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Early wireless charging failed venues. Qi2 fixed reliability with magnetic alignment. Qi2.2 added speed. Here’s what to look for — and why it matters for your patrons.
A common response from venue managers who’ve heard the wireless charging pitch is: “We tried that a few years ago. It didn’t work.”
They’re not wrong. The early versions were genuinely poor. Phones had to be positioned precisely on a pad, a few millimetres off meant no charging at all, and patrons would set their phone down, wander off, and return an hour later to find the battery hadn’t moved. Staff spent time troubleshooting. Managers removed the pads after a few weeks.
If that’s your experience with wireless charging, the hesitation makes sense. But the technology has changed significantly, twice, since those early versions. And the difference is substantial enough that it’s worth a second look.
The core problem with first-generation wireless charging was alignment.
The charging coil inside the pad had to match up precisely with the coil inside the phone. Place the phone a centimetre to the left and nothing happened. The physics worked in theory but failed in practice, especially in a venue environment where phones get moved, bumped, and set down without precision.
The result was a product that worked inconsistently. And an inconsistent amenity is often worse than no amenity at all: patrons expected it to work, it didn’t, they were frustrated, and staff fielded the complaints.
Many venues tried it. Most removed it.
In 2023, the Wireless Power Consortium released Qi2, which introduced magnetic alignment, the same technology behind Apple’s MagSafe.
A ring of magnets in both the charger and compatible devices means that when a phone is placed near the pad, it snaps into the correct position automatically. Every single time. No guessing, no staff troubleshooting, no patron frustration when they check their phone an hour later and the battery hasn’t moved.
The magnetic snap is immediate and satisfying. Patrons feel it, know it’s working, and stop thinking about it. That’s the experience a venue amenity needs to deliver.
This solved the reliability problem entirely. But Qi2 still had a limitation: charging speed. At 15W, a patron arriving with a critically low battery would see modest improvement during a typical visit. Helpful, but not transformative.
In mid-2025, Qi2.2 arrived, officially branded “Qi2 25W.” The key advancement is straightforward: 25W power delivery, a 67% increase over Qi2.
In practical terms, a patron who arrives with 15% battery can reach 50% within approximately 30 minutes. By the time they’ve had a drink and settled in, the low-battery anxiety that would have cut their visit short is gone. They’re not monitoring the battery icon. They’re just at your venue, comfortable, with a phone that’s visibly charging, and no particular reason to leave early.
That outcome (patron settles in, anxiety resolves, visit extends) is what the research points to. 46% of patrons say they would spend more time at venues offering charging (Chargifi, via Morning Advertiser, 2019). Qi2.2 is what makes that credible in practice. Slow charging doesn’t resolve battery anxiety within a visit. Fast charging does.
If you’re now looking at wireless charging options, the Qi2.2 standard (Qi2 25W) is the thing worth asking about.
Qi2 (magnetic alignment, 15W) is a significant improvement over first-generation products. Qi2.2 (magnetic alignment, 25W) is the current commercial standard, fast enough to meaningfully change the patron experience within a single visit, not just nudge the battery percentage.
Stay Charged builds to the latest standard as a matter of principle. Our ChargeHUB 25W and SwiftPro 25W both use the Qi2.2 standard, are RCM approved, commercial-grade, and carry a 24-month warranty. We update our product range as the standard advances because the patron experience depends on it.
When comparing products, ask: is it Qi2.2? The answer will tell you a lot about what your patrons will actually experience.
Wireless charging is now mature, reliable, and commercially proven at the Qi2.2 standard. Installation is a single 15mm hole per unit, takes about 5-10 minutes, and requires no ongoing subscription or maintenance contract.
For venues that walked away from wireless charging years ago based on a reasonable assessment of a genuinely poor product: the product that exists now is not that product.
The venues that tried wireless charging in 2018 and removed it made the right call at the time. The question now is whether that experience is still the right reason to stay out.
If the technology had stayed the same, the answer would be yes. It hasn’t.
We tried wireless charging years ago and removed it. Has it actually changed?
Yes, twice. Qi2 (2023) fixed the alignment problem with magnets, so phones snap into position every time. Qi2.2 (2025) added speed, lifting output to 25W. The product that failed for you is not the product on the market now.
What should I ask a supplier for?
The Qi2.2 standard, also marketed as “Qi2 25W”, with magnetic alignment. It is the current commercial standard and the only tier fast enough to change the patron experience within a single visit.
How fast does it charge?
At 25W, a phone arriving at 15% can reach roughly 50% in about 30 minutes, fast enough that battery anxiety resolves before it cuts a visit short.
How hard is installation?
A single 15mm hole per unit, fitted from below in about 5 to 10 minutes, with no subscription or maintenance contract.
Written by Ryan Britz, Director at Stay Charged. Stay Charged has supplied commercial wireless charging to 200+ Australian venues since 2017, with 12,000+ chargers installed. Australian-owned, Queensland-based, with RCM-marked, AS/NZS-compliant commercial hardware.
