Evidence is mounting that Google’s Pixel 10 series will support Qi2 wireless charging, including built-in magnets, finally offering a mainstream Android alternative to Apple’s MagSafe. The latest sign is a leaked image of the Pixel 10 with what appears to be a magnetic wireless charging puck attached to the back.

The leaked image comes from the reliable leaker Evan Blass, and shows a bright blue Pixel 10 — the base model, going by other renders we’ve seen so far — with what appears to be a wireless charging puck attached magnetically to the back. It’s part of a selection of leaked images of the Pixel 10 phones, Pixel Watch 4, and Pixel Buds 2A that corroborate previous leaks. 

The puck is likely part of the “PixelSnap” accessory line previously leaked by Android Authority, though we haven’t seen this specific charger before. That leak, along with a separate report of a PixelSnap phone case, left open the possibility that Google would rely on magnets included in phone cases for magnetic wireless charging, much like Samsung has in its S25, Z Fold 7, and Z Flip 7 handsets. Since this image shows the charger attaching directly to the phone, it appears Google has instead followed Apple and included magnets in the phone itself.

Factor in a separate Android Headlines leak claiming that the Pixel 10 line will be very slightly thicker and heavier than the previous generation, and there’s increasing reason to think that Google has decided to opt for full, magnetic Qi2 support.

Qi2 is an industry-wide magnetic wireless charging standard based on MagSafe, developed with Apple’s support. So far only a single Android phone includes it, the HMD Skyline, though those recent Samsung flagships are certified Qi2 Ready since they require a compatible case to supply the magnets. Qi2 was recently upgraded with up to 25W charging speeds, at which point the Wireless Power Consortium announced that “major Android smartphones will join the Qi2 ecosystem.” It looks like the Pixel 10 phones will be the first.

The OnePlus Nord 5 does exactly what the company’s Nord phones have always done: deliver strong specs at a relatively low price. It’s one of the more powerful phones at this price point and should easily outstrip Samsung and Google’s more expensive alternatives.

This is a function-over-form phone, one where the key selling points are a powerful processor and long battery life, which are the boring mainstays that tend to matter the most in midrange models like this. The problem for the Nord 5 is that other midrange phones in the markets where it’s available — including Europe and India, but not the US — offer even faster chipsets and bigger batteries, leaving the new OnePlus phone a little stranded and reliant on an above-average selfie camera to help it stand out.

OnePlus Nord 5

Score: 7

Pros	Cons
Impressive selfies — especially in low light Strong specs for the price 144Hz display	Other cameras are so-so Plus Mind AI feature feels half-baked Poco F7 offers even more bang for your buck

Where to Buy:

• $530 at OnePlus

Performance sits at the heart of the Nord 5 sales pitch. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset was designed for more expensive phones than this, albeit when it launched a little over a year ago. Combined with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage in the base £399 / €449 (around $530) model, and 12GB RAM and 512GB storage for £100 / €100 (around $125) more, it offers potent specs for the price.

That lends itself well to gaming, which explains why OnePlus has opted for a display that’s big, bright, and fast: a 6.81-inch OLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate. I’m still skeptical about such high refresh rates in phones — few games are ever going to break past 120fps anyway. OnePlus says it’s repositioned the antennae to perform better when the phone’s held in landscape mode for gaming, though manufacturers have been touting that sort of work for years.

Battery is the other half of the performance equation, and the 5,200mAh capacity here is good, too. I spent my first week with the phone traveling (which is how I discovered one annoyance: there’s no eSIM support), which is always demanding on power, and never felt much battery anxiety. It’ll last a day comfortably, and about halfway into a second, but I think you’d struggle to make a full two days without a top-up. The 80W wired charging delivers a full charge in 45 minutes, including bypass charging that powers the phone directly, without overcharging the battery, if you wanted to keep it plugged in during long gaming sessions. The major concession to price is that there’s no wireless charging.

The problem is that for all that power, this isn’t the most capable phone at this price point. The Poco F7 is slightly cheaper than the Nord 5 and comes with a better chipset, bigger battery, and faster charging. The OnePlus phone wins on refresh rate, but that’s hardly enough to make up for being comfortably less powerful elsewhere, meaning the F7 is still likely to hit higher frame rates during demanding games. Anyone looking for gaming performance first and foremost will likely be drawn to the F7, so what can the Nord 5 offer elsewhere to make up the difference?

