Wireless Charging: Cool Feature or Needless Hype?

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 16:03:20 GMT

Wireless Charging

My team and I often find ourselves in long conversations with founders that are convinced they need wireless charging. For many first time hardwrae founders, wireless charging makes perfect sense because they are not aware of the trade-offs it brings along.

Wireless charging isn't a replacement for "fast" power; it's a way to get "continuous" or "convenient" power!

From a development standpoint, you aren't just building one product, you're building two. You have to design, manufacture, and certify both the primary device and the charging dock!

You also have to be aware that your production cost will increase.

Pros vs. Cons of Wireless Charging

Let's break it down a bit and maybe you will find this useful to make a good decision.

The Benefits

Design: No charging port means you can create a completely sealed, IP68 waterproof device. No holes for dust or water to get in. From and industrial design point of view the product looks clean.

Reduced Mechanical Failure: Charging ports (USB-C or Lightning) are common "points of failure." They wear out, get bent, or collect dirt.

Premium Positioning: In the current market, wireless charging is a shorthand for "high-end." It increases the perceived value of the product.

The Pitfalls

Thermal Management: Wireless charging is only 70-80% efficient . The lost 20–30% of energy turns into heat . As developers, we have to spend extra time (and money) on heat sinks or firmware adjustments to keep the battery from degrading.

Bill of Materials (BOM): Adding coils, shielding, and magnets adds cost to your product.

Certification: Your charging dock also needs to get certified which will require additional engineering efforts.

The Premium Positioning Trap:

Wireless charing sounds intriguing but reality can be different. I once advised a hardware startup and when it came to wireless charging they rejected charging through Type-C. Simply because they believed their product wouldn't be perceived as "Premium" enough.

To make a long story short, they decided to go wireless for their product launch which ended up in a big mess. What seemed convenient and premium to the founders was the exact opposite for their users.

Their users were frustrated because they expected fast charging. Now their users were stuck with a product that they couldn't use for hours! This resulted in bad reviews, a drop in sales and a re-design of the product.

Keep in mind, just because you think it works for you doesn't mean it will work for others. Whenever possible, get feedback from real users during prototype stage.

Boris Brawer

Founder of Made Studio

Product Engineering & Manufacturing

Why One Prototype Is Never Enough

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 13:34:17 GMT

The Cost of Hardware Prototyping

First things first: prototyping costs. They always get underestimated. When you start a new product development you have to put aside a healthy budget for prototyping.

Depending on complexity, prototyping costs can start at relatively modest levels but can quickly scale into the six figures, and in some cases, surpass seven figures.

Prototyping cost cannot be estimated by the size of your product. It’s the complexity, components, and processes, not the size that determine prototype cost.

You also need to factor in the man-hours spent on assembling, debugging, and refining each prototype. Functional prototypes with custom PCBAs and other custom made parts carry a higher cost.

Each prototype answers different questions. In hardware you need multiple iterations:

Looks-like models: To validate industrial design, aesthetics, and ergonomics.

Proof of Concept (PoC): To prove the core technology is feasible.

Functional Prototypes: "Works-like" models used for internal testing and user feedback.

Engineering Builds (EVT/DVT): Factory-grade iterations to validate reliability, signal integrity, and product compliance.

Looks-like Model

A looks-like model is basically a prototype that shows off how the final product will look, without worrying about whether it works yet.

Industrial designers use these to play with shape, color, materials, and how the product feels in your hand, making sure it looks great and fits the brand.

They’re also super useful for getting feedback or showing investors what’s being worked on.

Proof of Concept (POC)

The first and roughest stage of any prototype is called a proof-of-concept. When creating them, engineers use developer boards or breadboards. These prototypes often don't look aesthetically pleasing which unsettles many non-technical founders ��

POCs are important because they enable you to rapidly and affordably test a hypothesis before spending money on thorough design work or custom PCBAs.

If you catch issues early, you can save a lot of time and money if the basic function fails here.

Functional Prototype

A functional prototype is all about making the product actually work. These builds use custom PCBAs running firmware, often paired with CNC-machined housing parts, so they’re as close as possible to the final product in both looks and function.

The goal is to prove that the electronics, software, and mechanics all play nicely together. At this stage, you can test performance, reliability, and how the product works in a real life situation.

You will encounter setbacks at this stage. The firmware might not behave as intended or a mechanical feature might have an issue. Sometimes parts have to be re-worked.

Each prototype builds upon the lessons learned from the previous prototype, leading to a more polished final product. So don't panic if something doesn't work right away ��

Boris Brawer

Founder of Made Studio

Product Engineering & Manufacturing

Tech Bay Insights

Wireless Charging: Cool Feature or Needless Hype?