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HTC’s newest smartphone, the U12 Plus, does not support wireless charging. For those that might have started following the company in the past few years, that may not be surprising. But HTC was one of the first manufacturers to adopt wireless charging, many years ago. In fact, the HTC Droid DNA it did for Verizon had wireless charging. So why not add wireless charging to the U12 Plus? It does have a glass back after all. HTC clarified the matter to AndroidHeadlines, providing what’s essentially the same explanation other manufacturers previously used when omitting the said feature.
When talking about wireless charging, HTC explained that it doesn’t feel the trade-off of adding wireless charging would benefit the consumer. Arguing that adding the coils for wireless charging would make the U12 Plus thicker, but also arguing that the technology is still too slow to really take advantage of. HTC also argued that with wireless charging, you need to put your phone down in a specific location on a table or desk, or else it won’t charge. And even then, it may slip off of its charging pad and stop charging. These are all very valid points, and HTC believes that Quick Charging is a better option for consumers. In the U12 Plus box, users will get a Quick Charge 3.0 wall charger from HTC, while the phone itself is also capable of Quick Charge 4.0 – which makes it only the third device to support Quick Charge 4.0 after the Razer Phone and Nubia Z17.
For most people, the lack of wireless charging won’t be a deal-breaker, nor should it be one. It’s one of those things that customers like to have on their device, but being able to plug in your phone and charge it from empty to full in just over an hour is generally considered to be a much more useful feature to have. HTC hasn’t said it will be circumventing wireless charging with future devices, it just doesn’t see a real need to use it right now.