Motorola shows off over-the-air charging technology

Motorola has demonstrated its over-the-air charging system, which it calls Space Charging.

The Lenovo-owned smartphone maker announced a partnership with GuRu Wireless back in May, with the intention of developing a wireless charging standard that would no longer required physical contact with a charging mat.

Now the company has offered a showcase of this new and improved technology. Taking to Chinese social network Weibo (via Android Authority), Motorola laid on more details of this so-called Space Charging standard, along with a brief demonstration video.

Motorola’s current over-the-air charging station resembles a Wi-Fi router, and can now charge up to four devices simultaneously at a distance of up to three metres. Using an array of 1,600 antennas, it provides a 100-degree area of coverage in front of it.

The charging signal it emits can pass through paper and other objects. It can also detect when a human body is present and pause charging in that particular area.

There’s no official word on charging speeds as yet, but rumour has it that Motorola is hitting the rather glacial limit of 5W.

At a time when the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is capable of hitting a mighty 67W through classic wireless charging methods, that might not seem too hot. But of course, the true wireless charging dream is to have your devices constantly topping up in the background without having them physically tethered to a wall plug or charging pad.

Motorola isn’t the only manufacturer working on over-the-air wireless charging. Oppo and Xiaomi have both also outlined ambitions within the field.

It seems to be a matter of when, not if, we see the first commercial implementation hitting the market.