You are not alone, I have a Pixel 8 and while it charges longer- it is way to slow- I find running a power cord from the USB C in the backseat works out great for me. I toss the phone on the back floor and wireless does the rest. Another note my Wife owns a Mazda- Same thing and my Nissan Frontier ( 2023) is no better. I bet the next car will be better.

 

I have a Pixel 7, currently driving a 24 Outback as a loaner. With a USB-C cable plugged in to the front I get Android Auto. I was not able to pair my phone wirelessly for some reason and didn't put a lot of attention on it as I wasn't planning on driving it for 10 days (long story)...

 

I do not have the wireless charger in my 2020 Touring XT, but had it in two other cars (a 2019 Chevy Suburban and a 2018 BMW). I had the same experience as you, and as a result quit using it / went back to a cord for charging. I don't think it's a Subaru problem FWIW.

 

I must be lucky. I have a 2020 Touring XT with the wireless charger. No problems with charging my phones or overheating.
Had a Samsung S22 for 3+ years with a case and now an iPhone 15 Max Pro with a case.

 

Out of curiosity - are you running CarPlay with maps from the phone along with music streaming from the phone? Most of the time, the excessive heat is from doing those activities while trying to wirelessly charge.. But if you are just charging the phone and using the car's own maps and music, it likely charges without too much issue.

Also - I had a 2021 Audi S4 with wireless charging and also ran into the same issues - so its not specifically a Subaru issue - and its definitely more problematic in the summer months.

 

The trouble withwireless charging is the lack of a standard in cell phone sizing and dimensions, wireless charging coil placement and alignment. Its a literally impossible tasks to build a functional wireless charger that will work on all phones or devices.

Ive found much better success running an ESR wireless charger for my iphone 14 pro with magsafe. it holds tight and charges quickly.

Heres a link for the one Im running - Amazon Link

 

There have been a lot of discussions about the Subaru Outback wireless, charging pad, and how it either won’t charge or overheats the phone. My 2025 came with the charger and it does not work very well with my iPhone 16 Pro with a Speck MagSafe case.

As others have reported, what I’m seeing is the phone will charge for a bit, blue light comes on. After a few minutes, the blue light turns to white. The cycle seems to continue and the phone gets very hot.

As others have suggested, I’ve removed the case and that seems to help. On the same note, I removrd the rubber pad from the wireless charger and the phone seems to charge better.

I think what’s going on is the combination of the relatively thick rubber pad in the wireless charger combined with another barrier in the case, reduces the charging ability, so any of the charging energy is going into heat. Since the rubber mat is about the same thickness as the case, it seems logical that the phone with case should without the rubber pad.

Has anyone tried this? I’ve not seen any post to this effect. Right now I’m pretty happy that this may be a solution.

Don

 

Is there an actual Subaru fix for this? I’ve had this issue since I picked up my 2023 Subaru Outback Wilderness and the dealership keeps shrugging it off.

 

Is there an actual Subaru fix for this?

No

 

i traded my wireless charger with someone locally after posting it for their interior storage piece and it was the best decision ive ever made.