Pixel 6 doesn’t include a power adapter, Google’s 30W charger costs $25

Smartphones used to come with many accessories in the box, but over the years, that has dwindled down significantly. While this transition has been praised as better for the global environment, as many cheap earbuds and wall adapters have been saved from going into landfills, reducing manufacturing costs is likely still the key benefit for smartphone makers. Google is now following suit with the Pixel 6 series, which does not come with a wall charger.

Previous Pixel phones, going as far back as the original Pixel and Pixel XL from 2016, shipped with 18W USB Type-C wall adapters. The Pixel 6 series finally pushes the maximum wired charging speed past 18W to 30W, but there’s a catch — Google isn’t giving you a wall charger in the box anymore. There’s still a USB Type-C-to-C cable included with the phone, but you need a USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) charger if you want to reach the maximum speed. As pointed out by 9to5Google, when you order the Pixel 6 through the Google Store, you have the option of adding a 30W charger to your cart for $25. You can also buy it separately for the same price.

Thankfully, Google isn’t using a proprietary charging method to reach high speeds (or requiring PPS support in chargers, like Samsung), so any third-party USB PD charger that operates at 30W or higher will likely work with the Pixel 6 series. Although we don’t have a Pixel 6 yet to do our own testing, anything from our best USB PD fast chargers roundup should do the trick.

It’s not too surprising to see chargers become a separate package from the Pixel phones, and given the competitive starting prices for the Pixel 6 series ($599 for Pixel 6, $899 for Pixel 6 Pro), the lack of a charger in the box can probably be forgiven. That being said, it would be nice to see a small discount on the power adapter for people purchasing a Pixel 6.

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