Wireless charging is a relatively standard feature on phones these days. Virtually all flagships have wireless charging, most midrange devices do, and it is only in the budget tiers that you shouldn’t be too surprised if you don’t spot it. It’s hardly cutting-edge either, having been around since the Samsung Galaxy S6.
Qi (pronounced “Chi”) wireless charging is the standard that most of us have heard of, but did you also know that there’s Qi2 wireless charging too? You’ve also likely heard of MagSafe as well, for Apple’s devices. What makes all of these wireless charging standards different from one another? I’m about to help you find out.
The Qi Standard Was The Pioneering Wireless Charging Standard
The Qi wireless charging standard was the very first one we knew and loved. When wireless charging was still a relative novelty, most manufacturers would explicitly state how the devices supported “Qi wireless charging” and not just “wireless charging”. At this point, it is essentially the only option for manufacturers not looking for super-fast wireless charging (in which case they need to go proprietary or choose another standard).
The Qi standard allows for power delivery at anywhere between 5W to 15W. As a result, it isn’t always guaranteed to be fast (for wireless charging anyway) which is why it is important to read the fine print of the charger or the device being charged.
You also need to make sure you properly align your phone against the wireless charging pad or stand for optimal electricity transfer.
Qi2 Is Sometimes Faster Than Qi And Brings The Power Of Magnets
Qi2 is the newest version of the Qi wireless charging standard, and it sure took a long time to cook it up. Qi2 brings two major upgrades over the original Qi standard, and they’re both relatively substantial.
The first of the two is that the Qi2 standard is locked to 15W, so the moment you see a Qi2 charger, you don’t need to bother checking how fast it charges because it’ll always be 15W.
The second upgrade is the fact it now supports magnetic alignment. This means that a Qi2-compatible charger and device will each have magnets built-in which snap to each other and allow for perfect charging every single time. The only problem is that Qi2 isn’t too widely adopted yet, especially in the Android universe where the HMD Skyline is the only option.
MagSafe Is Apple’s Proprietary Take On Wireless Charging
Finally, MagSafe is very similar to Qi2, but it is a proprietary standard owned by Apple. It also provides up to 15W of power to charge your devices as fast as the Qi and Qi2 standards can.
The big thing that makes MagSafe what it is is the presence of magnets that allow for perfect alignment between the smartphone and the charger every time. It just snaps right in place. This means you shouldn’t make the mistake of saying an Android phone with Qi2 support is MagSafe-compatible just because they both have magnets.
MagSafe is also rather different because there is official support for a wide range of MagSafe accessories like battery packs, cases, power banks, pop sockets, and so on.
