Nearly two years ago, a breakthrough in wireless charging technology was promised, when the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) unveiled the (then) upcoming Qi2 wireless charging standard.
With Apple’s blessing, this essentially introduced MagSafe-style charging technology to Android phones, if manufacturers decided to make them compatible.
It turns out that was a massive “if," and the seeming slam dunk hasn’t happened. As 9to5Google notes, just a single Android phone uses Qi2 so far (the HMD Skyline) and even Google snubbed the technology with the recent Pixel 9, claiming — somewhat nonsensically — that there are no tangible benefits to be had over Qi1.
That felt like a watershed moment: if Google — the custodian of the Android operating system — doesn’t see the point in Qi2, then why would any manufacturer bother?
But there may still be hope. According to @Jukanlosreve on X, the reliable leaker Ice Universe has suggested that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 series will include Qi2 support.
A quick caveat: another X post states that Ice Universe made the claim in a private direct message on Weibo, so do take this rumors with a pinch of salt. That said, Samsung does like to throw the kitchen sink at its high-end devices in terms of features, so it wouldn’t be entirely surprising.
The only other detail shared was that this would be capped at 15W — which is no surprise, given that’s the speed that the WPC agreed for Qi2-certified chargers back in January 2023.
An Android game changer
As long-time Tom’s Guide readers may remember, after 13 years of Android, I made the switch back to iOS in 2022 with a (then) shiny iPhone 14 Pro. I’m still using it today, and although I said I wasn’t planning on getting any accessories, this photo clearly shows that I am, ultimately, quite a weak person.
The picture shows the corner of my desk where a Belkin 3-in-1 MagSafe Charger lives, with spots for an Apple Watch, AirPods and the aforementioned iPhone. My iPhone magically levitates above the base thanks to the MagSafe magnets.
I love this charger, and I love MagSafe as a feature. I’d used wireless charging before, of course, but found it a fairly miserable experience. After awkwardly shuffling my phone millimeter by millimeter until it charged, I’d come back later to find it had just stopped working at some point, leaving my handset half charged.
This hasn’t been a problem with MagSafe. As a freelancer who spends at least a few hours per day at this desk, I don’t even keep a charger by my bed anymore. I just dock the phone while I’m working, safe in the knowledge that it’ll have hit 100% by the time I’m done. I can even put it in landscape mode, so it displays a neat clock thanks to StandBy Mode introduced in iOS 17.
Android users are missing out on this little pleasure and plenty more. As our UK phones editor, Tom Prichard, points out, the magnets aren’t just good for charging: Qi2 could bring about a golden age of useful accessories, like car phone mounts and tripods.
Hopefully, this rumor is correct and Samsung will be the first big phone maker to introduce Qi2 to a flagship phone. If the company is, it could well open the floodgates to the kind of user-friendly change that the WPC promised nearly two years ago.