The most unique element of the hardware is the Plus Key, a new button that replaces OnePlus’ traditional Alert Slider. This is a customizable key that, by default, does the same thing the Alert Slider did — it lets you cycle between ring, vibrate, and silent modes. But it can also be set to open the camera, turn on the flashlight, take a screenshot, and more. It’s not fully customizable, though, so you can’t set it to open any app or trigger custom functions.

The Plus Key can also be used to take a screenshot and add it to Mind Space, an AI tool that analyzes images to summarize them, create reminders, or generate calendar events. It’s remarkably similar to Nothing’s Essential Space, which does almost the same thing — also using a dedicated hardware key — but unlike Nothing’s version, you can’t add voice notes to give the AI more information, get summaries of longer audio recordings, or even open Mind Space itself using the Plus Key, so OnePlus’ take on the software is more basic.

There’s little else to complain about on the software side. The Nord 5 ships running OxygenOS 15, based on Android 15, and will get a respectable (but certainly not category-leading) four years of major OS updates and six years of security support. One extra bonus is easy wireless file-sharing between the phone and a Windows PC, Mac, iPad, or iPhone, though you’ll need to install the O Plus Connect software on the other device — and sadly, there’s no support for the full Mac remote control found on the OnePlus Pad 3.

OnePlus has made an unusual choice by prioritizing the phone’s selfie camera, which features a 50-megapixel sensor that’s larger than the average selfie cam. I’m not a natural selfie-taker, but the results are good and packed with detail. They’re not markedly better than rivals in normal lighting, but that’s because most phone cameras now handle daylight comfortably. The portrait mode is the only small weak point, struggling to separate the strands of my hair most of the time. But this camera comes into its own at night: the large sensor and fast f/2.0 aperture helping the Nord 5 to capture impressive detail in the dark, when most other selfie cameras fall apart. If you need a phone to capture you and your crew on nights out and at dimly lit dinners, this might be the one.

The main 50-megapixel rear camera is good but not great. It struggles with fast-moving subjects like pets and kids, and you’ll need a steady hand to get great shots at night, but that’s all typical for phones at this price. Colors tend to be a little oversaturated and artificial from this lens; the 8-megapixel ultrawide is more subdued but loses much more detail in shadowy spots.

The Nord 5 faces stiff competition on both sides. You could spend less for more power with the Poco F7 or spend £100 / €100 (around $125) more for Google’s Pixel 9A for comfortably better cameras, tougher water resistance, and more years of software support.

The Nord 5 isn’t a bad phone. But it’s unclear what its unique selling point is. OnePlus has leaned into power and performance, but it has been outplayed by Poco. The Pixel 9A, while more expensive, beats it on camera and design. Even its dedicated AI button is done better elsewhere, for less, in the Nothing Phone 3A. The Nord 5’s best hope for finding an audience is its selfie camera, which is better than any other phone around it, at least in low light. But as selling points go, that feels like a minor one.

Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge

After sharing the first official leaked renders of the Pixel 10 yesterday, today Android Headlines has shared images of the 10 Pro too. It looks almost identical to the base model, but will apparently launch in a more muted set of colors.

Android Headlines reports that the black and white finishes are the familiar “Obsidian” and “Porcelain” that Google has used before. The grayish blue will apparently be called “Moonstone,” while the “Jade” green is the most colorful of the lot, with a subtle gold trim too.

Shortly after Android Headlines shared leaked images of the base Pixel 10 yesterday, Google responded with its own official reveal. We’re not expecting the same to happen again today, as closer inspection suggests that yesterday’s reveal appears to be of the Pro model already.

With the base Pixel 10 rumored to sport its own telephoto camera, it seems like both that and the Pixel 10 Pro will look almost identical, colors aside. But there is still one giveaway: the Pro-exclusive temperature sensor, the small dot below the flash. That’s present in the phone Google officially revealed, which strongly suggests that it’s actually the 10 Pro — not to mention the color in that image looks a lot like the “Moonstone” in today’s leaked renders.

Google has already confirmed that it will reveal the Pixel 10 phones at an event on August 20th, when we’re expecting to see both these phones, along with a larger Pixel 10 Pro XL, a potentially dustproof Pixel 10 Pro Fold, and a Pixel Watch 4 with some battery upgrades.