Wireless charging is one of those technologies I thought I wouldn’t be much fussed over until I actually started using it. Now, it’s one of the main things I hope for in many products, unless battery life is exceptionally good. So I’m quite excited to hear the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) announce a new Qi spec that comes close to doubling how fast things will be able to charge wirelessly (via PC Watch).
The new Qi2 25 W spec (that’s what it’s going to be called) will charge at up to, well, 25 W. The Current Qi2 spec maxes at 15 W. The older specification still feels pretty new to me; I remember testing the spec out for another site just over a year ago, and although it’d been out for about a year back then, it was only just seeing widespread adoption.
Which I suppose means that we might only see widespread adoption for the new standard in about a year. It’ll be worth the wait, though, for that extra 10 W of charge.
For reference, ‘fast charging’ a phone requires 15 W or higher, which Qi2 currently hits, but only just. Most fast charging devices aim for 18 W, which the new standard will hit comfortably.
Admittedly there are faster thresholds out there now, but 25 W will deliver the kind of fast charging that most people have been used to with wired charging of their phones, for instance.
Bringing it back to PC, though, we need to remember that Qi charging is a platform-agnostic technology. That means we could see Qi2 25 W embraced by all kinds of PC gaming peripherals. In particular, I’d be happy to see wireless gaming earbuds get the quick wireless charge treatment. We’ve also seen PC cases with Qi charging built-in, which could get revisited with the newer standard.
Companies could already attempt to use their own wireless charging specs for 25 W or even faster, in some cases, but it’s good to have the industry standard moving forwards. The WPC explains:
“Prior to Qi2, several smartphone manufacturers had developed their own proprietary fast charging protocols. However, devices using these protocols may lack interoperability and consistent charge times. Qi2 25W is the first standard to enable truly high-speed Qi Certified wireless charging.”
Here’s hoping the PC gaming industry—or at least the most relevant devices—starts to adopt the new standard before long.
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