Paul’s Pixel 10 Diaries: More Pixelsnap Magic ⭐

Back in September, I discussed Pixelsnap, Google’s brand for Qi2 wireless device charging, or what Apple calls MagSafe. Since then, I finished my reviews of the three primary Pixel 10 series phones–the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL–and I’m starting on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold now that we’re back in Pennsylvania. These phones have a lot in common, of course. But Pixelsnap is inarguably among the best advances that’s common to each.

Qi wireless charging has evolved over time, of course. But the two most recent advances are the most exciting. The first arrived with Qi2, which added the Magnetic Power Profile (MPP) capability that Apple created as MagSafe, spreading that most useful of features outside the Apple ecosystem. The second was Qi2.2, which almost doubled the wireless charging speed from the 15 watts of its predecessor to 25 watts. Yes, this is still slower than typical wired charging speeds today–the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL, for example, can charge at up to 45 watts with a compatible charger, and some Asian brands are much faster still–but the convenience is undeniable, and the shift from 15 to 25 watts is a big deal.

That assumes, of course, that your device and and wireless charger are both Qi2.2 compatible. The base Pixel 10 and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold only support 15-watt Qi2 (not 2.2) wireless charging (and only 30 watts on USB-C), for example. And 25-watt, Qi2.2-compatible peripherals aren’t yet as common as the more compatible 15-watt products. So you need to pay attention and buy accordingly if you want the fastest speeds.

But either way, this is a big deal for those of us who aren’t firmly in the Apple camp. (It will be an even bigger deal when and if Samsung belatedly and finally embraces this standard as well, as rumors suggest may happen in 2026.)

It’s certainly a big deal for me. Google’s embrace of what it calls Pixelsnap has let me likewise embrace the incredible ecosystem of compatible wireless chargers, stands, tripod/selfie-sticks, and other peripherals that has exploded since Apple introduced the technology to the iPhone. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but since I switch regularly between whatever the latest Pixel and iPhone is at the time, it wasn’t really possible. Now, I’m all in.

This is a work in progress. In addition to the devices I wrote about and used in the previous Pixelsnap article, I’ve gotten a few new additions, two of which are made by Google and very specifically optimized for Pixel devices. And while we’re in Pennsylvania through mid-January, I will be adding a few more, including a second selfie stick/tripod like the one I keep in Mexico and love (and wrote about in What I Use: Mexico, September to November 2025). Actually, I just ordered that.

But first, here’s the mini tripod/phone stand that I purchased previously this year after seeing an ad for it on Instagram. I know.

This one is useful because it’s much smaller than the full-sized selfie stick/tripod and can be used in a surprising number of ways. It’s MagSafe (and now Pixelsnap) compatible, of course, and has a rock-solid connection.

The versatility is tied to the myriad of ways in which you can mount the device with your phone attached. It has three little tripod legs you can expand out as with a normal tripod for use on a table or other flat surface.

But it also has a clamp that lets you attach the device to all kinds of edges, from tables to doors to luggage to whatever else. You can do so in any orientation, including upside down and sideways. Thanks to a curved inner notch on either side of the clamp, that can also include a clothes-hanging rod or similarly cylindrical object. And while I haven’t done this yet, the clamp also has a standard threaded hole for a normal tripod so you can use it that way too.

And you can extend the tripod legs and just use it as a small handheld selfie stick.

This thing is so versatile I may just get another one. I had previously left it in Mexico and missed it when we were home in August and September. It folds up into a nicely small and portable little bundle, so I brought it back to Pennsylvania for now. Yeah, I think I need one in both places.

If you think back to the beginning of this series, you may recall that I had gotten started on the Pixel 10 series phone reviews pretty late in the game. I’m still behind, of course–the Pixel 10 Fold has been available for purchase for over a month as I write this–but Google was nice enough to send me three additional Pixelsnap accessories back in October. Which I’ve only started using this past weekend, since they of course sent the box to Pennsylvania and we just got back.

The first is a Pixelsnap Ring Stand, a $29.99 magnetic circle that sits on the back of a Pixel 10 series phone or other MagSafe/Qi2+ compatible device and features a fun metal ring you can extend out and use to prop up the device. It’s secure, but you can angle the Ring Stand however you want. It works great in portrait or landscape mode on the standard Pixel 10 series phones, but it also works well with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, go figure.

The mini tripod/phone stand and Pixelsnap Ring Stand don’t offer any way to pass power through to your phone, so you’ll need to work off battery or connect a USB power cable. And I had purchased a Ring Stand in September when it first became available, so that one wasn’t new to me. But the other two items Google shipped address those issues and they are interesting in their own rights.

The second is the Pixelsnap Charger with Stand, a $69.99 peripheral that didn’t ship until late September when we were already in Mexico.

This two-in-one device is essentially a desktop stand for Pixel (or other devices) with a detachable wireless charging puck you can travel with.

It supports 25-watt wireless charging with a Pixel 10 Pro series phone (or other Qi2.2.-compatible phone), but it falls back to 15 watts for the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

You can mount the phone in portrait or landscape orientation, of course, and with all the new Pixels, you can then take advantage of the excellent new Pixel Screen saver feature in which you can use the phone like a modern nightstand-sized smart screen with your choice of various clock, photo slideshow, smart home dashboard, and weather displays.

It’s not perfect: It only comes in a single color choice (the charger puck is Fog, a light gray color, while the stand is Snow, or white). You can’t change the angle of the stand at all, most likely to avoid instability. And you have to provide your own power supply, which makes its already-high price a bit less defensible. (That said, if you don’t have a Qi2.2-compatible phone, compatible power adapters are cheap. Plus you probably have one already either way.)

And that is where the final item that Google sent comes in, the $59.99 Pixel Flex Dual Port 67W USB-C Fast Charger. This one isn’t technically a Pixelsnap device. But it will most often be used with a new Pixel device. Or two.

Google now sells two Pixel-branded USB-C chargers, a 45-watt version for $29.99 that supports the fastest wired charging speeds of modern Pixels and the even more interesting 67-watt Pixel Flex Dual Port Fast Charger. As suggested by the name, this charger has two USB-C ports, so it can charge two devices at once. Both ports support the Power Delivery (PD) 3.2 and PPS Programmable Power Supply (PPS) charging standards, so either can charge at up to 67 watts.

The magic here, for Pixel owners, is that this charger is designed to prioritize modern Pixel devices. Normally, when you connect two devices (a Chromebook or PC, perhaps, and phone), it will provide up to 30 or 37 watts of power to both. But if you plug in a Pixel, it will get more power than the other device and charge more quickly. I’m trying to test this in various configurations as I write this, but it’s an interesting idea.

This charger is also incredibly portable, in that it’s roughly half the size of a typical (one-port) 65-watt USB-C charger used by PC makers. But because it’s universally compatible, it should work fine with any PC, Mac, Chromebook, tablet, or phone, plus whatever other chargeable devices.

One of the many ways in which you could use this charger is with the Pixelsnap Charger with Stand noted above, plus some other charger, like a Pixel Watch charger. Or just a USB-C cable for whatever device.

I’ll see how well the Pixelsnap Ring Stand and Pixel Flex Dual Port 67W USB-C Fast Charger work together, along with the charging cable/puck for my Pixel Watch 3. But as noted, I’m curious to see what charging is like when two different devices of various kinds are attached. So that may take a while.

But whatever happens, the Pixelsnap future looks bright, due in large part to its compatibility with the latest MagSafe/Qi2.2 standards. This is a good thing, a very good thing. And as noted, I’m all-in.