It’s ironic, but we at WIRED have long been fans of wireless charging. Not having to deal with cables is great! Most wireless charging devices today follow the Qi (pronounced chee) standard, which has been slow to become ubiquitous (the user experience hasn’t always been great). The Wireless Power Consortium, which manages the charging protocol, announced the next-generation version called Qi2 in early 2023, and we’re finally starting to see devices that support it. It promises seamless alignment, with the potential for accessories to bridge the gap between Android and iPhone.
Unfortunately, Qi2 hasn’t been rolled out as quickly or as widely as we’d hoped this year. As of August 2024, there’s only one Qi2-certified Android phone, the HMD Skyline (6/10, WIRED review), and we were surprised to find that it didn’t work with some older Qi chargers. Is Qi2 falling apart?
Updated August 2024: We added details on Qi2 adoption, clarification on the different certification options, and the unwelcome news that some Qi2 devices cannot be charged with Qi chargers.
What is Qi2?
Photography: Simon Hill
Qi2 is the new open wireless charging standard of the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), and brings significant improvements over the original Qi standard. The main new feature is the Magnetic Power Profile (MPP), which is based on Apple’s MagSafe technology (Apple was involved in the development of the Qi2 standard). This allows Qi2-branded devices to add a ring of magnets to ensure perfect alignment with chargers and enable faster charging speeds.
There is another standard, the Extended Power Profile (EPP) for non-magnetic wireless charging. This has led to Some confusionAccording to WPC’s Paul Golden, EPP refers to a device that meets the specification but is not officially Qi2 and therefore cannot use the logo or be referred to as a Qi2 device. Golden told WIRED in an email that such devices “would bear the Qi logo, not Qi2, and the packaging and/or marketing materials have a mandatory statement that the device does not contain magnets. Any device labeled as Qi2 is MPP and must include magnets.”
Qi2 is also fully backwards compatible, so you can charge an older Qi-enabled Android phone or an iPhone with MagSafe on a Qi2 charger. We’ve tested several, and this appears to be true. We were also expecting any older Qi charger to charge Qi2 devices, albeit at slower speeds, but it turns out that’s not true. The HMD Skyline, for example, didn’t work with several older Qi chargers we tested, and it seems this may be normal. We’ll have to wait for more Qi2 phones to find out, but with heavyweights like Google and Samsung not adopting Qi2 in their latest flagships, it may be a while.
Benefits of Qi2
Photography: Simon Hill
Qi2 wireless charging brings several improvements over the original Qi standard.