Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will not ship with wall chargers

Google is the latest manufacturer to bid farewell to the built-in charging brick, saying it expects the Pixel 5A to be the last phone to include one. This means the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro won’t include one when they arrive this fall.

The company claims most people already have a USB-C charging brick, so there’s no need to include one with their phones anymore. Apple and Samsung made similar arguments when they announced that they would no longer offer a built-in charger. That may be true, but it’s likely that the cost savings of not having a charger played a big part in those decisions.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

There is also an environmental argument for ditching the charger: fewer redundant chargers shipped to customers theoretically reduces e-waste. This is difficult to prove, however, and it potentially just means that greenhouse gas emissions from the production and shipping of accessory chargers will be distributed among more companies as more companies develop. people buy them from third-party manufacturers.

One thing seems certain, however: with these three major phone makers determined to remove the charger, small businesses will have an easier time following suit and doing the same. While phone buyers may feel like it’s about paying the same price and getting less, it’s probably a reality we’ll all have to make our peace with, so hold onto your wall chargers.