Magnetic wireless charging is finally on the way for more Android phones, joining the iPhone after several years. And Belkin is ready with new gear right on time.
It’s been an interesting few years of questions to manufacturers, but it seems that Android phones are about to get an answer owners have been asking for a long time: when will magnetic wireless charging be supported outside the iPhone?
That question has been a thing ever since MagSafe popped up on the iPhone 12 range, and the folks behind the Qi wireless standard, the Wireless Power Consortium, worked on a potential solution. The result popped out a few years ago, with Qi2 built with the help of Apple, and using a similar design: a ring of magnets there to hold the wireless charger in the right place and optimise the recharge.
Qi2 made sense and supported MagSafe, making it backwards compatible and available on most of the iPhone range. But over on the Android side of things… crickets.
In the past year or so since Qi2’s release, only one phone has supported the technology outside of the iPhone range: the HMD Skyline. That’s it.
A few weeks ago, though, the Wireless Power Consortium talked up Qi2’s successor, a more powerful 25W version of Qi2 aptly named for it.
Since then, we’ve heard that a lot of manufacturers are lining up to build gear for it. Even the upcoming Pixel 10 Pro XL announced this week will support Qi2 25W, the new format, while the other Pixels will handle Qi2 at 15W.
To make use of that new more powerful Qi2 variant, you’ll need new chargers, and that’s where Belkin will come in. Much like how it launched the world’s first MagSafe chargers, and some of the first Qi2 models, it will have the world’s first Qi2 25W chargers coming in three models over the coming weeks.
Ranged as part of the “UltraCharge” line, it will include a 2-in-1 foldable charger handling two wireless devices (phone and earphones), plus a third over USB-C.
The 3-in-1 UltraCharge Foldable Magnetic Charger will up that, supporting iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods, though is very much geared at iPhone owners given the support for the Apple Watch.
And then there’s the UltraCharge Pro 3-in-1 Magnetic Charging Dock, a model that isn’t foldable, but comes with a more polished look with premium materials, and charges iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch.
From an Android point of view, models with support for Qi2 should technically mount to the range, though only the Belkin UltraCharge 2-in-1 Foldable really has Android in mind, given the phone charger and its wireless earphone charger could really be for any phone, not just an iPhone. The Apple Watch charger on the 3-in-1 variations is just for the Apple Watch.
They’ll all come with 45W USB-C charge packs, giving you an idea of just how much power they can put out, which also might be enough to charge a laptop, such as a MacBook Air.
Australians can expect to find Belkin’s Qi2 25W additions soon, with the 2-in-1 foldable priced at $119.95 in Australia ($129.95 NZD), the 3-in-1 foldable for $169.95 ($179.95 NZD), and the UltraCharge Pro 3-in-1 for $219.95 across Australia (and $239.9 in New Zealand).
