It turns out Qi2 doesn’t require magnets, but that kind of defeats the purpose.

What you need to know

• The main attraction of the Wireless Power Consortium’s new Qi2 charging standard is the Magnetic Power Profile (MPP).
• MPP allows Qi2-equipped devices to connect with magnetic accessories, including those that support MagSafe, such as chargers, wallets, cases, and more.
• However, it has been revealed that the devices do not No They have to support the MPP to obtain Qi2 certification, which creates a confusing situation.

It’s odd that Apple would basically gift wrap a patented technology to give to the entire industry like the company did when it gave MagSafe to the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) for inclusion in The Qi2 specificationI wonder what you think of that decision now that the WPC, Android device makers, and accessory makers have seemingly ruined what should have been a monumental launch for Qi2.

We know that basically all devices that charge wirelessly use the Qi charging standard, except for a few categories like smartwatches. Qi2 is WPC’s next-generation wireless charging specification and offers some interesting improvements. The standard increases the maximum wireless charging speed from 7.5W to 15W and, more importantly, includes the Magnetic Power Profile (MPP).

Or so we thought.

The MPP can be considered an open source version of Apple’s proprietary magnetic connection system. This means that devices that support Qi2 and the MPP, by extension, could Connect to MagSafe chargers and other accessoriesQi2 and MPP have been talked about interchangeably in the run-up to the standard’s release. Since the WPC charges a lump sum to view the specification in its entirety (a fee of about $18,000), we all assumed that Qi2 always It ships with the MPP, but that is not the case.

Android expert Mishaal Rahman points out that Qi2 and MPP are in fact separated into a mail on X (formerly Twitter). Previously, it was thought that a device or accessory needed to support MPP to qualify for Qi2 specification. However, Rahman’s discovery confirms that devices and accessories can feature Qi2 branding due to their support for 15W wireless charging without magnets.

Rahman is linked to a Press release from the WPC that clearly lays out how Qi, Qi2 MPP, and the Qi2 Extended Power Profile (EPP) will be used in the future. Qi is the EPP standard we’re used to, with wireless charging speeds of up to 7.5W. Devices and accessories that use the Qi2 specification with the MPP included can use the sleek new Qi2 logo to indicate their magnetic capabilities. According to the WPC, devices and accessories that meet Qi2 requirements rather than EPP “will be branded with the existing Qi logo that consumers know and use today.”

If this is how the WPC is handling the Qi2 implementation and certification process (the linked press release is from November 2023, and there’s some uncertainty as to whether things have changed since then), there are pros and cons to its approach. It’s good to know that if you see that Qi2 logo with the ring around it, you can be confident that your device supports both Qi2 charging speeds and has magnets. However, the original Qi spec has been complicated in the process, as it could support either 7.5W or 15W charging speeds, and there’s no way to tell which from the logo.

Android Central reached out to the Wireless Power Consortium for clarification on Qi2 certification requirements and the logos currently in use. We did not receive a response in time for publication, but we will update this article when we receive one.

I really hope companies don’t ruin Qi2 by neglecting the magnetic power profile.

As someone who has been Following MagSafe (and later Qi2) on Android For years, this development has completely perplexed me. Why does the WPC allow manufacturers to certify their devices for Qi2 without including magnets? It’s completely unnecessary. Yes, it’s true that Qi2 is about more than just magnets, especially when you consider the 15W charging speed. However, the 7.5W limitation hasn’t stopped companies from offering faster charging speeds in the past on their own – just look at what OnePlus has done with fast charging on its phones.

If the reason the WPC allowed Qi2 devices using the EPP was because it couldn’t allow Qi-branded devices to offer more than 7.5W, that doesn’t make much sense either. Qi2 products without magnets are still required to use the old Qi logo anyway, so what’s the point? This didn’t have to be confusing, and now it is.

Today, the vast majority of Qi2-compatible products include the MPP and are therefore compatible with MagSafe. If companies do the right thing and add magnets to Qi2 chargers and accessories, the fact that the specification doesn’t explicitly require them will become a small asterisk in the history of what should be a great standard. However, we have little reason to think that companies will do the right thing. For whatever reason, we haven’t seen a Flagship Android Phone Shipped with Qi2 holder: the HMD Horizon He’s the only one who does it.

In short, the Qi2 launch has been a disaster so far. Both Google and Samsung had numerous opportunities to add the standard to their smartphones, and they didn’t. We may have given Samsung a chance when it launched the Galaxy S24 series in early 2024 and the Galaxy Z series this summer. But what’s Google’s excuse for not including it in the Google Pixel 9 lineup?

I don’t know why there aren’t more phones with Qi2, and I don’t know why magnets aren’t needed. The goal of Qi2 was to offer the MagSafe experience on Android and other platforms, but no one seems really interested in making that a reality, at least not in 2024.