What you need to know
- Google recently announced the new Pixel Buds Pro at its annual Google I/O developer conference.
- According to a recent filing, Google's new wireless earbuds will charge wirelessly at 2.5W.
- The Pixel Buds Pro will launch alongside the Pixel 6a this July and retail for $199.
There were plenty of Pixel announcements at Google I/O, but perhaps the most low-key of the bunch was the new Pixel Buds Pro. The wireless earbuds managed to bring back wireless charging, and a new certification fills us in on how fast they'll charge using this method.
9to5Google spotted a filing by the Wireless Power Consortium for the Pixel Buds Pro, which provides some additional details about the earbuds. The most notable is the "Maximum received power," which is rated at 2.5W.
While this isn't as fast as some of the best wireless earbuds, it's the same max wireless charging speed as the Pixel Buds (2020). It's also apparently faster than the AirPods Pro, which are shown to receive a maximum of 1.7W, at least according to a separate filing.
Of course, that's only part of the picture. At Google I/O, the Pixel Buds Pro were revealed to feature 31 hours of total battery life, with about 11 hours per charge. Meanwhile, Apple's top wireless earbuds are rated for 5 hours per charge (without ANC) and about 24 hours of total listening time.
That said, we don't know the battery capacity of the charging case, so total charging time may not differ between Apple and Google's earbuds, given the difference in battery life. We also don't know how long it'll take to fully top up the earbuds, either wired or wirelessly. Still, anyone rocking Google's upcoming earbuds will benefit from faster wireless charging speeds and, most notably, longer listening time than Apple's.
Preorders for the Pixel Buds Pro will open on July 21, and the earbuds will be available for purchase on July 28 for $199. They will launch alongside the Pixel 6a, which will also be available for preorder and purchase on July 21 and July 28, respectively, and retail for $449.
