The Google Pixel 8 appears early, and it won’t include the Qi2 charging upgrade

Months before the expected release date, the Google “Pixel 8” was officially certified for Qi wireless charging, confirming no improvement in speed compared to last year.

For a device to tout its compatibility with Qi charging, it first needs to gain approval from the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). This is one of the many regulatory steps leading up to the launch of a new Pixel phone, among others like the Bluetooth SIG, the FCC in the US, and more.

Last year, Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro didn’t appear on WPC’s official website until more than a week after the phones launched. This is what makes today’s news so timely.

Wednesday evening, new Qi Certification list It appeared for the “Google Pixel 8” with the model number “GKWS6”. the 9to5Google The team was also able to independently confirm this model number for Google’s upcoming flagship phone.

Unfortunately, we don’t get a sneak peek of the Pixel 8 — though we did get this last week already — as the listed image depicts the Pixel 6. However, we can assume the rest of the details are correct.

Specifically, the Pixel 8 is set to feature There are no notable upgrades via the Pixel 7’s wireless charging capabilities. According to WPC, the Pixel 8 will offer the same 12W maximum Qi charging rate.

More importantly, based on the aforementioned version of the Qi standard (1.2.4), it appears that the Pixel 8 will not feature the recently announced “Qi2” standard. Built on the foundation of Apple’s MagSafe ecosystem, this upgrade uses magnets to ensure your device aligns properly with Qi charging coils.

Effectively, when this new standard becomes widely available, we’ll see the same ideas introduced in MagSafe in Android smartphones. We’ve seen third-party cases mimic some of these features, but this official support should be interesting to say the least. WPC also says that this change could open up wireless charging to new form factors that “won’t be overloaded with existing flat-top-to-flat-top devices.”

Given that Qi2 was only officially unveiled in January this year, it’s no surprise to see that the Pixel 8 likely won’t include it. However, WPC has not yet released details about the Pixel 8 Pro, so there may be some hope yet.

Either way, it’s somewhat exciting to get some (essentially) first confirmed details of the Pixel 8 early on, even if nothing has changed over the past year.