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I've been wanting to get a wireless Qi charger for my Samsung Galaxy S5 and have thought of a few options: ...
What do people think? What about the phone moving around when the car is in motion? Other pros and cons?
I put my wireless Qi charger on top of my dresser, in the bedroom. My S5 phone generally holds charge all day. I do keep a charger cord in the car, just in case, but have never yet had to use it.
That is one thing I haven't figured out for the ES, where to place my damn phone...............
If you find a good location, please share.
Door hand hold cubby. I have iPhone 7 with a case on and it fits snuggly in there horizontally. I've been struggling with where to put the Qi charger and think this would be the best solution since I put my phone in there all the time anyway. I am going to remove the door panel and mount the Qi charger behind this spot. Hopefully the plastic isn't too think that it won't work. If the plastic on the door panel is too thick I will try and shave it down some with a Dremel. I'm pretty confident this will work but it's a lot of effort.
I just stick my phone in the center cup holder with the speaker down. If/when I need navigation (if/when Lexus falls short, usually looking for a newer restaurant) I can clearly hear the directions because the speakers bounce into and out of the cup holder. Telephone is connected via bluetooth; music (when not using CD, USB, or radio) is via bluetooth, and Lexus Apps (rarely used) is via bluetooth. With Siri I can voice a quick text to someone, or even email for that matter. I can query quick items (driving on a bridge over a lake, "How deep is lake xxx?")
I know I'm old school, but I still don't understand why anyone would mess up the dash with phone holders and such. There is nothing important enough on the display I need to see while I'm driving, so I don't see any reason to "mount" the phone anywhere. Heh, I know, I'm old school and pay attention to the road when I'm driving.... =)
There is a thread somewhere about a console kit you can order from Amazon. It might give you a deeper floating shelf that you can place a Qi charger and your cell phone. You won't be able use it while driving but it should hold the phone in place.
There is a thread somewhere about a console kit you can order from Amazon. It might give you a deeper floating shelf that you can place a Qi charger and your cell phone. You won't be able use it while driving but it should hold the phone in place.
Here is one. I just don't like the idea of putting the phone into something that is closed. I just know that I will accidentally leave it in there every now and then when I exit the vehicle. The cell phone storage tray on top of the cover in GMC trucks and SUVs is perfect for installing a qi charger under it. Quite a bit hesitant to start cutting into the leather of my center console lid though to try and replicate that design.
It fits into the existing cup holder and doesn't look terrible. Right now, my second cup holder closest to the main console is used to store my sunglasses/glasses. I think this cupholder charger would still allow me to put my glasses in there when if the phone was in there.
Here is one. I just don't like the idea of putting the phone into something that is closed. I just know that I will accidentally leave it in there every now and then when I exit the vehicle. The cell phone storage tray on top of the cover in GMC trucks and SUVs is perfect for installing a qi charger under it. Quite a bit hesitant to start cutting into the leather of my center console lid though to try and replicate that design.
It fits into the existing cup holder and doesn't look terrible. Right now, my second cup holder closest to the main console is used to store my sunglasses/glasses. I think this cupholder charger would still allow me to put my glasses in there when if the phone was in there.
The second one is pretty cool, but cup holders are so valuable in this car that I couldn't imagine giving one up. It doesn't charge my phone, but I really like this on
I do have a magnetic dock that I clip to the vent. The phone then appears to rest on the little ledge in front of the clock. I do use this on long trips when I want to use the GPS. The navigation software Lexus uses is just terrible.
As for the cup holder charger I linked, it would go in the front cup holder, which only ever holds my sunglasses or glasses. In the 2 years I have had the ES 350 I have never used that cup holder for holding drinks. And I think with that cup holder charger there would still be enough room to store my sunglasses/glasses.
I do plan on trying the door hold cubby though first before I move on to alternative solutions. Lexus really needs to figure this out for their next generation of cars. I just watched a review of the new LS 500 and I didn't see any sort of wireless charging option for your phone.
Just an update. I got the DIY Qi charger in the mail today and ran some tests. A lot of information I read said you could get positive contact at a range of 5mm from charger to receiver. That's 3/16". I got nearly double that at a little over 9mm or nearly 3/8". That is a huge difference and I don't think there is any way that the plastic of the door mold is anywhere near that thick. I can push on the door mold and it has pretty significant give. If it were 3/8" or thicker there would be no give at all. There's also no reason for Lexus to make the plastic that thick. I would estimate it's about 1/8", maybe as thick as 1/4" inch.
