Although wireless charging should be table stakes for modern flagship smartphones, OnePlus has always been an exception to that rule.
Of course, the enthusiast brand goes against the grain in many positive ways, but the lack of wireless charging in its recent models isn’t one of those. Both the late-2022 OnePlus 10T and the OnePlus 11 released earlier this year lacked this ability — a stark contrast to the OnePlus 10 Pro that not only embraced wireless charging but delivered the fastest speeds we’ve ever seen on a smartphone, at least in the U.S.
OnePlus has defended the lack of wireless charging capabilities on its recent models by pointing to its incredibly fast wired charging, and to be fair, the company has a point. In the U.S., the OnePlus 11 comes with an 80W SuperVOOC charger in the box that can fully top the phone up in under 30 minutes. It also packs in some neat tricks to preserve battery longevity.
As a result, we hadn’t gotten our hopes up too much that the OnePlus 12 would get wireless charging. Fortunately, OnePlus had a pleasant surprise in store for us.
Does the OnePlus 12 have wireless charging?
Yes, you read that right. The OnePlus 12 returns us to the days when wireless charging was standard on its phones, and it does so in a big way.
Rather than adopting the industry-standard 15-watt speeds of the 2021 OnePlus 9 — the last “base model” phone that supported wireless charging — the new OnePlus 12 offers the 50-watt charging speeds found on the OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 10 Pro.
The OnePlus 10 Pro was the fastest wireless charging phone you could buy in the U.S. when it launched, and still technically is; the Honor Magic 4 Pro surpassed it, but that one is a little hard to get your hands on stateside. The OnePlus 12 will fill those shoes once it’s released in the U.S., which is expected to happen early next year.
What you need for OnePlus 12 wireless charging
As with the OnePlus 10 Pro, you’ll have to opt for the company’s proprietary AirVOOC 50W wireless charger if you want to achieve the fastest possible wireless charge speeds for the OnePlus 12.
There’s no word yet on how much power the OnePlus 12 will draw from a standard Qi charger, but like the OnePlus 10 Pro, it should follow the 15-watt maximum of the Qi Extended Power Profile (EPP); anything faster from other vendors is proprietary technology, much like OnePlus and Oppo’s AirVOOC.
The good news is that you won’t necessarily need to run out and buy a new wireless charger if you’re upgrading from an older model. The same AirVOOC 50W wireless charger that was released for the OnePlus 10 Pro still works with the OnePlus 12, as does the OnePlus 9 Pro Warp Charge 50 stand, as “Warp Charge” is simply the name OnePlus previously used for the VOOC technology it licensed from Oppo.
With a compatible 50W wireless charging stand, OnePlus claims you can top up the OnePlus 12 from 1% to 100% in 55 minutes. Standard 15W Qi chargers will likely take considerably longer but should be more than adequate for overnight charging, which means you probably don’t need to splurge on placing multiple 50W AirVOOC chargers around your home.
Does the OnePlus 12 have reverse wireless charging?
With the addition of standard wireless charging, the OnePlus 12 also gains another wireless power feature from the OnePlus 10 Pro: reverse wireless charging.
Reverse charging is the ability to juice up another small device wirelessly from the back of your smartphone, such as a set of wireless earbuds. While the OnePlus 10 Pro supported 5W reverse wireless charging, the OnePlus 12 improved on that with the ability to deliver up to 10W of power.
That’s a nice spec on paper, but it’s an open question how often you’ll need that extra power. Most devices you’re likely to reverse-charge from the OnePlus 12 (or any other smartphone) typically only support the Qi 5W Base Power Profile (BPP).
What about wired charging on the OnePlus 12?
The return of high-speed wireless charging on the OnePlus 12 will be great news for fans — especially those who decided to skip the OnePlus 11. However, the wired charging situation hasn’t changed much from OnePlus’ other recent models.
It packs in a 5,400mAh battery, which is a slight improvement over the 5,000mAh cell found in the OnePlus 11. The model already delivers a solid two-day battery life, so we imagine the OnePlus 12 will follow suit.
When it comes to charging that cell, you get the same 100W maximum charging speed as before, which means you can expect a full top-up in under 30 minutes. The OnePlus 11 only shipped with 80W charging in the U.S., so we won’t be surprised if the same is true for the OnePlus 12 when it lands here next year. The difference between the two wasn’t that remarkable on the OnePlus 11, though, so it probably won’t make a significant difference on the OnePlus 12, either.
Perhaps the biggest upside to the OnePlus 12 is that you’ll still find the necessary fast charger in the box. That’s a refreshing bonus in an era when most other smartphone manufacturers are forcing you to buy your chargers separately.
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Alex Mitchell is your go-to expert for all things mobile. With a passion for the latest smartphones, apps, and mobile innovations, Alex provides in-depth reviews, insightful analyses, and breaking news about the ever-evolving world of mobile technology. Stay connected with Alex to navigate the fast-paced realm of mobile devices.
