OnePlus 7 Won't Feature Wireless Charging, Confirms CEO Pete Lau

OnePlus 7 won't have wireless charging, it has been revealed. CEO Pete Lau thinks wireless charging is still nascent technology and has confirmed that the upcoming flagship phone OnePlus 7 will not sport the feature. Lau claims that that its proprietary charging technology called Warp Charge is 'one of the best' in the industry, and until wireless charging is capable of charging quickly without heating up, OnePlus won't be bringing it to its phones, with the OnePlus 7 also due to skip it. To allow fast charging on charging pads, Qualcomm introduced Quick Charge for wireless power at MWC 2019.

The OnePlus 7 will not support wireless charging, Lau confirmed on the sidelines at MWC to Cnet. "OnePlus charging is one of the best. Wireless charging is far inferior," Lau told the publication. The Chinese company is known to pack its phones with premium features, and leave out few to keep the cost aggressive. While wireless charging has grown in popularity ever since its arrival on Apple devices with the iPhone 8 series, its lack in enabling safe and secure rapid charging seems to not convince OnePlus to integrate it into its phones.

Lau said that it is working on wireless charging to perform better without heating up, but doesn't reveal a timeline for launching the feature on its phones. When asked about the newly introduced Quick Charge for wireless power, and whether it will be integrated into future OnePlus phones, Lau chose to not comment. It is unlikely that OnePlus would adopt Quick Charge, given that the company prides its own fast charging tech a lot.

OnePlus 7 specifications (expected)

The company has already confirmed that its next flagship will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC. The other specifications of the phone remain a mystery at this point, but we can expect to see the presence of the Android 9 Pie-based OxygenOS on the smartphone. A recent leak suggests that the OnePlus 7 will sport an all-display front and a pop-up selfie camera.

At MWC, OnePlus showed off its 5G prototype, but covered it with a case that surrounds the sides as well as large portions of the display, obscuring its design. The phone is confirmed to be powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC and pack the Snapdragon X50 modem to facilitate 5G connectivity. OnePlus is slated to launch its 5G smartphone by the end of May 2019, and will price it $200-$300 higher than its predecessor.