It's been 84 years, but my dream of 'MagSafe' on a Pixel is almost here

I am an Android and a Pixel fan who has been heralding MagSafe as the coolest and most useful smartphone accessory improvement since sliced bread — or USB-C to stay within the metaphor. So when Qi2 was announced with a hint of MagSafe backwards compatibility, I was in nerd heaven. Finally — finally! — I’d be able to dip into a large ecosystem of accessories and use them on my Pixel phones.

But Qi2’s announcement came and went, and the weeks, months, and years passed us by without any Android phone adding support for the standard. Then came the HMD Skyline, the first phone with built-in Qi2 charging and magnet compatibility, which made little impact besides claiming the title of “first to market.” Google released its Pixel 9 series with good ol’ first-gen Qi, letting 2024 roll into 2025 with me still twiddling my thumbs waiting for Qi2’s big “Finally!” moment.

Early 2025 didn’t change much. I thought the Samsung Galaxy S25 series would take us over the hump and herald the age of Qi2, and while the phones are Qi2-ready, they don’t have the built-in magnet compatibility that I really want. Instead, you have to buy a magnetic case, which solves the issue without really solving it (I’ll get to the “why” later). Similarly, the OnePlus 13 uses a magnetic case to trigger its proprietary AIRVOOC wireless charging ecosystem, and the OPPO Find X8 series followed with the same strategy.

It’s easy to lose hope in this context. I was starting to think that 2025 is done for, and that I’d have to wait for 2026 to see Qi2’s big moment on Android come to fruition. But lo and behold, Google, the brand less likely to innovate on hardware specs, is potentially preparing an unexpected surprise: Qi2 on the Pixel 10. And if that turns out to be true, you’ll find me doing the Shia LaBeouf clapping meme in real life for a few minutes. Here’s why.

Google adopting Qi2 puts pressure on everyone to adopt Qi2

Android brands have been fighting over small margins on spec sheets for years now, and no one wants to be left behind. If OnePlus upgrades to the latest processor, Samsung will follow, and if Xiaomi speeds up its charging, OPPO will go faster. It took ages to get the first under-display fingerprint scanner, but now almost all Android phones have them; the same happened with higher adaptive refresh rates on displays, periscope cameras, and so on. It only takes one small snowball to create an avalanche, but waiting for the snowball is the hardest part.

We’re now seeing this shift with silicon-carbon batteries, and I hope that we’ll soon see it for Qi2. If Google, the face of Android and the brand with some of the most significant PR exposure (especially in the US market), really added full Qi2 compatibility and created an ecosystem of magnet-friendly “Pixelsnap” accessories, then it will definitely spearhead the online conversation around Qi2, magnets, and “MagSafe on Android.” Reviews, YouTube videos, podcasts, ads — everything will mention Pixelsnap, and the onus will be on everyone else to follow.

That should pressure every other brand to include Qi2 in their upcoming flagship, even speeding up their plans if Qi2 wasn’t part of them already. What was once a “nice to have” feature in the spec sheet would become a real bullet point under the cons if it’s missing. And no brand wants extra cons and reasons for people not to buy its phones.

What we’re potentially looking at with the Pixel 10 is the snowball that starts the avalanche, and I’m all here for it.

Built-in magnet compatibility makes all the difference for Qi2

I’m clumsy and I’m the first one to put a case on all my phones, so why am I so staunchly against the idea of Qi2-ready phones with magnet compatibility brought in by cases? Well, it’s a matter of perception in my opinion.

When the metallic array used by magnets is not built into the phone, Qi2 becomes an extra: It’s not taken seriously by accessory makers who believe (rightfully so) that not all users will be interested in magnetic accessories because they likely don’t know that their phones are compatible.

We’ve seen this with the Galaxy S25 series, where the majority of S25 case makers opted for non-magnetic cases and only offered one or two magnetic options. Meanwhile, most MagSafe accessories are still being made for and marketed at iPhone users, even if they’re also compatible with the Galaxy S25 and its Qi2-ready certification. You and I, the geeks who understand the tech, will know that we can buy a MagSafe charger or stand and use it with a magnetic case on our Galaxy S25 Ultra, but not everyone will. And I think that’s harmful both to the accessory ecosystem and Android’s perception amongst users.

When magnet compatibility is built into the phone, it’s an integral part of it. Ads will mention it, buyers will be aware of it, and the feature becomes a given, not an extra. Case makers will make sure most of their models offer it to replicate the phone’s setup, and you and I, we’ll have a larger choice in terms of compatible case colors and pricing. Plus, this opens up a whole world for accessory makers to adopt their accessories for Android, make special ones for different phones, or include compatible Android phones in their product images and marketing. Basically, look at the early years of MagSafe on the iPhone and copy-paste that to Android, though perhaps on a smaller scale. (It’s a well-known fact that iPhone buyers pay more for accessories than Android owners, so accessory companies cater to them more.)

That is without mentioning, obviously, the small proportion of users who prefer to carry their phone case-less and could only benefit from the full Qi2 featureset if the magnetic setup was built-in.

This is why I think the simple Qi2-ready certification isn’t enough. It’s basically the same thing as slapping a cheap metallic ring on a phone and calling that MagSafe; it’s not the same.

And why magnets? Well, because they align a Qi2 wireless charger to charge up in the most efficient way possible, and also because the simplicity of snap-on and snap-off to add an accessory to your phone is unparalleled. No plugging, no clipping, no clamping, no holding; just magnets. Wallets, tripods and stands, PopSockets, external camera lights, microphones, and an entire ecosystem of unified magnet-compatible accessories exist out there, and that specific MagSafe- and Qi2-compatible metallic array opens the door for it. I want that for my Pixel phones, and I want it for all Android phones.

Bring on the magnets, I say, or to quote Jesse Pinkman…