In my tests, I found that wireless charging used, on average, around 47% more power than a cable.
Not only that, but slight changes to the alignment between phone and charger decreased efficiency massively, so that millimetre tweaks could result in 80% more energy for a single charge. Plus, wireless chargers use electricity 24/7, amounting to as much as 6 watt-hours a day of energy just turned into heat. For all current smartphones to move to wireless charging, we'd need the equivalent of 73 more coal power stations to meet the additional global requirements; if all of those chargers used the worst-case alignments, it could be closer to 150 more power stations!
Interesting to consider the environmental impact of a purely convenience-based gimmick. Do we really need it?
