Your smartphone has many uses, but chances are you’re not aware that you can turn it into a power bank and charge other devices. The feature goes by the name of Reverse Charging and is available on several devices, including various Android models and iPhones. Find out how you can turn your smartphone into a power bank.
Good to know: check these tips on how to expand your iPhone’s battery life.
Reverse Charging on Smartphones
Reverse Charging is a feature that allows smartphones to double as power banks, enabling the charging of other devices via USB or wireless connections.
Equipped with a coil, these smartphones generate an electromagnetic field, enabling energy transfer to the coil of a compatible device when placed on their back. Wired reverse charging, on the other hand, relies on a USB port and a suitable cable to establish a connection with the device being charged.
As noted above, not all mobile devices have this ability. You’ll find reverse charging of the wireless variety in select higher-end Android phones, as well as models featuring large battery packs. As for iOS devices, Apple offers USB reverse charging for iPhone 15 and above models.
Reverse Charging can be a useful feature to have if you don’t have a charging cable at hand and one of your devices is running out of juice. It can also allow you to potentially help a friend in need, who might need just enough battery to call a cab and get home safely.
Using Reverse Charging on Android
For the article, I’ll be using a Google Pixel 8 phone to demonstrate how to turn on reverse charging. However, devices from Huawei/Honor, OnePlus, Xiaomi, and more come with similar features. It might have a different name, but it achieves the same thing.
On your Pixel device, open the Settings app. Navigate and press on the Battery option.
Select Battery Share from the options available.
Switch on the toggle next to Use Battery Share at the top.
That’s it, you can now place Qi-certified earbuds, phones, and more on the back of your Pixel and they will start charging. For better charging, Google advises you to remove the phone’s charging case or any metallic or magnetic attachments from the back of your device.
I recommend setting a battery percentage for when Battery Share turns off. You can use the slider underneath the toggle to set it anywhere between 10% to 50%. Once the battery reaches this level, Battery Share turns off automatically.
You can also opt to enable the Turn on automatically option, which enables Battery Share briefly every time your phone is plugged into the charger.
Tip: these Android apps will notify you when your smartphone’s battery is full.
Using Reverse Charging on Samsung Smartphones
If you have a Samsung phone, the reverse charge feature is called Wireless power sharing.
On your device, go to Settings -> Battery.
You should see the option just below Charging settings.
Turn on the toggle at the top to enable the feature.
Now you can start charging your Qi-compatible devices. Samsung notes that wireless charging will stop if/when you receive a call, make a call, or use the camera.
You can also set a battery limit for when your phone will start charging the other device. You’ll find the option at the bottom.
Tip: you can also set your iPhone to notify you when it reaches 80%. Here’s how.
Using Reverse Charging on iPhone
If you own an iPhone, you might be curious whether it supports reverse charging. The good news is that it does – but only on the iPhone 15 or newer models. Additionally, this feature is currently available only as a wired reverse charging option.
With the iPhone 15 series, Apple switched to USB-C ports instead of its traditional lighting ports. This change has enabled the adoption of wired reverse charging capabilities on these models.
Compared to the wireless reverse charging options on Android, the weird method on iPhone supports a faster charging speed of up to 4.5 watts via a dual USB-C cable. You can power up accessories such as earphones, smartwatches, or even another smartphone.
You’ll need a dual USB-C cable to get started. Connect the two devices together via the cable. The other device should automatically start powering from your iPhone.
Unlike on the Pixel, you don’t need to turn any battery-specific feature on before you can start charging your other devices. It will start automatically.
Keep in mind that using reverse battery charging to fuel other devices might drain your phone’s battery life more quickly than what you’re used to. With this in mind, proceed to get up to speed on how to limit Android charging to 80% and other optimization. At the same time, check this overview of several mobile fast charging protocols.
All images & screenshots by Alexandra Arici
