The Google Pixel 6 reportedly won’t ship with a charging brick in-box as Google follows Apple and Samsung’s lead.<\/b>
\nThe Google Pixel 6 will not ship with a wall charger in the box, following Samsung and Apple\u2019s moves dropping charging bricks to reduce e-waste (and, of course, save on costs). This goes for all future Google phones, too \u2013 the just-launched Google Pixel 5a will be the last to launch with a wall charger in the box, as first reported by The Verge. While that could mean the Pixel 6 arrives in a slimmer box with nothing but the phone, we presume Google will include at least a charging and connection cable (likely USB-C to USB-C), as Apple and Samsung have done. That allows new owners to transfer over their data physically from old phone to new, if they\u2019re averse to wirelessly uploading and downloading all their old apps and info. Of course, just because Google has joined two of the biggest smartphone companies in ditching wall chargers doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019ll disappear. Even if other massive phonemakers like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Huawei should follow suit, people still need to connect their cables to wall outlets. That means consumers will simply buy one after-market if they need, either from first- or third-party retailers. Phonemakers would rather you buy theirs, of course \u2013 Samsung asserts that \u2018for the best battery performance and durability\u2019 one should buy chargers that are \u2018genuine Samsung products\u2019 on its charger FAQ page \u2013 but there are plenty of options online. Apple, Samsung, and Google\u2019s reasoning for ditching the charger makes some sense \u2013 those bricks can just pile up if they end up being redundant. It\u2019s also catering to shifting consumer values, Samsung Mobile\u2019s Head of Product Management in the UK Paul Scott told TechRadar last year. \u201cListening to our consumers they\u2019re making far more, as we are, sustainable choices in their daily lives, and what we need to do is make sure that we support that,\u201d Scott said. \u201cWe do not want to be sending a consumer yet another charger when they\u2019ve possibly got a charger from, say,2018 or going all the way back to 2017. It’s a USB Type-C charger, so we’re not changing it.\u201d Of course, that doesn\u2019t tell the whole story: sure, Android phones have been using USB-C chargers for years, but their wattage has shot up since then. The 2017 Samsung Galaxy S8 launched with a 15W charger in the box, while the 2021 Samsung Galaxy S21 peaks at 25W \u2013 or, if you pick another phonemaker that\u2019s actually kept up with the pace of charging speeds, you can get an Asus ROG 5 with a 60W charger in box, or a OnePlus 9 with a 65W brick. Asus and OnePlus wall chargers are optimized for their brands (and will charge their own phones faster than those from other companies), but they\u2019ll still recharge phones that can take the wattage much faster than older bricks. Google, Apple, and Samsung may be ditching them out of partial sustainability concerns, but consumers will still have to buy an up-to-date charger if they want the fastest recharging speeds.<\/p>\n