Seriously, how do we not have more Android phones with Qi2 yet?

Ben Schoon | Jun 7 2026 - 9:00 am PT

Ever since the Pixel 10 was released last year, Qi2 magnets have been a love-hate relationship – I love using them, but I hate that, somehow, the Pixel 10 is the only Android phone that has them. It’s crazy to me that no other Android brand has taken this feature seriously, and that we still have no word of that changing.

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The Qi2 standard with magnets was announced in early 2023, over three years ago, with the promise of bringing the idea behind Apple’s MagSafe to the industry as a whole.

Three years later, Android brands are largely still ignoring it.

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Google’s Pixel 10 series was the first true embrace of Qi2 from Android, and it’s been wonderful. Being able to use the Pixel 10 not only with Google’s “Pixelsnap” accessories, but a whole host of other Qi2 and MagSafe accessories really builds out an experience that you don’t get elsewhere on Android. No matter how you use the device, no matter what case you use, it all works.

And then there’s everyone else.

Most major Android brands haven’t even acknowledged Qi2 and, for those that have, there’s been no true adoption. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series marks the second year in a row that the company has ignored this standard, this time for the sake of making devices a hair thinner instead of last year’s lame excuse that “customers aren’t asking for it.” Samsung is ignoring the bigger picture, but we’ve talked about that before.

The thing that kills me is that it’s not like the industry isn’t moving in that direction anyway, whether Android brands get on board or not.

The vast majority of new wireless chargers are all embracing Qi2, and there’s a whole host of new accessories such as battery banks and more all adopting this standard en masse. And, meanwhile, there are literally four Android phones that natively support it – the fifth, HMD Skyline, ran out of software support late last year, and the Clicks Communicator isn’t due out until later this year.

*One of these is objectively a better experience than the other*

“But you can just use a case.”

I know, we all know. But the problem with Android phones not actually adopting Qi2 isn’t just the ability to use it without a case. Phones that don’t upgrade to Qi2 at all – a remarkable number of phones are still using Qi 1.3.3 – miss out on the faster charging speeds we’ve been seeing, and rely on the casemaker to get the alignment right. If nothing else, “Qi2 Ready” at least sets up casemakers for success with proper alignment and Qi2 support.

It also just signals that brands aren’t taking this industry shift seriously. For crying out loud, Samsung’s phones still can’t properly use more Qi2 accessories because Samsung refuses to change its design.

We’ve talked about this a lot over the the past few years, but I’m reminded of this problem every time a new battery bank – stay tuned, there’s a good one dropping this month – or Qi2 accessory crosses my desk for review, and I’m frankly tired of it.

Qi2 magnets, regardless of whether or not you even use wireless charging, are a genuine and practical smartphone upgrade in a world where every new smartphone generation is less of an upgrade than ever – it’s genuinely crazy to me that such an obvious win is just continually ignored by essentially everyone.

Apple already treats Android phones like they’re ancient, and this stubborn ignorance of Qi2 isn’t helping.

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