Strong indications that the Google Pixel 9 might support the Qi2 wireless charging standard

At this point, just a little over a month after the Google Pixel 8 duo was presented, any pinpoint details on the Pixel 9 are nothing more than speculations. One thing the next-gen Google phone will (almost) certainly sport, though – Qi2 support.

In a press release, the Wireless Power Consortium (the body behind the Qi wireless charging standard) announced that the first Qi2 productions are “completing” certification testing now and devices that support it will be hitting the market very soon (via 9to5Google).

On September 12, Apple held its Wonderlust event, during which (in only one sentence), the giant stated that the new iPhone 15 lineup supports Qi2.

“The Qi v2.0 standard consists of two profiles, the Magnetic Power Profile (MPP) which is based on MagSafe technology contributed by Apple to WPC and branded with the Qi2 logo, and an enhancement to the existing wireless charging Extended Power Profile (EPP) that does not include magnets but complies with the Qi v2.0 standard. New Qi v2.0 EPP products will be branded with the existing Qi logo consumers know and use today”, reads the press release from the WPC.

Qi2 will still provide 15W rates for charging, but it should be faster in practice thanks to the use of magnets to perfectly align the coils.

Google is most likely to adopt the Qi2 standard for the Pixel 9 line, as Google’s Liyu Yang (Senior Hardware Engineer and system tech lead at Google focused on Pixel phone wireless charging technology) has joined the WPC as a board member just this month.

Of course, given that Google will likely show and release the Pixel 9 devices sometime in the fall of 2024, maybe they won’t be the first Android devices to adopt the Qi2 tech. Soon, the Samsung Galaxy S24 series should debut; then we expect some new Galaxy foldables from Samsung; there’s the OnePlus 12, too.