Forever OnePlus have parroted the line that they will not include wireless charging their devices while it is so inferior to their wired charging. Even now they sort of continue to say such a thing but if that is the case we could be waiting a while given how good their Warp Charging is.
New rumours though are pointing towards OnePlus finally including it in their flagship smartphone this year. OnLeaks and MaxJ of @Samsung_News_ are convinced that their sources are accurate when they tell them that wireless charging is on its way to OnePlus devices.
Charge like a pro. pic.twitter.com/Fqnkpsa0mT
— Max J. (@Samsung_News_) January 21, 2020
The Tweet from MaxJ seems to hint that the wireless charging will only be present in the Pro version of the OnePlus 8. We find this unlikely that they would exclude a device from this technology but in 2019 they did that with the OnePlus 7 and the 90Hz display (only for both the Pro and normal version to receive it in the T model later in the year).
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau recently was on the Vergecast and said otherwise — sort of. He said that:
What we’ve been focused on is bringing fast wireless charging and that fast charging experience to wireless. The issue to overcome, though, is the heat in that process, so that’s very much what we’ve been focused on — trying to create a solution for. I’ve tried 10W charging for wireless and I can’t get used to it. I feel like it’s too slow and it’s just not worth it compared to plugging it in to Warp Charge and that fast charging experience.
To me he has said that 10W wireless charging will not be coming to the OnePlus 8 BUT he also said, in a round about way, that what is the point if wireless is not as fast as their wired Warp charging.
Well guess what? Warp Charging circa 2019 charged at 30W and their not-so-distant sister company OPPO have released their fast 30W wireless VOOC charging. If you have used both OPPO and OnePlus chargers in the past you will know that they are usually interchangeable and they seem to share technologies (but not names). Wireless charging IS as fast as their wired charging so that does NOT rule out wireless charging coming to the OnePlus 8.
It is most likely that OnePlus will leak any specific charging details of the OnePlus 8 to us before it is actually announced so if they are going to include wireless charging we will hear about it before their May announcement date. It would be great if they did include wireless charging — it is about all that is lacking from a truly great smartphone (that you cannot buy here in Australia).
What’s the point of publishing news about a phone that can’t be purchased in Australia?
Because they can and it is interesting. You can purchase them here just not from Oneplus.