday would have surprised us, but that today, in comparison, we know it little by little.
Recharge within a meter, in a straight line?
Comparisons are obnoxious, but if two tech companies announce their own remote wireless charging system on the same day, comparing them is inevitable. Xiaomi promises a 5W charge from several meters away, in all directions and without obstacles being a big problem. Lenovo promises something a little less ambitious.
In the demo video we see a charger on the table that looks like a webcam. Unlike Xiaomi’s charger, which looks like a subwoofer, Lenovo’s charger is much more discreet.
With two mobiles on the table, they only start charging when it is almost directly from the charger and less than a meter. The person handling the phones places them in a holder, although the holder is not charging, and the phone begins to charge before touching it.
Unfortunately we do not have any information on the loading speed, although we do know that the system can be used with several devices at the same time, provided that both meet the requirements of being less than one meter and with a line of sight to the loader in a straight line.
The exact operation of the system at this time has not been revealed, although it should be similar to Xiaomi’s, but without the support of beacon antennas for positioning. Thus, the charger emits the waves which will be converted into energy in only one direction and therefore only works in a straight line. In the video you can also see that, putting your hand in front of the charger, stop charging, so that obstacles prevent charging, unlike what Xiaomi commented on for its system.
More information | Weibo
