Emir Bardakçı
To shore up on how it’s handling wireless charging, New codes found on Xiaomi hardware testing app (CIT) about a MagSafe feature to its upcoming smartphones. Now, this will be part of the HyperOS weekly firmware. Inside it, CIT, a hardware test application for Xiaomi, comes with a section labeled ‘Charger Hall.’ In short, it looks like Xiaomi is also inheriting its magnetic charging solution, quite similar to Apple’s MagSafe tech, the talk of late for iPhone models.
What Is “Charger Hall” Feature?
Weekly HyperOS update has included that the ‘Charger Hall’ feature is undergoing some magnetic calibration, and the user would be instructed to “Please bring the magnet close to the back position corresponding to the green rectangular area, stay for 1 second and then move away.” It further explains that Xiaomi is working on a magnetic positioning system for better and more efficient alignment during wireless charging.
Why Xiaomi Is Adopting This MagSafe-Like Technoloy
This business strategy has made Xiaomi try even harder to chase other premium smartphones, which have majorly launched wireless premium smartphones. For Apple, though, the MagSafe technology would only translate to an improved rate of charging wirelessly and, of course, a combination of magnetic accessories that can be used in any preferred orientation attached only to an iDevice.
Charger Hall by Xiaomi will be just one more place where these benefits can be dispensed, granting its users fast, dependable charging—even with magnetic cases, wallets, and maybe even a mounting solution snapped to the back of their smartphones.
How will this feature influence the Xiaomi product line?
While details are scant, it is clear beyond tautology that this ‘Charger Hall’ will be a feature arriving with Xiaomi units equipped for wireless charging. This had always been speculated to likely constitute features in the Mi and Mix series, among a few others, of the flagship lines from Xiaomi. This, in effect, will be a premium addition for Xiaomi to add value to the product in markets where the consumer-pulled demand is towards high-end features and disruptive user experiences—either in Asia or even in some developing countries in the West.
Possible benefits and challenges
Magneto alignment in the ‘Charger Hall’ could lend further enhancements to the charging process and improvements in its speed and efficiency. Similar to MagSafe, Xiaomi could be a firm that introduces an entirely new market for magnetic accessory products to support its broad range of devices in the ecosystem.
This new feature serves as proof of Xiaomi’s policy of innovation and is likely to attract the attention of any technology enthusiast following the company’s strides.
Xiaomi’s ‘Charger Hall’ will be compared with Apple MagSafe. Xiaomi would have to create some differentiation with their offering to not look like the copycat of some other company. Implementing such high reliability and safety of magnetic charging at the technical level, with the vast number of accessories and loads in the ecosystem, remains quite a severe engineering challenge.
There would be the need for Xiaomi to channel investment in explaining to the consumer not only the benefits of the same but also how to use the new feature so that it can be adopted widely. Humanify Xiaomi smartphones are great additions to the ‘Charger Hall‘ feature in compliance with the trend in wireless technology.
It’s powerful to have a MagSafe-like feature that does something other than just anything. It’s something that can sprout into actually offering the very functionality of the device and lays down the foundation for a truly connected user experience. The first look into the design of such next-generation devices will be much anticipated as more details emerge. This is likely one of the biggest shifts in thinking and use of a smartphone in years to come.