This means that this idea of putting the Qi charger behind the door panel of the hand pull cubby should work. I will be popping the door mold off tomorrow to see if it works. I am pretty optimistic at this point.
The only downside I see is that I won't be able to see the phone screen as it is charging. However when you look at where most car manufacturers are putting their built in Qi chargers none of them are positioned in a fashion where you can see the screen while charging. When I use the maps app through the car bluetooth I am generally just listening to the directions and not looking at the actual map. On the rare occasion I need to see the map I can always pull it from the charger and look, then put it back in.
Just an update. I got the DIY Qi charger in the mail today and ran some tests. A lot of information I read said you could get positive contact at a range of 5mm from charger to receiver. That's 3/16". I got nearly double that at a little over 9mm or nearly 3/8". That is a huge difference and I don't think there is any way that the plastic of the door mold is anywhere near that thick. I can push on the door mold and it has pretty significant give. If it were 3/8" or thicker there would be no give at all. There's also no reason for Lexus to make the plastic that thick. I would estimate it's about 1/8", maybe as thick as 1/4" inch.
This means that this idea of putting the Qi charger behind the door panel of the hand pull cubby should work. I will be popping the door mold off tomorrow to see if it works. I am pretty optimistic at this point.
The only downside I see is that I won't be able to see the phone screen as it is charging. However when you look at where most car manufacturers are putting their built in Qi chargers none of them are positioned in a fashion where you can see the screen while charging. When I use the maps app through the car bluetooth I am generally just listening to the directions and not looking at the actual map. On the rare occasion I need to see the map I can always pull it from the charger and look, then put it back in.
Finally got a chance to give this an attempt tonight. The backside of the panel where I wanted to put the charger had some plastic reinforcing which I shaved down with my Dremel. I managed to get the charger working with the panel off so I then attempted to fish the usb cable from the center console to the door. There is an existing pathway for all the other electronic wiring for the door. It's a super tight squeeze but after some fiddling and a fish wire I got the cable through.
I ended up using real foil duct tape to affix the charger to the back of the panel. This stuff is super sticky and it held it in place perfectly. Putting the door panel back on the door was a pain in the ***. Those removal clips are just about the worst design as they kept falling off when I tried to put the door on. The only reason they're not the worst is because the door light clip is even worse. If you look at that clip wrong, it falls off and then you need to disconnect the electronics and the locking mechanism. And since the cable for that light is very short it can only be reattached in the most awkward position.
The first time I got the door back on and tested the charger it didn't work. Upon inspection I realized the usb cable had come loose. Commence taking the panel back off and reattaching the cable. I tested it with the panel off and the charger wouldn't work. Had to take the entire charger off the back of the panel to see what was wrong. It looked fine so I reattached the charger and put the panel back on. Charger still wouldn't work. I played with it for probably an hour and then I couldn't ever get it working again. The end of the micro USB cable seemed like it was broken even though it didn't look like it.
I tested the USB cable on another device and it wouldn't work. I also tested the Qi charger with another USB cable and it wouldn't work either. This is where I gave up. It previously took me about 45 minutes to snake the USB cable through the car and the Qi charger I had obviously wasn't that good and somehow I must have damaged it with all my fiddling. Since I didn't have another Qi charger I threw in the towel.
I took everything I added out and reattached the door panel, or at least tried. Those removable clips are terrible as is the clip for the light. I actually ended up gluing them into the panel. Perhaps there is some reason they are not permanently attached to the panel but I couldn't think of any reason other than cheaper and easier for Lexus. After I finally got the door panel back on I noticed a space at the top between the panel and the window. Comparing the driver's side to passenger's side I can see the panel isn't on correctly. I watched a few videos and realized that there is at least 1 of those stupid clips that was stuck in the door that I missed. So tomorrow I will have to take the door off again to fix this.
Conclusion: giant waste of time. There just isn't a good place to put a wireless charger in the gen 6 ES.
03-01-15, 09:33 PM
2013 ES350 Where Place a Wireless Qi Charger?
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