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The Pixel Watch 2 drops wireless charging for contact pins

With the Pixel Watch 2, Google is moving away from wireless charging and instead using a pin-based connector that Fitbit owners will be familiar with.

The back of the Pixel Watch 2 has a 3×3 grid of circular points. That inner cross consists of the new health sensors, while the corners are contact pins for power.

This is the exact same arrangement as recent Fitbit Sense and Versa series devices. In fact, those existing chargers will work on the Pixel Watch 2. The “USB-C Fast Charging Cable” included in the box is still a white and circular puck, but there are now four pins on the underside.

Magnets help line up the connection, with the wire being on the same side as the crown. Unfortunately, you can’t just haphazardly connect the wearable and cable in any orientation.

Google is making this change because pin-based charging is faster than wireless and generates less heat, a noticeable factor in the original model. With this new cable, you can go from 0-80% in 43 minutes versus that taking nearly an hour on the original watch.

Pixel Watch: OldPixel Watch: NewPixel Watch 2
0-50%30 mins45 mins30 mins
0-80%55 mins75 mins43 mins
0-100%80 mins110 mins75 mins
Update 10/12: Google has updated charging speeds for the original Pixel Watch. Read more here

This charging cable comes as the Pixel Watch 2, with its 306 mAh battery, now offers 24 hours of power with the AOD enabled. A major factor there is the new 4 nm Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 SoC that replaces the Samsung Exynos 9110, which was built on a 10 nm process.

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

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