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The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro do charge a bit faster than the Pixel 7 series. We’ve already covered this as part of our specifications posts, and in some other articles, but it deserves to be mentioned separately too.
The Google Pixel 8 phones do charge a bit faster than the Pixel 7 series
Now, many of you know that Google has been selling its 30W charger for the Pixel 7 series last year. The Pixel 7 and Pixel 8 series phones do not come with a charger, so you need one anyway. You were not forced to buy it, however, as all those phones support USB-C PD 3.0 (PPS) charging. There are plenty of choices out there.
In fact, you didn’t even need the 30W charger for the Pixel 7 series, per se, as neither phone took advantage of such charging speeds. The charging on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 was limited to 21W, while the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro were limited to 23W.
Google did finally make a change in that regard, albeit a small one. The Pixel 8 can charge at up to 27W, while the Pixel 8 Pro can charge at up to 30W, with the appropriate charger.
This is not a huge boost, but we’ll take it
Now, this is not a huge boost compared to the two previous generations, but it’s an improvement, that’s for sure. Both phones also support wireless charging which should be similarly fast.
One thing to note, though, is that neither phone will charge at the max rate all the way through. Once they hit the 50% charge mark, the charging does slow down. So it will still take you a while to charge them fully.
Regardless of all that, it’s nice to see that Google made a step forward, even though it’s not a huge one. It’s hard to justify this considering that many phones nowadays offer 65W, 80W, 100W, 120W, and even faster wired charging. Quite a few of them even support 50W wireless charging.