Wireless charging is common on premium smartphones released over the past few years, but one hold-out on this trend has been OnePlus. Lacking the ability to wirelessly charge isn’t much of a problem for many users, and OnePlus has always maintained that it always wanted the fastest possible charging option for its phones, which wireless tech couldn’t provide.
But it looks like OnePlus is changing its tune. If you look at the membership page for the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), you’ll now see that OnePlus is now listed, alongside other major smartphone makers like Apple, Samsung, Huawei and more. Android Police was first to report this news.
The WPC is the group of companies responsible for managing the Qi wireless charging standard, the main standard for mobile devices. Being part of the group allows you access to this technology and therefore the ability to put a compatible transmitter or receiver on your company’s products.
OnePlus’ most recent phones, the OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro, don’t have wireless charging, but both use glass backs. Non-metal backs are necessary for wireless charging, so it always looked like despite the company’s statements to the contrary, it has been preparing to implement wireless charging for some time.
Charge like a pro. pic.twitter.com/Fqnkpsa0mTJanuary 21, 2020
There had been some suggestion that OnePlus’ next phones, the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro (some unofficial renders of which we’ve seen already), would have wireless charging, based on a tweet by leaker Max J (embedded above). The fact that OnePlus has just now joined the WPC could mean it’s already been working on adding wireless charging, in which case we could indeed see it on this year’s OnePlus handsets.
However, it could also mean that this is just the first step in OnePlus’ wireless ambitions, and that it will be a year or two before we see wireless charging on its phones. We're betting on 2020 and the OnePlus 8.
