Samsung says its Galaxy S25 is “Qi2 ready.” Here’s what it really means

This is important because while we MagSafe lovers have managed with MagSafe Android phone cases for the past few years there has always been a warning that these cases might not work everyone MagSafe products. With Qi2 Ready cases, you can rest easy knowing they will work with Qi2 chargers.

It’s worth noting that OnePlus’ latest flagship phone, the OnePlus 13is no A Qi2 Ready phone, however, OnePlus sells magnetic case to activate Qi2-like charging. It’s the old approach of adding magnetic charging to phones with basic Qi support, and that will do not turn your phone into a Qi2 device. Although it may feel similar, you may not enjoy faster charging speeds, it won’t be as energy efficient, and it’s not guaranteed to work with all Qi2 accessories. Golden says Qi2-ready phones have “special features built into them” to enable proper Qi2 functionality when paired with a Qi2-ready case.

Alas, as soon as you remove these Qi2 Ready cases from the phone, the magnetic functionality disappears. This may not be a problem for most people. Recent statistics are hard to find, but a 2023 YouGov survey. found that approx 68 percent of Americans use a phone casea 2017 study shows this number at 79 percent. But it stinks for those of us who don’t like using a case. Pour one for the devils without cases.

I can recall dozens of times when I had to remove the iPhone case to attach a wireless microphone to the USB-C port or mount the phone on a gimbal. Removing the case didn’t change anything because iPhones have built-in magnets, but it’s something that will it affects Qi2-ready phones, and it’s a frustrating limitation.

I think Qi2-ready phones are an acceptable intermediate measure. Considering it’s cheaper than building magnets into a phone, I hope it means more budget and mid-range smartphones you can enjoy Qi2 capabilities.

However, I worry that this will make things confusing for the average person. The new phones will support Qi but not Qi2, but will have Qi2 Ready cases to enable Qi2 — my brain hurts just typing that. If they only had native Qi2 support, magnetic charging would work all the time with any Qi2 accessory. Easy peasy.

The good news is that Samsung and Google have committed to releasing official Qi2 Android phones in 2025, so is on the way, though it seems odd that Samsung might not debut it in its flagship smartphone lineup.

I’ll settle for a magnetic case (again), but for god’s sake, can someone just give me my magnetic Android already?