It seems that the Google Pixel 6 Pro cannot charge at 30 W after all

Google brought increased charging capabilities to its Pixel smartphones with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, having limited previous generations to 18 W wired charging. In Google's marketing materials, it implies that the Pixel 6 series supports 30 W charging, for which it sells an accompanying charger. Supposedly, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are compatible with USB PD 3.0 PPS, a standard that should provide high wattage charging for the Pixel 6 series across countless compatible chargers. 

However, Android Authority has discovered that something is amiss with both devices. As the graphs below show, the Pixel 6 Pro does not charge at 30 W even when connecting to Google's official charger. Instead, the device peaks at just over 22 W before dropping to 15 W when the device reaches 50% battery. Over time, the Pixel 6 Pro gradually reduces its wattage further to 12 W and as low as 2 W when it nears 100% charge. For reference, Android Authority conducted its tests with Adaptive Battery and Adaptive Charging disabled.

The result is that the Pixel 6 Pro takes 1:51 hours to recharge its 5,000 mAh battery, 24 minutes slower than the Pixel 5 to recharge its 4,080 mAh battery. Google only advertises the Pixel 5 for 18 W charging, though. By contrast, the Galaxy S21 Ultra only neds 1:02 minutes to bring its 5,000 mAh battery to 100% charge at 30 W.

Overall, we did not expect the Pixel 6 Pro to recharge constantly at 30 W. Its inability to ever charge at 30 W is disappointing. In fact, you may as well stick with your existing 18 W Pixel charger, if you still have one lying around.

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