The built-in Qi2 magnets in the Pixel 10 series are one of the biggest hardware additions and, for the world of MagSafe accessories already on the market, a piece of good news is that there’s a little “lock” magnet to help keep those accessories in place, just like you find on iPhone.
Apple’s MagSafe standard is what brought phone magnets to the masses and, with it, a whole new collection of accessories. The main idea behind MagSafe and its industry-standard counterpart, Qi2, is to perfectly align the wireless charging coil with a charger to enable higher speeds and better efficiency. A great idea, but just the foundation of many other types of accessories.
Wallets, mounts, grips, kickstands, battery banks, and so many other useful accessories are made possible by placing magnets inside of your phone and its cases, and Qi2 is what makes that an industry standard that anyone can use.
One minor concern I saw floating around regarding Pixel 10, though, was whether or not the Qi2 magnets would include something to keep accessories in place. The actual ring of magnets does the “heavy lifting” for accessories, but the iPhone includes a secondary magnet underneath which keeps accessories such as wallets from sliding around the back of the device.
On the Pixel 10 series, Google has done the same.
Using a magnetic film, we can see on our Pixel 10 Pro XL here that there’s a magnet below the main Qi2 ring, just like on iPhones, to keep accessories “locked” in place.
This does seem to be a part of the overarching Qi2 standard, rather than something Google chose to implement itself.
In digging through the Qi 2.1 specification, we found the diagram below which illustrates where the “orientation magnet” should be placed.
So, as Qi2 makes it way to other Android phones – at least, assuming other brands follow the standard Google is setting – you can expect the same to be the case.
This is also important because, in the current Wild West-style ecosystem of magnet accessories for Android devices, that orientation magnet just doesn’t exist. Looking at a “Qi2 Ready” case for the Galaxy S25 Ultra (the same is in Samsung’s official case) and one of OnePlus’ magnet cases for the OnePlus 13, there’s no orientation magnet in place, though I did find one in a dbrand case for my Pixel 9 Pro XL. It’s just so hit or miss on devices without Qi2 built-in.
Are you looking forward to seeing more magnetic accessories for the Pixel 10 and other Android devices?
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