OPINION: MagSafe is undoubtedly one of the key selling points of the iPhone experience; the magnetic attachment capabilities mean it’s not only a breeze to charge your phone using a MagSafe charger, but it also makes it easier to dock your iPhone in a car, attach it to camera accessories and much more.
It’s why, as a primarily Android user over the past few years, I was so excited when Apple joined forces with the Wireless Power Consortium to work on the Qi2 standard – essentially an open-source version of Apple’s proprietary tech with many of the same benefits, including support for magnetic accessories, for Android phones.
This isn’t just good news for Android owners wanting to emulate the iPhone experience, but it also puts Android and iOS accessories on a level playing field – and that makes for a rather nice change compared to the fractured way the accessory market has operated until now.
The reveal of the Qi2 charging standard came at CES in January 2023, and of course, it takes manufacturers time to implement new tech into their smartphones. However, I’d have hoped we’d be a little further down this road by this point in time. The number of Android phones that natively support Qi2 in late 2024? That’d be a big fat zero.
Instead, as exemplified by a Samsung Galaxy S25 rumour this week, Android manufacturers are seemingly half-assing the Qi2 integration.
Despite rumours at one time suggesting that Samsung was going all-in on Qi2 integration with the launch of the 2025 Galaxy S25 range, leaks this week seemingly confirm that the company has dialled back on its plans, instead offering a range of S25 cases with built-in magnets that’ll allow for compatibility with MagSafe accessories.
It’s a massive step back from fully integrating the suite of magnets directly into the chassis of the Galaxy S25, as is the case with every iPhone since the iPhone 12, and essentially forces owners into using an (assumingly bulky) case if they want to, say, magnetically dock their S25 when in a car.
It might be a personal thing, but I hate using cases on smartphones; manufacturers work very hard to make the phones look and feel as nice as possible, and to hide that behind a (usually cheap plastic) case seems a bit of a shame. However, if I want to use my MagSafe charger with my Galaxy S25, it’s something I’ll be forced to do.
Now, this isn’t an issue exclusive to Samsung and its upcoming flagship smartphone collection; Chinese smartphone maker Oppo also offers a similar magnetic case system with its flagship Oppo Find X8 Pro, and as a subsidiary of Oppo, it should come as no surprise that OnePlus’ latest flagship also offers the tech in the form of a case – in China, anyway.
The only potential hang-up in adoption, for some manufacturers at least, could be competing proprietary wireless charging tech. Take Oppo for example; the Find X8 Pro can charge wirelessly at 50W, over triple the 15W regular Qi charging provides, even if you do need a proprietary wireless charger to achieve such rapid speeds.
For brands like Oppo, dropping from 50W to 15W to simply add a few magnets might not seem worth the trade-off, even if I personally feel that better accessory support trumps fast wireless charging – chiefly when most flagships offer rapid charging tech for a truly fast charging experience.
Even if companies aren’t adopting proprietary wireless charging systems, the maximum 15W output of the Qi2 standard might not be fast enough to warrant upending the internals of their smartphones.
The Samsung Galaxy S24, for example, already offers 15W Qi wireless charging. It may well be that Samsung and co. are waiting for the inevitable Qi3 standard to ship, potentially with faster wireless charging performance, to make it more worthwhile – especially as the competing MagSafe tech can charge at up to 25W.
Don’t get me wrong; designing smartphones is a monumental challenge with an ever-growing number of components seemingly jammed into the chassis of modern flagship smartphones, and that means space comes at quite a premium. Why use space on magnets when that could be filled by a slightly larger battery or better camera tech?
I can only hope that, with advancements in technology that allow for thinner, denser batteries and even smaller components, we could begin seeing true Qi2 integration in 2025 smartphones, but I won’t be holding my breath – and that’s a massive shame.
