The new Samsung Eco Remote is recharged with radio waves from Wi-Fi routers

The Samsung Eco Remote, already rechargeable by light thanks to a small solar panel, wins this year the recharge by radio waves to definitively dispense with the cable.

Last year, Samsung’s higher-end televisions, such as the Samsung Neo Qled QE65QN95A — already on board the Samsung Eco Remote equipped with a small photovoltaic panel to transform light into energy to recharge the batteries. We had already come across this concept in 2010 on tested television Philips 42PFL6805H Econova, whose process has proven its effectiveness since this zappette always works without having to use batteries.

Wi-Fi wave absorption

For 2022, Samsung is evolving its Eco Remote by introducing new technology that transforms radio waves from Wi-Fi routers into energy to recharge the remote’s built-in battery. Samsung does not communicate about the effectiveness of this technology and the absorption rate of Wi-Fi waves to increase the battery level, but this remote also preserves the solar panel. The two technologies combined should allow the remote control to be independent of an external power source for the life of the product. As a last resort, the remote still has a USB-C port for direct battery recharging.

The efficiency of this radio wave conversion technology is unknown, but it is assumed to be very low, so it is restricted to simple applications, such as a remote control that is not infrequently used during the day. However, this technology opens up new perspectives for home automation applications. All small sensors, such as door opening detectors, motion sensors, occupancy sensors or wireless switches, could work without recharging or changing batteries.

Wireless and remote charging

Last year, Xiaomi presented the Mi Air Charge, a very large wireless charger capable of charging various electronic devices, including smartphones up to 5W, from several meters away thanks to the use of 144 antennas, but the latter was only an undated output prototype. The Samsung Eco Remote 2022 seems to be the first consumer product to integrate this new wave charging technology and we are looking forward to testing it next April and the launch of the new South Korean brand televisions.