[JupiterOne]

Using wireless Android Auto when the phone is in wireless charger in a typical scenario (Waze + Music Player) seems impossible for long trips. Battery drain > wireless charging speed. In my case, with the battery at 100%, 1.5 hours of subsequent wireless AA usage and the battery is done / phone shuts off. Also, the phone got overheated. I am not sure what the engineering thought is behind such design, but it seems it is simply not a working solution, at least for me. When the phone is in the case, I am getting a slow charging notice on the head unit - case can be blamed here, and there is a good explanation why drain outspeeds charging. But when I remove the phone from the case, there is no slow charging notice anymore (which is good), but anyway, the battery is drained quicker than charging + overheating notices on the phone. Not sure why internal cooler in wireless charger fail to cool down the phone as well. The phone is Samsung Galaxy S21.

It seems the only solution is switching to cable. All the fancy stuff / conception with cableless design ends here, and you have to plug and unplug every time. I'm not sure how it looks with iPhone/wireless CarPlay...

Any other experiences in this forum? A wireless charger is a useless option I should not have ordered, or am I missing something?

[MontyB1]

For all the reasons you mention I never wireless charge a phone, slow and puts the battery through more stress in the process. Got wireless charging on the X3 and have used it twice and one was just to see if it works.

[tex2670]

The wireless charger is a total joke. Doesn't even add to my battery when I'm not using GPS. Totally worthless.

In fairness, my wife's Hyundai's wireless charger isn't much better.

[FlashMonkey929]

Wireless charging in cars is a waste of money in my experience. None of them have ever charged fast enough to be worth it, pretty sure it’s just an added piece of $5 electronics to attract people to the car more. Was hoping the X1 would have been different, but alas I was wrong. I’ve got a mount from Proclip/Brodit for MagSafe that actually wirelessly charges my phone at a pace much faster than my iPhone phone can drain. Not sure if Android would have the same.

[SpaceSilverX1]

Originally Posted by FlashMonkey929

Wireless charging in cars is a waste of money in my experience. None of them have ever charged fast enough to be worth it, pretty sure it’s just an added piece of $5 electronics to attract people to the car more. Was hoping the X1 would have been different, but alas I was wrong. I’ve got a mount from Proclip/Brodit for MagSafe that actually wirelessly charges my phone at a pace much faster than my iPhone phone can drain. Not sure if Android would have the same.

but did you notice that almost every car review talks about how "cool" the X1's new wireless charger looked? with the roller coaster bar thing holding the phone in place while charging. I suspect that BMW marketing fed that to the media.

if I'm not mistaken, some BMWs have a $200 price tag for a wireless charger, unless it's included in a package. $200 for something that can't cost more than $10 to design and make.

[FlashMonkey929]

Originally Posted by NickysFirstBimmer

but did you notice that almost every car review talks about how "cool" the X1's new wireless charger looked? with the roller coaster bar thing holding the phone in place while charging. I suspect that BMW marketing fed that to the media.

if I'm not mistaken, some BMWs have a $200 price tag for a wireless charger, unless it's included in a package. $200 for something that can't cost more than $10 to design and make.

Granted, it is a nice design that eliminates many flaws of other built in wireless chargers. The phone doesn’t move much due to the bar, has cooling behind it that(may or may not actually) keep the phone cool, and accommodates a variety of phone sizes. But it fails in its primary function as a charger 😂. I just let my passengers use it if they need a charge.

[JupiterOne]

Originally Posted by NickysFirstBimmer

but did you notice that almost every car review talks about how "cool" the X1's new wireless charger looked? with the roller coaster bar thing holding the phone in place while charging. I suspect that BMW marketing fed that to the media.

if I'm not mistaken, some BMWs have a $200 price tag for a wireless charger, unless it's included in a package. $200 for something that can't cost more than $10 to design and make.

Exactly. Maybe if you're not using AA or CarPlay it will work. Pointless.

[JupiterOne]

Just read X5 posts on this forum, same pain.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by JupiterOne

Exactly. Maybe if you're not using AA or CarPlay it will work. Pointless.

Nope.

[JupiterOne]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Nope.

Then even worse.

[Kromans1]

I agree with all points here. The phone charger in the X1 is woeful. The one on our previous Equinox was better.

