I have not been quiet about the fact that I want to see Qi2 wireless charging appear on Android phones. Partly for the extra charging benefits coming with the new standard, but also because of the magnetic ring. Perfect charging alignment, and the opportunity to use magnetic accessories, like the best iPhones have been able to enjoy thanks to MagSafe.
Now in comes the OnePlus 13, which offers magnetic wireless charging… of sorts. Rather than offering Qi2, or building regular magnets into the phone, OnePlus has taken a different approach. It’s offering an official magnetic case, and a new AirVOCC magnetic wireless charger. It’s clearly trying to be like Qi2 without actually being Qi2 — and it doesn’t work.
OnePlus had the opportunity to make up for its past wireless charging transgressions with OnePlus 13. But instead it botched things in the most OnePlus way imaginable.
OnePlus and wireless charging don’t have a good history
When it comes to wireless charging, OnePlus was always something of an outlier. And by outlier, I mean it stubbornly insisted that wireless charging wasn’t worth having in the years after it became ubiquitous on every other premium smartphone. Excuses I heard from OnePlus reps included claims that users weren’t asking for it, or that the wireless charging speeds had to be as good as wired charging before it would be included. Which are both very strange excuses.
The first OnePlus phone to actually feature wireless charging was the OnePlus 8 Pro, which launched in April 2020. But despite the fact OnePlus released two additional flagship phones that year, the Pro was the only one to feature wireless charging. The following year both the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro offered wireless charging capabilities, which stuck around for 2022’s OnePlus 10 Pro. Then 2023 rolled around and the OnePlus 11 arrived with wired-only charging — much to my own chagrin.
So far wireless charging seems to be sticking around, with both OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 13 offering Qi wireless charging and 50W speeds. Really all the company needed to do to keep fans content was not have a repeat of the OnePlus 11, and leave wireless charging as it was for a year or two. People might have hoped for Qi2 to arrive at some point, though given OnePlus’s history I doubt many of them expected it.
Qi2 was the chance for OnePlus to change its relationship with wireless charging
In theory there would be nothing stopping OnePlus from adding Qi2 to the OnePlus 13. HMD already utilized it in the HMD Skyline, and Samsung is widely expected to offer Qi2 in the Galaxy S25 series. Officially, though, OnePlus says heat management issues stand in the way of happening, which I guess is a reasonably good reason to be cautious.
As much as I have complained about Google not offering Qi2 on Pixel 9, and then making up weird excuses, I wouldn’t have had a problem with OnePlus ignoring the technology. It’s pretty clear OnePlus as a whole isn’t that keen on wireless charging, and I wouldn’t expect it to change its tune anytime soon. So I figured Qi2 on a OnePlus flagship wouldn’t happen for another couple of years. Or at least, not until after all the other major Android phonemakers got onboard.
But imagine if OnePlus had included Qi2? Considering there’s only one Qi2 smartphone sale right now (MagSafe iPhones don’t count), it would have sent a message that the company is fully on board with wireless charging now — despite its past transgressions. OnePlus thinks wireless charging is cool now, and it’s proving that by upgrading everything before all the major players.
Of course that didn’t actually happen. Instead we got this weird half-measure, with magnets in the back of an official case while Qi2 is still just out of reach.
I’m fine with magnetic cases, but they shouldn’t have to exist
I have no issue with accessory companies making magnetic cases to facilitate some level of fake Qi2 and MagSafe compatibility. In fact I'm very grateful that they are available. Utilizing magnets instead of alternatives like adhesive or grips is really convenient, seeing as how everything snaps into place immediately. Not to mention the fact that you can remove and replace those accessories with minimal effort.
But those cases are a stop gap, a solution to the fact that a lot of phones still don’t have their own integrated magnets. This allows users to reap the benefits, without having to necessarily purchase an iPhone. All while phone makers are (hopefully) working to construct phones with that technology built in on the assembly line.
There is a reason why these cases previously only came from third parties. It looks incredibly weird that a phone maker would launch official magnetic cases of their own. They’re the ones in charge of building the phones, so if magnets are on the agenda they should be part of the phone – even if it’s not a true Qi2 experience. It’s extremely odd that OnePlus would offer its own official magnetic case, when it is the one with all the power to make that case totally obsolete.
It’s not as though magnetic cases for existing OnePlus phones are hard to come by. In my days of owning a OnePlus phone I did find it challenging to find accessories and cases that I liked, because there wasn’t as much choice available compared to iPhones or Samsung Galaxys. There were still a lot of options, and a quick search on Amazon reveals that there are magnetic cases available dating as far back as the OnePlus 7. So it’s not like OnePlus needed to step in and offer something its users wouldn’t otherwise be able to enjoy.
As much as I can appreciate the existence of a magnetic Qi2 or MagSafe-compatible phone case, they really shouldn’t exist. If we’re going to have magnetic phones then the phones themselves should be magnetic. Assuming that phone makers are willing to get off their butts and make it happen.
But by jumping on the magnetic case bandwagon, it almost feels as though OnePlus is championing the status quo. Which is so typical of OnePlus and its attitudes to wireless charging.
Bottom line
I wasn’t expecting OnePlus to add Qi2 to the OnePlus 13. Experience tells me that there’s no point in expecting the company to adopt major wireless charging innovations quickly. The company could easily have carried on as normal and nobody would have thought too much of it, because that’s just what OnePlus does — regardless of the opportunity early Qi2 adoption could have offered.
Frankly, if OnePlus wasn’t going to go all the way, then it should have stayed exactly where it was. It’s just extremely weird that it would start offering what are essentially bootleg Qi2 and MagSafe accessories in the interim. It’s a market that will exist as long as it’s required, with third party accessory makers seemingly having everything under control without needing official versions to try and make their presence known.
OnePlus can and should do better. But until then, bring on the actual Qi2 phones. Hopefully starting with the Galaxy S25.
