OT: Another fine mess, where a spec isn't a spec

[trader_4]

I'm getting a new cell phone, an LG Velvet 5g. It supports wireless charging and says it conforms to the Wireless Power Consortiun, WPC Qi spec and supports 10W charging. So never having used wireless charging I started looking for a wireless charging stand and figured that would be easy. I figured all I needed would be one that supports charging with at least 10W.

So I've looked at descriptions and specs from dozens of companies, from name brands like Belkin and Anker, to no name Chinese on Ebay. All pretty much say the same thing:

Supports iPhone charging at 7.5W, lists models Supports Samsung charging at 10W, lists models Supports all other Qi compatible phones at 5W

WTF? I would have expected the last part to read "supports all other Qi compatible phones at 5, 7.5 or 10W, depending on what their limit is". So, I'm totally confused. What kind of spec is this? Adding to the confusion looks like Samsung isn't Qi, they did their own proprietary scheme. So, I wonder if these companies only implemented the Samsung

10W protocol and ignored the WPC? Also the silicon for this must be made by just a few companies. I wonder, did Samsung strong arm them into only supporting their protocol and not to implement WPC spec for other companies to screw them? Or do these chargers really charge LG or any other phones that accept 10W at 10W? Whatever is going on, this WPC sure is a joke. Imagine if IEEE 802 was handled like this. It's harder sorting through all the charger BS than it is the phones.

[gfretwell]

Hand held electronics are notorious for using proprietary charging methods. That's why there are at least a half dozen different connectors on the cables. They want you to buy their stuff. Doesn't LG sell the matching charging station?

[trader_4]

I'm not familiar with all handheld electronics, just the most common one, smartphones, which is what I was posting about. And with smartphones there are only a few connectors used on new phones today, the only proprietary connector that I'm aware of is Apple. It's been that way for two decades now. All Androids conform to industry standards so they are interoperable with other equipment, the vast majority are using USB-C today for data transfer and power. Prior to that they used mini USB or micro USB, standard connectors, none of those are proprietary. Even the Android manufacturers that use their own charging protocols, use standard USB connectors and will work with other chargers, just not at the fastest possible charge rates.

And no, LG does not offer a wireless charger stand for this phone, which isn't unusual either, again because there is a WPC industry standard in place, one that even Apple has agreed to. And this phone or any phone that has wireless charging can be charged with any available charger, the issue is at what charging rate and 5W vs 10W makes a big difference.