Xiaomi, the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, has announced a new Mi Air Charge wireless charging technology. According to the company, it can charge multiple devices at the same time, including smartphones, smartwatches, fitness bracelets, and other Xiaomi products within a radius of several meters.
Xiaomi says it is committed to making the technology truly wireless, powering all speakers and smart home devices by one remote system. According to the developers, this will allow each device to be charged at 5W at the same time, and physical obstacles do not reduce its effectiveness.
Xiaomi has not yet announced a release date for any products using this technology, only saying that Mi Air Charge is a tech demo for now, but a company spokesperson also said that Xiaomi will not include this technology into any consumer products that will be released this year.
This is how Mi Air Charge Technology works, according to a post on Xiaomi’s blog:
The core technology of Xiaomi’s remote charging lies in space positioning and energy transmission. Xiaomi’s self-developed isolated charging pile has five phase interference antennas built in, which can accurately detect the location of the smartphone. A phase control array composed of 144 antennas transmits millimeter-wide waves directly to the phone through beamforming.
However, it is unlikely that this technology will make it to the market in the near future because other companies have already been making announcements about “truly wireless charging” for several years, but such technology still has not been implemented yet. For instance, Motorola seems to be developing its own wireless charging technology that could help power smartphones from a distance of up to a meter.
