Wireless charging has existed for some time, but it has never mixed well with metal cell phone housings. This is due to the obvious reason that metal conducts electricity well.

The Pixel 5, however, appears to offer both wireless charging and an aluminum unibody design. But how? A new teardown reveals the secret.

The teardown is by PBKReviews, and the mystery is actually not much of a mystery: it turns out that the Pixel 5 does not actually have an uninterrupted metal shell, despite the appearance of one.

Teardowns revealed that the Pixel 5's aluminum casing has a cutout in the center and that the bio-plastic plastic on the outside of the phone only gives the appearance of a completely uninterrupted surface. This way, the inductive charging coil can fulfill its role without the metal shell affecting its performance.

This is not unheard of, so this is not unique to the Pixel 5, but it shows how phone makers can take advantage of the "best of both worlds" of aluminum shells and wireless charging.

Teardown also reveals many other secrets about the Pixel 5's design. For example, the mmWave 5G antenna has been moved to the top edge by the volume buttons, and the graphite film helps dissipate heat from the camera and battery.

There is also a clip inside to better secure the screen. In other words, if the adhesive holding the screen to the phone fails, as has happened with the Pixel 4's back glass, the clip should keep the screen in place.

iFixit's x-rays also point out that the Pixel 5 uses a logic board like the one in the Pixel 4, which limits the space inside the phone. So no matter how much Google shifts things around, there will still be issues related to adding a larger battery and other critical parts.