The evidence is mounting that OnePlus’s long wireless charging resistance will come to an end with the OnePlus 8.
After weeks of rumours and speculation over whether the firm’s high-profile holdout would finally end this year, OnePlus dropped a massive hint by joining the body that promotes wireless charging technology around the world.
The Chinese firm has signed on with the Wireless Power Consortium, which controls the most popular Qi wireless charging standard that is found inside phones, smartwatches, headphone cases and more.
OnePlus is now listed as full members of the WPC, alongside tech giants like Apple, Samsung, Google, Sony, Huawei and LG (via GSM Arena). The company’s membership makes it almost certain it plans to launch a wireless charging compatible device at some point in the near future.
Whether it’s the OnePlus 8 range of phones, or specifically the Pro variant, or a future phone or gadget remains to be seen. However, now it’s probably a case of when rather than if OnePlus finally embraces wireless charging.
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Until super recently, OnePlus has been adamant wireless charging wasn’t included on its phones because it provided a far inferior experience to the company’s proprietary wired solution, which delivers 30W of power to devices like the OnePlus 7T range.
In a recent interview OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said: “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.”
Perhaps the company has developed a new solution that finds a middle ground and makes the adoption of wireless charging more palatable?
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.