If you’ve been following the onslaught of gadget news out of Berlin this week, you’ve no doubt heard the Qi2 popping up more than once. It is worth noting that Anker and Mophie have announced products that adopt this standard.
So, [Seinfeld voice] What’s the deal with Qi2? Should you care and can the sequel be better than the original? To answer the last two questions first, most likely and definitely. Qi is more than just a simple upgrade to the ubiquitous wireless charging standard.
You’re probably well aware of the Qi gen one technology, which — believe it or not — has been floating around since Obama’s first year in office (Hope, Change, Wireless Charging). Nokia has officially adopted it for the Lumia 920 — Nokia-Nokia, not HMD Nokia. Windows Phone 8 Nokia. Samsung quickly followed suit with the Galaxy S3. This standard was well established in the Android world by the time Apple adopted it for the iPhone 8.
Qi has displaced most of the competition on both devices and accessories. It is now common to see it integrated into furniture in public spaces where people sit for a long time. According to the Wireless Power Consortium, there are more than 9,000 Qi-certified products currently on sale.
Fifteen years after the original debuted, Qi is set to arrive in Q4, first via third-party accessories. WPC has promoted improved energy efficiency – meaning less energy is lost in the charging process.
Image credits: Wireless Energy Consortium
However, for most users, the most important upgrade is the Magnetic Power Coil. This means that – in order to be approved – manufacturers need to add a magnetic lock. One reason Qi lacks efficiency is that it can be difficult to make a device fully compatible with charging. However, adding magnets to the device and charger means it will stay in place.
Think MagSafe for the iPhone, but across devices. In other words, we expect a lot of Android devices to get their version of MagSafe in the coming years. Despite Apple’s initial delay in adopting it, the safe money is that the iPhone 15 has become one of the first phones on the market to support Qi 2 (maybe Apple will call it “MagSafe 2”, who knows?).
“Qi2 will enable the development of faster wireless charging while ensuring that the process remains safe, will not reduce battery life and will not damage the receiver,” the consortium wrote. “Qi2 will enable new products to be created in other ways as well. The magnetic lock feature will support new product form factors, such as an AR/VR headset. It will also support new types of accessories that attach magnetically to the back of the phone, such as an extra battery.”
Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Google, and Microsoft are among the 344 companies currently participating in the consortium, so expect this thing to roll out quickly. The new standard will be backward compatible, although pairing a Qi2 device with a Qi2 charger will be the quickest/most efficient.