Where are the Qi2 Android phones?
Samsung’s new Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 are reportedly impressive pieces of hardware. They’re the South Korean giant’s most refined foldable phones yet. But despite the improvements (and $100 price increases over last year’s models), they’re still missing what I think should have been a standard feature on a $1,000-plus phone in 2024: Qi2.
The next iteration of wireless charging, Qi2, was first publicly announced in early 2023. The new standard will support faster charging speeds and may take advantage of the “Magnetic Power Profile.” Based in part on Apple’s MagSafe system, which has been in iPhones since 2020’s iPhone 12, this profile uses magnets to align wireless chargers for safer, more efficient charging.
Samsung phones have supported at least some of what’s now standard with Qi2, the 15W wireless charging speed (which Samsung has branded on its devices as “Fast Wireless Charging 2.0”) for years. But the bigger advantage of the new standard is in the magnets.
Using this profile would not only give Samsung devices access to a world of new MagSafe-like accessories, but the phones would also charge much more efficiently.
“These certified Qi2 chargers deliver smoother, faster charging that is more energy efficient and offers broad interoperability,” Paul Struhsaker, executive director of the industry group Wireless Power Consortium, said in a statement late last year when announcement that the first devices have completed certification testingQi2 accessories have been on the market since last year’s holidays.
Not having the Galaxy S24 series from earlier this year ready for Qi2 isn’t an easy sell, but I can at least potentially hear an argument for it. Phones take a while to design, develop, and manufacture, and perhaps the lead time was too tight for Samsung to get it done in time for its early 2024 flagships.
That’s less true for me about the new foldable phones, since their announcement came five months later, or almost 18 months after the WPC publicly unveiled the Qi2. (Samsung, like Apple and Google, is a WPC member and has a seat on the board of directors (so their contribution to the standard probably dates from much earlier).
CNET has reached out to Samsung for comment and will provide an update if they respond.
As perhaps the most prominent smartphone manufacturer outside of Apple, Samsung’s absence from Qi2 more than a year after the standard’s announcement is notable , but the company is not alone. Motorola’s new Razrs also appear to miss out on the benefits of Qi2, as do recent devices from OnePlus . So far, the most notable fully Qi2-compatible device (with support for magnetic charging) is likely HMD’s new $500 Skyline.
Yes, there are cases of third parties from different manufacturers such as Pitaka, Dbrand and others that let you add magnets to use MagSafe-like accessories for a wide variety of Android phones. But these should all be built into the expensive device you’re buying, not something you have to buy again.
Some Galaxy S24 Ultra owners even reported issues where third-party cases would interfere with the S Pen stylus’ communication with the device. Samsung could prevent such issues by integrating proper Qi2 support.
It’s a shame that Android makers have been so slow to embrace what seems like a win for consumers. Hopefully Google surprises us by including the feature in the next wave of Pixels in August and finally bringing this feature to the Android masses.