[articulatedsphinx]

using a new iphone and it seems to charge very quickly. Not sure if there is a difference between android and iphone?

When I put our older samsung on it says "low-power mode"

[Tomduck]

Yep my iPhone 12 Pro charges quick enough too.

[AusJasman]

I have a G05 and G01 (Waiting on an IX1), both with the wireless charger, I'm guessing they are only a 5 watt charger because they can't keep up with the draw of Android Auto (Samsung S21U) or Apple Carplay (iPhone 12), however, according to the dealer the big benefit of using them is they access the passive antenna in the shark fin which should give a little reception boost in patchy areas.

I copied this from another post in the X5 forum for clarity, I'm guessing the same will apply tot the IX1:

"There is a tiny antenna near the charging pad that receives and transmits directly to your smart-phone that is in or near the charging pad. This signal is routed to a repeater-amplifier that is mounted in the rear corner cubbyhole that has two antenna connections. One to the QI pad, the other to a rooftop antenna.

The amplifier takes the tiny signal from your phone, that is sitting in a very bad place for cellular reception, amplifies the signal and rebroadcasts it with a higher transmitter power output on the rooftop antenna. The reverse is also true when receiving; it uses the rooftop antenna that has much better visibility to the cell towers to gather the signal and route it through the amplifier before coupling it to the tiny antenna near the QI pad.

What can end up happening when that is working is that you can go from 1-2 bars of receive signal up to 4-5 bars. The range for your cellphone is also extended out due to the higher power, the antenna gain and that the external antenna is mounted in a much better place."

[srbs73]

It charges my iPhone in the iX1 whilst using RadioPlayer via CarPlay. Not very fast granted!

I don't use Waze or other iPhone nav apps very often but have noticed similar drain on my 3 series. In my 3 series, I tend to use the wireless charger for passengers and have my phone on a dash vent magsafe mount with a short USB charger cable.

[skyboum]

Tested my iPhone12 Pro Max on 3 hours drive while using CarPlay with Waze and YouTube Music all the time. Before the trip my phone was charged to 100% and ended on 95%.

[TopM]

Haha just knew there would be a thread about this issue. Am a new owner of an X1, and I thought something wrong with my iPhone. When I leave for work and have it in the wireless charge holder… my 100% charged phone drops into the 80% range in a 1hr journey!!

Will not be using the charge holder again 😒

[Fish Fingers]

Originally Posted by tex2670

The wireless charger is a total joke. Doesn't even add to my battery when I'm not using GPS. Totally worthless.

In fairness, my wife's Hyundai's wireless charger isn't much better.

The one in my Taycan is way worse.
Its hidden in the armrest sideways on. Barely works and causes the phone to overheat.
And I mean really overheat. Hotter than the inside of a Mcdonalds apple pie.

I am quite impressed with X1 design and implementation by comparison!

The post about using the antennae is interesting to know too.

[FZI89]

Originally Posted by TopM

Haha just knew there would be a thread about this issue. Am a new owner of an X1, and I thought something wrong with my iPhone. When I leave for work and have it in the wireless charge holder… my 100% charged phone drops into the 80% range in a 1hr journey!!

Will not be using the charge holder again 😒

Do what I did and just disable the charging function. At least then you can still use the cradle to hold your phone

[John27]

Given many of the posts on this thread are from last year and likely with ID8, given my car is Jan 24 and ID9, I thought I'd see if there has been any improvements.

I went for the same drive (approx 2.5 hours and 150 miles) using a Samsung S23 connected by Android Auto and used Waze and Spotify throughout the whole journey. Each time, the phone battery was 100% at the start. First journey did not use the wireless charger and battery life fell to 53%. Second journey I did use the wireless charger. Battery life fell to 87%. Noted that the phone is in a genuine Samsung flip case (which was closed) and while the phone did get warm, it was not exactly hot to the touch. Still, expected better but perhaps not as bad as others experienced last year?

[srbs73]

I think it’s more to do with the hardware. I’ve got a 10 or 15W wireless charging pad on my desk and that works fine. Seems like the one in the BMW’s is a 5W which just can’t quite keep up.

[boupas]

Phones usually reduce charging speed to preserve battery health when near 80%. It would worth trying the wireless charger when battery is near 50% and check whether it still can't keep up.