Google Pixel 5 Turns Into a Wireless Charging Pad When Plugged Into Power

Google Pixel 5 has a cool new charging feature that has just been spotted. Apart from being a phone with a spectacular camera, the Pixel 5 was advertised by Google as being a powerbank on the fly with its reverse wireless power-sharing feature. But unlike many other phones that support wireless power-sharing, it has recently been discovered that the Pixel 5 can automatically turn into a Qi wireless charging pad when it’s plugged into a USB Type-C power adapter.

The details of the feature [spotted] by 9to5Google are on a support page created by Google. The Google Pixel 5 offers the regular reverse wireless power-sharing when it comes in contact with another phone or accessory – like the Pixel 4 or the Pixel buds – that supports the functionality; but one has to manually enable this feature by going into Settings > Battery > Battery share or by adding a toggle switch for it in the quick drop-down menu.

On the contrary, when plugged into a power source and charging, the Pixel 5 automatically enables the power-sharing feature for a short period to detect and charge any Qi-compatible device placed on its back. If no compatible device is detected within 30 seconds, the feature turns off automatically. The Google Pixel 5 also turns off the feature on its own when the receiving device is fully charged, but also if the power transmission is not optimum because the receiving device is not placed on the Pixel 5 correctly, or if the receiving device reaches a high temperature. A user can also manually turn off the feature from settings or set a minimum battery level for the Pixel 5 after which the feature will turn off.

A recent teardown of the Google Pixel 5 had revealed how the phone is capable of supporting reverse wireless power-sharing despite its aluminium body. It reportedly has a cut-out right in the middle of its aluminium shell that lets the wireless charging coil work without any hindrance.

The Google Pixel 5 was launched on September 30 along with a 5G version of the Pixel 4a. But both the Pixel 5 and the 4a 5G are limited to 5G markets and are not likely to come to India or Singapore anytime soon.

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