Solving the Problem of having Two Phones

solving multiple cell phonesI have a problem, I have two cell phones. One is my personal phone and the other is work-issued. Carrying around both drives me bonkers. I don’t even like carrying one! I did find an adequate (not perfect) solution to scale back down to one phone while not suffering any serious inconveniences (and keeping my personal/work information, contacts and phone numbers separate). This setup has been working for several months and I am satisfied with the results, even with the minor limitations. Here’s how I did it…

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Qi Charging Phone Wasn’t A Failure After All

Qi Wireless Charging Receiver Soldered - Samsung Galaxy Exhilarate SGH-i577A few days ago I posted how my wireless phone charging hack was a failure. I tried soldering in a Qi Receiver into my old school Samsung Galaxy Exhilarte SGH-i577 phone. While I got all the goodies crammed in the phone, the phone got waaaaay hot when charging. So much so that the phone gave a warning saying the battery is over-temp and charging was stopped!

Fast forward a couple days. I figured I could try a different charging pad. Guess what? It worked perfectly and the phone didn’t get hot! I can’t explain it. I’m not a Qi expert but I did poke around on Wikipedia to learn more about the Qi technology. From Wikipedia:

“Regulation of the output voltage is provided by a digital control loop where the power receiver communicates with the power transmitter and requests more or less power.”

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DIY Wireless Phone Charging, Works And Doesn’t Work At The Same Time

Qi Wireless Charging Receiver Soldered - Samsung Galaxy Exhilarate SGH-i577 I’ll be the first to admit my phone is old, very old, but it is small and fits in my pocket nicely. Majority of new phones seem to be near-tablet size. I did want an upgrade and I thought wireless charging would be the way to go… here’s my disappointing story:

You’ve most certainly seen those Qi Wireless Charger Receivers that plug into the micro-USB port on a phone and make your phone have wireless charging capability, right? They are only a few bucks on eBay. I bought one knowing it wasn’t what I wanted because it uses the USB port and it required the use of a phone case to keep it from flopping in the breeze. When I received the charger receiver, I also noticed that it would cover up the flash and part of the camera. The charger receiver was too long:

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