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Just over a year ago, I made a big bet on thin phones. I started by purchasing a Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge in May of last year, and finished by buying an iPhone Air in the fall. I snagged the 512GB model of both phones, planning to use them as my iOS and Android daily drivers. These aren't review units; they are my personal phones, and I spent close to $3,000 on them combined. Despite their small batteries, my bet was that the convenience of wireless charging would make it easy to get through a full day with each phone.
It's now a year later, and I charge my Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone Air almost exclusively using wireless charging pads. For the most part, the plan worked. I didn't think about charging — I dropped my phone on a wireless charging pad wherever I was, and let it recharge throughout the day. Fears of slow charging speeds, overheating, and battery degradation didn't pose a major problem in reality. With the latest Qi2 wireless charging standard, there's more of a reason than ever to drop your phone on a wireless pad instead of reaching for a cable.
My year of wireless charging was a tale of two phones
I used two thin phones — one was incredible, another was a disaster
Sensible people want to charge their phones at night and get all-day battery life in return. I prefer a different kind of sensibility — I'm never that far away from a power source, so I don't need the extra thickness and weight that comes with a bigger battery. This is why I chose the Galaxy S25 Edge with a 3900mAh battery, and the iPhone Air with a 3,149mAh battery. I have wireless chargers throughout my home, in my car, and power banks for the moments in between.
I can't say that I've used wireless charging exclusively for the entire year. That wouldn't make much sense, as there are some times when the efficiency and speed of a cable is preferable to using a wireless charging pad. However, I used wireless chargers for the overwhelming majority of my charging sessions. I have a Belkin Qi2 25W wireless charging stand on my desk, which keeps my phones powered up as I work. I have two built-in wireless charging pads in my Tesla, so both devices are charging as I drive. I even carry a few Qi2 magnetic portable chargers in my bag, including the thin Apple MagSafe Battery Pack.
It's rare that I see my phone drop below 50% charge, and wireless charging is to thank. The 3-in-1 wireless charging stand on my desk ensures my phones are fully charged when I'm ready to leave, even after a long day of work. The charging pads in my car guarantee that my phones are still nearly full when I reach my destination. And for the occasional travel day when I'm far away from both my desk and my car for long periods of time, I slap a MagSafe battery on the back of my phone.
It's really a seamless experience, and wireless charging means I never have to reach for a cable. I just choose the wireless charging solution available at the moment, whether that's my desk pad, car pad, or power bank. As you can probably guess, the iPhone Air was much easier to charge wirelessly than the Galaxy S25 Edge, because the latter doesn't have magnets. I underestimated how difficult using wireless charging to top up the Galaxy S25 Edge would be, as it doesn't support MagSafe or fast charging speeds.
Fast wireless charging speeds are a necessity
If your phone doesn't support them, stick with a cable
One thing I didn't expect to learn from this experience was that the iPhone Air is much better for wireless charging than the Galaxy S25 Edge. The iPhone Air has a battery much smaller than the Galaxy S25 Edge, but it didn't matter. My iPhone Air lasts all day, even without placing it on a wireless charging pad throughout. Part of that is the result of the iPhone Air's smaller screen and the battery optimization that comes with iOS. However, the internal Qi2 magnets and support for fast charging speeds made the experience superb.
The iPhone Air's magnets meant that I could drop it on a wireless charger or MagSafe battery pack and enjoy perfect alignment. Combine the iPhone Air and MagSafe battery pack together, and the form factor is about as thick as a regular phone with a case. My phone was charging wirelessly as I moved through international trips with the MagSafe battery pack attached, and I barely noticed. Better yet, the 20W wireless charging powered up my phone from 0% to 50% in just half an hour.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S25 Edge only charged at 15W wirelessly, which broke the experience. It felt like it took forever for the phone to charge using a wireless pad. Plus, without internal magnets, I had to place a case between the phone and the wireless charger to achieve perfect alignment. The Galaxy S25 Edge can charge to 55% in 30 minutes over a cable, which is about what the iPhone Air can do wirelessly. The winner was clear.
I tolerated my year of wireless charging with the Galaxy S25 Edge, but I genuinely enjoyed it with the iPhone Air. I didn't even have to think about charging the latter, because it stayed charged as I moved it around on different wireless chargers.
Wireless charging didn't kill my battery health
My iPhone Air is sitting pretty at 100% capacity, roughly 10 months later
As a tech journalist, I'm well aware that wireless chargers are less efficient and put more stress on a phone's battery than charging cables. I expected the battery health of my phones to take a decent hit as a result of my choice to primarily use wireless charging for a year.
What surprised me is that roughly 10 months after I bought my iPhone Air, it's still at 100% capacity, the same as when it was new. I've put the battery through 231 charge cycles so far, most of them using a wireless charging pad, and my battery health has been virtually unaffected. I ran the battery diagnostic test on my Galaxy S25 Edge, which I've had for about 13 months now, and the result was the same. I got a "good" result, signifying my phone's battery is still in working order.
A year later, my verdict is that wireless charging is finally ready to handle most of your charging needs — as long as you have a phone with MagSafe/Qi2 and fast wireless charging support. I don't think you will ever be able to use wireless charging for 100% of your charging needs, and I don't claim to have done that. However, after using wireless charging with my thin phones, I'm convinced it's all I need to charge my phones on most days.
