The Wireless Power Consortium announced at CES on Monday that more Android devices will use the MagSafe-based Qi2 charging standard in 2025. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll all have magnets, though; the WPC says it now has a “Qi2 Ready” certification for phones that need a case to add the magnetic alignment ring but otherwise meet the charging standard’s spec.
The announcement of Qi2 Ready could explain recent rumors that you’ll need a case to add magnetic charging to Galaxy S25 phones from Samsung, which says it’s releasing Qi2 Galaxy devices later this year. Meanwhile, Google says it’s “committed to the Qi2 wireless charging standard” and is contributing “its own high-power wireless charging technology to WPC.”
At the moment, you need a case with an embedded magnet for most Android phones to have MagSafe-style wireless charging. Apart from phones like the HMD Skyline, Apple has been alone in equipping its phones with the magnetic ring that normal Qi2 certification now requires.
The WPC also announced that a coming part of the Qi2 standard will be in-car wireless charging with a moving coil that shifts to keep aligned with the coil in your phone, using tech contributed by Panasonic Automotive Systems. Both the moving coil and Qi2 Ready certification are part of the Qi v2.1 update.