Android Authority first discovered that the Pixel 6 wasn’t achieving the full speed offered by its 30W charger. It found that the phone was drawing around 22W of power, which is certainly not what people were hoping to see from their brand new phones.
Google addressed the issue in a Community Support post, and basically, the company says the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are designed to draw 21W and 23W of power, respectively.
As far as why the phones are drawing less power than their charging bricks can output, Google says it chose battery longevity instead of charging speed. “A battery can be designed for high energy density, or for fast charging power capability, which requires trading off capacity to minimize battery degradation,” explains a Google spokesperson.
Google also says it optimized the phone to charge faster when the battery is low and slower when full. The spokesperson said, “We’ve optimized Pixel’s lithium-ion battery for high charge rates when the battery level is low. Pixel 6 can get up to 50% in around 30 minutes (with Google’s 30W USB-C Power Charger), and quickly reaches up to 80% in about an hour, depending on device usage and temperature.”
Google isn’t technically withholding anything advertised from the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, as the company doesn’t actually state that the devices are capable of 30W charging. However, offering a 30W charger for the phone does slightly mislead buyers, as you’d think offering that charger would mean the phone is compatible.
Between this and the slow fingerprint scanner, it does seem like Google’s Pixel 6 might not be as perfect as we first thought, but it is still a fantastic phone.
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