Google’s latest Pixel 10 phones, which were just announced today, don’t come with many external physical changes. The most tangible hardware addition across the lineup, in fact, is completely invisible: a set of magnets beneath the phones’ back panels.
With the new Pixelsnap system, Google is the first major Android manufacturer to finally catch up to Apple’s MagSafe. Apple launched its magnetic wireless charging system on the iPhone 12 range in 2020, and it’s quietly become one of the best things about using an iPhone.
MagSafe has enabled a whole range of accessories and use cases that let you keep your phone powered up without having to mess around with cables, whether you’re using a slimline portable magnetic battery or a charger plugged into your car. It’s one of those things that’s hard to go without once you’re used to it—and I feel it almost every day as someone who constantly bounces back and forth between iOS and Android.
With Pixelsnap, Google is finally bringing Android up to speed. It works with the Qi2 standard, allowing for fast wireless charging at up to 25W on the Pixel 10 Pro XL, or up to 15W on the Pixel 10, 10 Pro and 10 Pro Fold. Google is selling a $39.99 Pixelsnap charging puck that looks similar to Apple’s MagSafe equivalent and can be slotted into a vertical charging stand. There’s also a Ring Stand attachment that doesn’t provide any power but uses the same magnets to provide a handy kickstand that can prop your phone up in landscape or portrait mode.
This is great news for Pixel fans—or at least new Pixel buyers—who’ll now be able to see what the MagSafe hype was all about. Qi2 is backwards-compatible with MagSafe, in fact, since Apple itself contributed to the standard, so a huge range of accessories designed for iPhones will now work with Pixel phones as well.
What took so long?
That raises an obvious question, though: what exactly took so long, given that Qi2 launched in 2023 and is an open standard based on existing technology that anyone can use?
Even before Qi2, it seemed inevitable that Android phone makers would rush to follow Apple. Chinese brand Realme was the first, announcing its own proprietary solution called MagDart in 2021. The technology did work—the company even sent me prototype chargers and a compatible phone—but it never launched on any commercial devices.
More recently HMD, perhaps best known for taking on the Nokia brand, released a niche phone called the Skyline that appears to be the only true Qi2 magnet-equipped device on the market. I say “true Qi2” because a lot of phones, for example Samsung’s current flagship Galaxy S25, are certified as “Qi2 Ready” without actually having the magnets in place. What this really means is that it’ll work with Qi2 chargers if you buy a compatible case, which is also true of any Qi phone—albeit potentially at slower speeds.
I’m not a hardware engineer so I don’t presume to understand the challenges here, but it doesn’t seem like including Qi2 magnets necessarily requires making major compromises on industrial design. The Pixel 10 and 10 Pro are just 0.1mm thicker than their predecessors, while the 10 Pro XL has kept the same thickness. Each phone has gained a few grams in weight, but they also all have bigger batteries.
Part of the issue might have been that no one was willing to jump in first. Most Android hardware innovation comes from Chinese manufacturers these days, but wireless charging has historically not been as important in their home market. High-end Chinese phones only started adopting Qi as a standard around 2021 or so, and companies like Oppo and Huawei remained more focused on pushing their ultra-fast wired charging solutions. While nowadays every Chinese flagship has fast wireless charging built in, they also all require proprietary accessories that don’t support Qi2.
But even if that really was a factor, I have no idea what Samsung’s excuse is. The “Qi2 Ready” Galaxy S25 Ultra only supports 15W wireless charging, and Samsung hasn’t invested in a proprietary system of its own. It’s inexplicable that the most dominant brand in the US market hasn’t kept up here.
A return to best practices
My hope is that Pixelsnap sees Google return to the role it once played in the Android ecosystem. Before the Pixel line, Google’s Nexus devices—produced in partnership with other OEMs—served as examples of best practices for manufacturers to adopt. They weren’t always the flashiest of products, but coupled with Google’s understated yet definitive take on Android software, they tended to provide the most user-friendly experience.
Magnetic wireless charging is all about the user experience. It’s not something that necessarily excites power users by reading about it on a spec sheet, but it can help you fit your phone into your life in a more natural, less messy way. With any luck, Pixelsnap will be the catalyst for other Android phone makers to get on board.
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