At the moment, there’s only a single Android device that brings Qi2 wireless charging, and that’s the HMD Skyline. The standard has been available for an extremely long time so it is quite odd when you realize that not a single one of the “big” manufacturers has brought it to market.
OnePlus is expected to launch the OnePlus 13 at the end of the month, and while that won’t be coming with the Qi2 standard either, the manufacturer aims to close the gap with magnetic cases and compatible accessories. Ahead of the actual launch event, here’s an official look at these cases and official add-ons.
OnePlus Isn’t Ready For Qi2 Magnetic Charging, So Will Bring Magnetic Cases As A Compromise
Some months back, we first heard rumors that OnePlus and Oppo were planning to join the magnetic wireless charging train. They weren’t going to achieve that with Qi2, the Android equivalent to Apple’s MagSafe, but instead, would utilize cases with magnetic rings over the part of the back panel with the wireless charging coil. Now, we’ve gotten our first official confirmation that this is really going to happen.
Over on Weibo, OnePlus has just shown off four of its cases that will be magnetically compatible. From the outside, it’ll be entirely inevident that there’s anything different about these cases, which is good. I’ve never liked those clear cases with a visible ring for wireless charging. Two of them have a wood finish, while it is hard to tell the finish on the other ones—though it looks like Sandstone will make a return.
The primary perk of a phone that has magnetic wireless charging is pristine alignment on your wireless charger each and every time. That means not worrying about whether you placed it perfectly or not, which is a very real annoyance—trust me, I’ve been there.
OnePlus Also Shows Off Some Of Its First-Party Accessories Intended For These Cases
Of course, besides just snapping onto your wireless charger perfectly, there’s also an additional benefit brought on by cases such as these, and that’s opening up an entirely new world of accessories that you can pull from.
OnePlus isn’t shy and has shown some of these ahead of its launch on Thursday. There’s going to be a cooling fan that doubles as a 50W magnetic wireless charger, a 5,000 mAh magnetic power bank, as well as a 100W magnetic power bank. That’s a bad start for first-party options. If OnePlus doesn’t neglect to expand its official lineup of accessories, I can see users investing in it. Let’s wait for the OnePlus 13 launch first.
Android Users Have Been Relying On These Cases For Some Time; This Is The First Official Rendition
This is hardly a new idea, but it is arguably the first time that an Android manufacturer is actually joining in. Despite essentially all Android devices not having magnetic wireless charging, a lot of accessory makers have been selling cases that bestow your phone with a magnetic ring.
Such cases make it possible to use your Android devices with the extensive portfolio of accessories available for Apple’s MagSafe ecosystem. Hopefully, with this, we’ll start to get accessories with a focus on Android and not Apple.
