“Qi2 Ready” will allow phones to bypass internal magnets

The whole appeal of the Qi2 standard is that magnets can be added to the device to improve charger alignment, speed, and open the door to a ton of additional accessories. But “Qi2 Ready” is coming now, and it could result in the flip of a switch.

Qi2 was announced as the first major update to the world’s biggest wireless charging standard in 2023, and the big news was Apple effectively donating MagSafe to the new industry standard. Naturally, the expectation was that Android phones would adopt Qi2 and work similarly to the latest iPhones, with magnetic accessories connecting via magnets built into the phone.

Unfortunately, two years later, we’re still not there, as only one Android phone hasn’t adopted Qi2.

Qi2 officially requires devices to have magnets that say “Qi2,” otherwise they can only say they have “Qi,” like Samsung’s Galaxy Ring does, even if Qi v2.0 is the base standard. After some confusion about this branding, it was finally clarified recently.

But now the WPC is making a mess again. a press release At CES 2025, updates to the Qi2 standard were announced, including Samsung will adopt the technology in Galaxy devices while Google works to improve speeds. There are also “extensions” for Qi2, including “Qi2 Ready”.

WPC explains:

The growth of the Qi2 ecosystem will continue with the introduction of Qi2 Ready certified devices. These devices – accessories such as smartphones and bags – deliver the full Qi2 user experience when combined in approved combinations.

In other words, “Qi2 Ready” devices will be officially compatible with Qi2 accessories using “approved combinations” of accessories such as smartphones and cases.

This will officially allow device makers to skip built-in magnets and instead offer the feature to users via a case or other accessory when packing their device. technically It’s ready for the Qi2, though it goes straight back to the brand WPC previously established. The timing of this makes sense, as does Samsung rumored to use Qi2 compatibility instead of placing the magnets in the device itself.

On the plus side, having an official means of confirming that cases work with Qi2 devices will prevent the semi-common compatibility issues we see with third-party versions of these cases today. However, this will likely lead to Android manufacturers abandoning built-in magnets to instead offer Qi2 functionality at an additional cost through first-party accessories. It’s not clear how third-party work will be affected here, given that the combination of devices and accessories needs to be “verified”.

What do you think of this change to the Qi2?

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