Pixel 9 series was not upgraded to support this wireless standard; maybe Pixel 10 will have it

After owning the Pixel 2 XL, I had high hopes for the Pixel 6 Pro when I switched from the iPhone 11 Pro Max in early 2022. But the device had an awful modem that often lost connectivity to my carrier, and the battery was among the worst for a 2021-2022 flagship phone. And don’t get me started on the optical under-display fingerprint scanner that made unlocking the phone a crap shoot.

Google has made some improvements to the chipset and next year the Tensor G5, designed by Google from the ground up, will be produced by TSMC using the foundry’s 3nm process node. The Pixel 9 series uses the same ultrasonic fingerprint scanner employed by the Galaxy S24 series, and the line will feature the Exynos 5400 modem. The latter supports satellite connectivity and more.

While it sounds like things are on the right track, one area where Google did not make a change although it could have is with the wireless charging feature offered by the Pixel 9 series. Google has decided not to include support for the Qi2 wireless charging standard with its latest phones. Qi (pronounced “chee”) 2 delivers wireless charging speeds of up to 15W, double the wireless charging speed offered by the previous generation of Qi. The new standard launched in 2023 and any Qi2 charger can charge any Qi2 phone.

In addition, Qi2 charging is more efficient since the new Magnetic Power Profile ensures that the coils are aligned perfectly so less power is lost. That is what happens when the coils are misaligned. Since the energy is lost as heat, the phone’s battery could end up with a shorter lifespan.

Last November, the rumor mill had many believing that the Pixel 9 series would come with support for Qj2. This speculation was fueled when Googler Liyu Yang, a senior hardware engineer and system tech lead focused on wireless charging technology for Pixel, joined the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) board. While certainly a good reason to believe that the Pixel 9 series would support Qi2, it just didn’t happen.

Actually, as of today, only one Android phone supports Qi2 and you probably never heard of the model. It is the HMD Skyline, a mid-range phone that is powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 AP but includes a 6.55-inch display with a 144Hz refresh rate, a 108MP primary camera, and a 50MP selfie snapper.

So now we can look ahead to next year’s Pixel 10 which will bring improvements under the hood with the Google-designed Tensor G5 SoC. We should almost certainly see the Pixel 10 line feature Qi2 wireless charging support. As for the Pixel 9 series, faster wireless charging might still be possible if you can find a case that offers support for Qi2 wireless charging.