Finland has plenty of things going for it. It has breathtaking landscapes. It produced former Eurovision contestant Käärijä, whose music I enjoy even though I can’t understand the language. One of the country’s wireless carriers accidentally published a Samsung Galaxy S25 phone case leak that seems to hint at Qi2-compatibility for the next flagship. It’s something that Android users have been waiting a long time for. We wouldn’t have been able to conceive of the possibility were it not for Finland.
According to an early image published on a Finnish carrier site, the Galaxy S25 will have at least two case accessories that support the beefed-up wireless charging standard. There will likely be a Samsung-made “magnet case,” as 9to5Google calls it. Qi2 wireless charging includes magnets, which keep the connection hearty and stable.
If these Qi2-compatible cases end up existing when the Galaxy S25 debuts next year, it will be the first mainstream Android device to offer official compatibility with the spec. It’s been a long “will they/won’t they” for Samsung fans wanting Qi2 charging. A year ago, the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) announced that the first batch of products supporting the standard would be available for 2023’s holiday shopping season. That ultimately helped drive sales for the iPhone 15/15 Pro, which already supported it. The hope was that Android would be on board immediately after that, but it’s 2024, and we’re still just talking about rumors.
The HMD Skyline, a repairable mid-tier phone, is the only Android device with Qi2 charging offered outright. There has been minor criticism about why the OnePlus 13, launched in China, doesn’t have Qi2 charging but rather a clocked-up Qi 1.3.3. I would argue that OnePlus’s move is to keep the cost of the phone down while still offering fast wireless charging speeds. It’s also a great indicator of where we are with the Qi2 specification. Apple could push through MagSafe with Qi2 capabilities as quickly as it did because of the whole owning-its-supply-chain thing. Android has been slower in adopting it because the accessories aren’t yet marketed to its users.
Samsung is a big brand—the number one Android brand globally based on sales and reach. Once people get used to having Qi2 available for premium Android devices, there’s no turning back, which means a path forward for the rest of the platform. It means you can finally use MagSafe accessories positioned for Apple users with Android devices instead, which will be a better solution than what I’ve got going on now. I’ve been stuck on third-party MagSafe accessories, which aren’t always the best options for the phone. Sometimes, the magnets are so wonky the connection doesn’t even work for wireless charging. I’d appreciate something more official in capacity than we have now. We’ll find out soon enough when Samsung officially announces the Galaxy S25.
+ There are no comments
Add yours