Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What is Qi and who controls the standard?
What are the Qi2 and 2.1 standards?
Which phone makers support magnetic charging?
Which phone currently has the fastest wireless charging?
Samsung wasn’t the first phone maker to adopt wireless charging, but it was the first to make it widely available in its flagship phones. Starting with the Galaxy S5, each Samsung flagship featured wireless charging integrated into the phone itself, and Apple continued the trend with the launch of the iPhone two years later.
However, wireless charging has not improved much since then, and companies have sought individual approaches. Apple launched the MagSafe standard five years ago, and the next generation of wireless charging standards was announced three years later.
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It promised to bring the best of MagSafe to all phones, but much like the original promise of wireless charging, it hasn’t quite worked out that way. Over 300 companies agreed to the standards of Qi2, and two years later, we have yet to see a phone properly support it.
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Like USB-C, there are competing speeds, specifications, and approaches, all of which conform to Qi charging standards but do little to ensure there’s consistency. This is why even Samsung and Apple’s support can fix the mess that is Qi charging.
What is Qi and who controls the standard?
Tushar Mehta / Digital Trends
Qi is the universal standard for wireless charging that over 300 companies have agreed to. While some companies also take individual approaches, any phone you buy that’s equipped with wireless charging will almost certainly support the Qi standard.
Much like the USB-C standard for wired charging, Qi is designed to ensure that there’s broad compatibility between different devices and the plethora of wireless charging accessories available. While it achieves that at its core, this approach has had its problems.
The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) has been trying to evolve the standard with its members, but can you imagine the state of those conversations? 300 different companies, each with its own vision and desire to be involved in helping to shape the wireless charging standard.
Unsurprisingly, we haven’t had any conformity beyond the basic standard, even with companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google involved in shaping the standard. The hope was that Qi2 would solve this, but two years later, it hasn’t rolled out as quickly or as widely as we all hoped.
What are the Qi2 and 2.1 standards?
The magnet on the Galaxy S25 Ultra magnetic wireless charging cover Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
The main appeal of Qi2 in its current form is the addition of magnets for charging alignment. This is through the addition of the Magnetic Power Profile (MPP), which is based on Apple’s MagSafe charging standard. Essentially, it means that Qi2-compatible devices can add a ring of magnets to ensure the phone aligns perfectly with the charger. It’s essentially the same as MagSafe, and there’s expected to be cross-compatibility between MagSafe and the best Qi2 chargers.
Then there are those chargers that support the Extended Power Profile, which meets the specifications for Qi2 but the manufacturer has opted against including magnets. This should mean some support for faster speeds, but these devices won’t be billed as, or feature, the Qi2 logo. Think of this as the entry-level to Qi2 charging.
So far, that’s easy to understand, but the current implementation of Qi2 by phone makers has led to a third level, and I suspect it’ll prove to be the most popular. Like the three different frequency bands for 5G — low-band, mid-band, and high-band (mmWave) — the three tiers of Qi2 will likely see most companies opt to promote “Qi2-Ready” devices soon.
Which phone makers support magnetic charging?
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Qi2-Ready devices essentially mean that the device doesn’t contain magnets, but you can add these via a third-party case. The Galaxy S25 series are Qi2-Ready which essentially means they’re billed as Qi devices, but you use a certified Qi2 Ready case with a Qi2 Ready charger to effectively get the same benefits of Qi2.
I reviewed the Galaxy S25 Ultra Magnetic Charging Cover and while it’s a great addition if you care about wireless charging — and you have a compatible charger — it doesn’t achieve the other expected benefit of Qi2 charging: faster speeds. However, this could be due to the long lead cycle of phone development, but as OnePlus has shown, it’s possible to add everything.
OnePlus 13 with Sandstone case and wireless charging insert Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The OnePlus 13 features Oppo’s 50W AirVOOC wireless charging, which brings all the benefits of Qi2 charging without the official certification. Magnets in the case keep it aligned to your phone, and the superfast charger even has a fan to ensure maximum efficiency, and to cool your phone. The result is that it wirelessly charges the phone to full in 70 minutes, which is almost three times the speed of the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s wireless charging.
Qi2 was eventually meant to offer improved charging speeds, but so far, all devices only charge at the maximum 15W except for the iPhone 16 series. Thanks to Apple’s tight integration of its ecosystem and accessories, the iPhone 16 series supports MagSafe charging, which offers 25W wireless charging speeds.
Tushar Mehta / Digital Trends
The latest MagSafe and the faster charging speeds are limited to just Apple’s latest iPhones, although the new iPhone 16e doesn’t support MagSafe charging. Much like the original introduction of MagSafe, only the latest iPhone has faster wireless charging speeds, and it’s unlike this model will change soon.
Which phone currently has the fastest wireless charging?
OnePlus AirVOOC 50W charger attached to a OnePlus 13 Tushar Mehta / Digital Trends
One of the benefits of the Qi standard is that all phones ultimately face the same limitations, but we’re already seeing companies take proprietary approaches and use the Qi standard as the fallback. Samsung opted to let someone else build the charging infrastructure, so it’s Qi2-Ready and only supports 15W charging when paired with devices like the Galaxy S25 Plus.
Then there’s Oppo and OnePlus. Both use the same AirVOOC charging solution that offers 50W charging when paired with the official case. I’ve tested the Find X8 Pro and the OnePlus 13, and both are exceptionally fast when charged wirelessly. Although neither of these is Qi2-certified, both should work fine with any magnetic charger, although you’ll need the official 50W AirVOOC charger to get the full speeds.
Qi2 offered much promise to every phone maker adhering to a single standard for magnetic wireless charging, but it has so far failed to live up to its promise. It will likely take Samsung incorporating it into a future handset for more companies to also want to follow, and that’s unlikely for at least another year, if not longer.
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