Wireless charging used to be a premium feature, but nowadays, we see a lot of smartphones coming with it. Take the Google Pixel 7a, for example. Itās a mid-range phone that can wirelessly charge at 7.5 watts. But, yes, thereās still a good number of devices that donāt have it, and Android 15 could change that.
In the latest Android 15 Beta 1, Google has added codes that hint at wireless charging via NFC. More specifically, the new Beta 1 has mentions of āNfcCharging.ā Why is this a big deal? Unlike full-fledged wireless charging support, NFC needs smaller hardware to work with. This could eventually allow more and more phones to charge wirelessly.
But NFC Wireless Charging That Android 15 May Bring Will be Very Slow
Looking back, the NFC Wireless Charging (WLC) specification was announced first in 2020. But it hasnāt been implemented yet, and thereās a good reason behind it. The charging standard is inferior to the Qi standard that you see in Android phones these days.
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With Qi chargers, you get up to 15 watts of charging speed. To compare, the NFC wireless charging standard that Android 15 may bring will likely top out at 3 watts. Thatās a very slow charging speed, and with it, phones will take very long to get to 100%.
Of course, the 3-watt charging speed is for the new standard that NFC Forum announced. The 2020 standard maxes out at 1 watt, which is even worse. Google did try to bring WLC support to phones in 2021, but it later abandoned the project. Thereās no explanation as to what may have made Google try to bring NFC wireless charging again with Android 15.
But even with lower speed, having the option to charge wirelessly is still good. We may find more clues to this feature in the upcoming Beta releases of Android 15.
