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Google's Pixel 9 Pro XL possibly needs specific chargers for its 37W fast charging
- The Pixel 9 Pro XL reportedly achieves faster charging this year by using a higher voltage.
- Some chargers might not support this voltage level despite being capable of 40W power or more.
- What is your best bet for charging the Pixel 9 Pro XL? Buy Google’s official 45W charger.
The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL stands above the broader Pixel 9 series, supporting much faster charging than last year. It now hits 37W, up from 27W last-gen, provided you have a compatible USB Power Delivery PPS charger. However, you might also need to check if your new charger supports a specific voltage requirement. Just what we need — another complication to throw into the charging hell pit.
A thread on Reddit points out that the Pixel 9 Pro XL, the only model to sport faster charging this year, does so by increasing the charging voltage rather than the more traditional strategy of increasing the current. Specifically, the handset hit up to 18V in the poster’s testing.
Voltage and current are two halves of the same power coin, but typically, converting high voltages back down to ~4V battery level incurs an efficiency and heat penalty, so the technique is usually reserved for higher power levels and bigger batteries, such as those in laptops.
More importantly, though, not every charging brick on the market meets this requirement because phones that use higher voltages for USB Power Delivery PPS are not as common. For example, Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra I have in hand opts for under 10V and up to 5A of current. In other words, even if you have a charging brick that outputs 40W or more, it might not be able to provide the 37W the Pixel 9 Pro XL wants in the way that it asks for it.
Your charger might not be able to provide the 37W the Pixel 9 Pro XL wants in the way that it asks for it.
That said, Google isn’t alone in using higher voltages for fast charging. Thanks to high voltages, ASUS’ Zenfone 11 Ultra and ROG Phone 8 Pro can reach up to 65W over USB PD PPS, but they charge slower on charging adaptors I tested that only support 10V. Laptops also commonly request 20V to scale up to 100W or more but mostly do this over the regular USB PD specification.
We’re still testing precisely what the Pixel 9 Pro XL needs to charge at full power, but if it does require a higher voltage, third-party chargers already exist that should work just fine; you’ll just have to verify the support voltage. For example, Samsung’s latest 45W charger claims to hit 20V/2.25A over PPS. Still, if you need a new charger for your Pixel 9 Pro XL, playing it safe with Google’s official 45W charger is your best bet.
