Qi2 Wireless Charging: Everything You Need to Know (2025)

It’s ironic, but we here at WIRED have long been wireless charging fans. Not having to fumble with cables is nice! Most wireless charging devices these days follow the Qi (pronounced chee) standard, which has taken its time reaching ubiquity. (The user experience has not always been great.) The Wireless Power Consortium, which manages the charging protocol, announced the next-generation version called Qi2 in early 2023. Qi2 wireless charging promises perfect alignment, with the potential for accessories to bridge the Android and iPhone divide.

Sadly, Qi2 has not rolled out as quickly or widely as we expected. While every iPhone (from the 12 series on) supports Qi2 now, there was only one Qi2-certified Android phone released in 2024, the HMD Skyline, and we were dismayed to find that it did not work with some older Qi chargers. Things haven't been great in 2025—at the start of the year, Samsung's Galaxy S25 series only launched as “Qi2 Ready." Now, we're seeing Qi2 25-watt accessories hitting the market, but there are still no Qi2 25W phones. So, what's going on with Qi2?

Updated July 2025: We added details on Qi2.2.1, branded Qi2 25W, and its first wave of certified chargers, plus a list of Qi2-certified and Qi2-Ready phones.

Qi2 is an open wireless charging standard from the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), and it brings important upgrades over the original Qi standard. (If you have ever used any kind of wireless charging with a device, it was likely powered by the Qi standard.)

The headline is the Magnetic Power Profile (MPP), which is based on Apple’s MagSafe technology. (Apple was involved in developing the Qi2 standard.) This allows Qi2-branded devices to add a ring of magnets to ensure perfect alignment with chargers and allow for faster charging speeds.

There is another standard: the nonmagnetic wireless charging Extended Power Profile (EPP). Per WPC's Paul Golden, EPP refers to a device that complies with the specification but is not officially Qi2, and thus cannot use the logo or be referred to as a Qi2 device. Golden told WIRED in an email that such devices “would carry the Qi logo, not Qi2, and packaging and/or marketing materials have a required statement that the device does not contain magnets. Any device labeled Qi2 is MPP and must include magnets.”

To muddy the waters further, we have the “Qi2-Ready” Samsung Galaxy S25 series. Out of the box, the Galaxy S25, S25+, S25 Ultra, and S25 Edge—not to mention the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Flip7—support the Qi wireless charging standard, and they do not have magnets. You can add magnets by buying your own Qi2-Ready cases (available from Samsung and third parties). Combine a certified and tested Qi2-Ready case with a Qi2-Ready phone, and you effectively have a Qi2 phone (with the same enhanced charging speed and efficiency) that you can use with Qi2 power banks and chargers.

This frustrating and somewhat confusing stopgap is likely due to the long development cycle of phones and the difficulty of designing magnets into them. Looking on the bright side, since Qi2 Ready is cheaper and easier, it may be a viable path in bringing Qi2 to budget phones.

Qi2 is fully backward compatible, so you can charge an older Qi Android phone or MagSafe iPhone on a Qi2 charger. We have tested several, and this seems to hold true. We also expected any old Qi chargers to charge Qi2 devices, albeit at slower speeds, but it turns out that is not true. The HMD Skyline, for example, did not work with several old Qi chargers we tested, and it seems this may be par for the course. We will have to wait for more Qi2 phones to find out.

Wireless charging with Qi2 brings several improvements over the original Qi standard.

Greater efficiency: Wireless charging relies on electromagnetic coils. One or more induction coils in the charging base create a magnetic field and transmit energy. A smaller coil in your phone or other device harvests it. The coils must be aligned for energy to flow between them, and the magnets in the new Magnetic Power Profile ensure perfect alignment, so less power is lost. When coils are misaligned, energy is often lost as heat, which is also not good for battery health.

Faster charging: The Qi standard was originally limited to 5-watt charging speeds, but Qi2 allows certified phones to charge at 15 watts (just like MagSafe), though the new Qi2 25W standard bumps that up to 25 watts. Some manufacturers already offer speedier wireless charging, such as OnePlus and Xiaomi, but you have to use a specific wireless charger to see those gains.

Wider compatibility for accessories: Any Qi2 charger can charge any Qi2 device, so you can buy a single charger capable of juicing up an iPhone or Android phone. For Qi-supporting phones that lack magnets, you can buy a case with a magnetic ring that works with Qi2 (as you can currently with MagSafe). Sadly, the outlook for old Qi chargers and MagSafe accessories is not as bright because some of them won't work with Qi2 phones, and you likely won't know until you try them.

Other improvements Qi2 brings over Qi include wider device compatibility (from tablets to wearables), adaptive charging so chargers can talk to devices to supply the power they need instead of having a fixed power output, and enhanced safety with better heat management and foreign object detection.

The first major update for the Qi2 standard is Qi2.2.1, which the WPC is branding as Qi2 25W. While it won't do anything to clarify the wireless charging scene, it is set to enable a host of improvements:

• Faster charging speeds of up to 50 watts, though it looks as though 25 watts will be the norm for now.
• Improved magnetic alignment, so phones can charge at maximum efficiency and speed, and different devices will be compatible with all Qi2 25W accessories.
• Backwards compatibility, meaning Qi2 25W devices will still work with Qi2 and Qi chargers, albeit at slower speeds.

The WPC says 14 products are certified so far, including 3-in-1 chargers, power banks, and car mounts, from Anker, Aukey, Baseus, Belkin, Ugreen, and Scosche, with hundreds more in the certification queue. Most interestingly, the WPC says, “in addition to Apple iPhone, major Android smartphones will join the Qi2 ecosystem for the first time with this launch.” But we don't know yet which iPhone models or Android phones it is referring to.

Sadly, there aren't many Qi2-certified phones yet. Here's the complete list:

Qi2-Ready phones are capable of charging at Qi2 speeds but lack the magnetic array, so they must be paired with Qi2-Ready cases with magnets in them to act as Qi2 phones. Here's the list:

Before a device can bear the Qi2 or Qi2 25W logo, the Wireless Power Consortium must certify it in its independent labs. The MPP Qi2 specification includes charging rate, magnet strength, and device compatibility. The Qi2 logo promises that the device meets the WPC’s exacting standards. But, as with the original Qi standard, there are also devices available that have not passed through the official Qi2 certification process.

Apple’s iPhone 12 to 16 range supports Qi2, and accessory makers like Anker, Belkin, Nomad, Mophie, Baseus, and many others have released Qi2 wireless chargers and power banks. You can expect a wave of Qi2 25W accessories and phones to roll out next, and we expect some Android manufacturers to jump fully on board later this year or early 2026. Phones typically have a two-year lead time, so that may account for the delay in Qi2 adoption. The WPC hopes that Qi2 will unify wireless charging and finally provide the universal global standard we have been waiting for, but we are no longer feeling quite so optimistic.

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