I am looking for a good quality Qi charging module (AKA transmitter) that includes PCB and coil. There are lots of them out there but reviews are pretty brutal. I found one at Adafruit which could work for me but the PCB is big and it’s pretty expensive compared to all the others. I want it to work with cell phones - I’m making a phone holder for a vehicle that will also charge - without having to fiddle with USB connectors.
Does anyone have suggestions for known good Qi charging modules? Small PCB is good. Bonus if it works well with Apple devices. 5W limit is fine.
Is this like a one off thing or for a product? I guess in either case, your best bet would be to shop on amazon, buy a few products and find one that you like. Then take it apart and find the IC it uses. Then go on aliexpress and search for a module that uses that same IC. Or find said IC on LCSC/Ali and build your own.
Most of these things end up being spins of reference designs from Chinese ASSP companies. At least the cheap (but still pretty useful) ones.
This is a one-off but I might publish the project. I was hoping someone has a favorite Qi module they use - not a full charger as I want to embed it in a 3D printed phone holder and the commercially sold chargers are kind of big. It may well come down to me taking one apart for the guts - not my preferred approach, though.