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.