OnePlus 7 to skip wireless charging feature, here’s why it’s not a deal-breaker

Wireless charging is not coming to OnePlus 7. Company CEO Pete Lau earlier this week confirmed that OnePlus' next smartphone will skip the feature as it was still "far inferior" to its wired fast charging, Warp Charging.

Wireless charging has been one of the most-anticipated features on OnePlus phones for at least last three generations, especially when it switched to glass back with OnePlus 6. The company, however, has resisted the idea of adding wireless charging support on its smartphones.

Its argument, however, has been quite consistent - wireless charging is slower than its propriety fast charging tech. According to The Verge, OnePlus also said that the wireless charging support means additional thickness on its phones.

Back in 2017, Lau had explained the reason why its phones don't have the tech.

"Wireless charging requires you to keep your device perfectly aligned on the pad to get the advertised charging rates and energy efficiency. Some of the best wireless charging pads market the theoretical potential of 15 watts of power, but that's only if you position your phone correctly. Wirelessly charging more than one device at a time further divides that number, leading to even slower charging per device," he had said.

Wireless charging is increasingly becoming a standard feature on premium smartphones such as iPhone XS Max and Samsung Galaxy S10. It's also gradually coming to mid-range segment. As far as the technology goes, there hasn't been much of improvement in commercial devices. They're still expensive and quite slow.

Xiaomi's latest 5G phone, Mi MIX 3, supports faster wireless charging, but at 20W it's marginally faster than the ones available in the market right now. While the wireless charging pads may have found ground in the Western market, it's still a novelty in emerging markets such as India.

In the meantime, wired charging on commercial phones has become significantly better. For instance, Huawei uses SuperCharge tech on Mate X with a 55W charger. OnePlus' own Warp Charge 30 is much superior in terms of heat dissipation and charging speeds.

For many, absence of wireless charging may not be a deal-breaker.

OnePlus 7 is set to launch later this year. The smartphone is set to come with a range of new features along with incremental specifications upgrade. Ahead of the launch, its all new screen design has already made appearances on the web.

OnePlus 7 is expected to do away with the notch and instead use a slider mechanism, similar to phones like Honor Magic 2. Other expected features of the phone include Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 processor, and 48-megapixel camera Sony IMX 586 sensor.