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Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S25 series this week, offering the best features it can cram into a smartphone form factor. That includes a new Snapdragon processor, more RAM, and support for Qi2 charging. Well, sort of. Although all three S25 phones will work with the Qi2 charging standard, they lack the magnets we thought would be required for Qi2.
Most devices with wireless charging use the Qi standard, which beat out PMA as the default for smartphones some years back. Today, phones with wireless charging will be able to charge on any Qi-compatible stand you happen to have around. However, the original Qi standard hasn’t kept up with the times, topping out at 5-10W, depending on the device and charger combo. While the standard has supported up to 30W under the Extended Power Profile since 2015, this required more expensive hardware in the charger and device that manufacturers rarely bothered to use.
The move to Qi2 boosts charging to 15W for all certified devices and chargers. It also adopts Apple’s MagSafe standard for aligning devices with charging coils. At first, the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) that controls the standard said these magnets were required. And yet, here come the Galaxy S25 phones with Qi2 and no magnets.
At CES 2025, the WPC quietly announced that it was adding a new “Qi2 Ready” certification, according to Tom’s Guide. Unlike Q2 Certified devices, the “Ready” variety does not need to have internal magnets. Instead, they gain full Qi2 functionality when paired with a magnetic case. Samsung offers one of those for the S25 series, which retails for $30. There are also some cheaper third-party options already popping up.
The official S25 magnetic case.
Credit: Samsung
It’s not surprising the WPC added this second layer of Qi2. Samsung is one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world. Having the Qi standard attached to Samsung’s new flagship phones is preferable for the consortium, even if they lack magnets. However, this could open the door for other OEMs to skip the magnets as well.
Even without integrated magnets or the case add-on, the Galaxy S25 still benefits from Qi2. It will charge at speeds up to 15W, but Qi2 pads can also communicate with the phone to change the charging speed as the battery fills and heat builds up. While magnetic alignment can make wireless charging a bit more efficient and convenient, the S25 series gets the rest of the benefits.