Oppo, the parent company behind OnePlus smartphones, is well known for teasing its upcoming hardware gimmicks. This time, it’s attempting to give Apple a run for its money with a new magnetic wireless charging technology.
The technology’s moniker is MagVOOC — catchy, no? — and Oppo describes it as “flash charging.” The company debuted the technology at an expo in China, along with a few compatible accessories, billed as an Android alternative to Apple’s proprietary MagSafe.
First up, there’s a wireless slim portable charger, which straps onto the back of a smartphone with the help of a “magnetic alignment system,” which ensures the phone and charger are lined up for the best connection. There’s also a 4000 mAh power bank, which offers a charging output of 20W — faster than MagSafe’s 15W, according to GizChina. The power bank also uses a “magnetic alignment system” to stay put when connected.
This is interesting, because as neat as Apple’s MagSafe charging puck for the iPhone 12 is, it’s also a much slower charging method than simply plugging the iPhone into a Lightning-to-USB-C charging brick.
Oppos also showed off a vertical charging stand, which looks similar to the one that’s currently available for OnePlus. The MagVOOC version has a lower charging output, however, charging at 40W compared to the OnePlus’s Warp Charge 50 Wireless stand.
Oppo also revealed its own take on over-the-air charging technology, which has been attempted many times in the past by a variety of tech companies but never taken off commercially. Oppo’s version works similarly to Xiaomi’s Mi Air Charge concept. In Oppo’s use case, all it takes is a few inches of proximity to charge up a device with 7.5W of power. It could be a technology that Oppo integrates along with its in-car connectivity systems, which it also announced in today’s news dump.
There were no specifics as to when Oppo plans to release the new MagVOOC technology and its accessories. Realme, one of Oppo’s sibling brands under the BBK group, also recently announced its version of the Apple MagSafe called MagDart. There are two versions of it, with the MagDart charger offering 50W output, along with a quieter, lower-powered version with 15W output.