Qi wireless charging is the most common wireless charging standard used in smartphones today, but it requires a substantial amount of space inside a handset. Android 15 may have a solution to that with an upcoming change that aims to evolve wireless charging in the future.
Android 15 is expected to debut during Google’s next I/O developer conference in May and it may bring NFC Wireless Charging support to the table. This update was spotted by Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman who noticed that Android 15’s beta 1 comes with WLC-related additions to the operating system’s NFC APIs.
NFC wireless charging was first introduced in 2020 and now Google is working on a way to add support to eligible hardware. The report says that Google originally planned to add this to smartphones in 2021, but the plan was canceled.
It is worth mentioning that NFC-based charging is slower than the Qi standard, but Qi also requires big charging coils. NFC Wireless Charging is yet to be adopted widely due to its slower speeds, but it would serve as a convenient alternative for phones that lack the necessary hardware. The charging antennas for NFC can be as small as 1cm and are also quite bendable, which would make them far easier to accommodate compared to traditional wireless charging coils, especially for smaller electronics such as smartwatches and wireless earbuds.
It is unclear why Google is suddenly bringing back a canceled project, but it would be a welcome upgrade in any case. It would not only save a lot of space for smartphone components but would also save costs and make charging easier.
