Google Pixel 8a charges slower than a Galapagos tortoise running 400 meters

Many (quite rightly) puzzle over the seemingly small differences between the Google Pixel 8 and the newer Pixel 8a. However, one of the few reasons to choose the regular Pixel 8 over the more affordable 8a is the charging time.

We tested it and it takes about 100 minutes to fully charge the Google Pixel 8a. While she was incubating, I did some research and found that a leisurely Galapagos tortoise moves at an average speed of about 0.26 kilometers per hour, or 4.3 meters per minute. In the time it takes to charge the Pixel 8a, a particularly determined turtle could complete a 400-meter run in minutes. Talk about slow.

So the regular Pixel 8, which is still pretty slow to charge in the grand scheme of things, is much quicker to get back on its feet than the 8a. However, there are some improvements over the last generation Pixel 7a, which was openly rechargeable.

Why is my Pixel 8a charging slowly?

Unless you’re tracking even more than 100 agonizing minutes from empty to full, this slow charge time is totally expected. If you have much more time, you may need to choose the right USB charger.

The reason it’s so slow is that the Pixel 8a only supports charging up to 18W via USB Power Delivery. That’s less power than many other phones, even at $500, and notably less than the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro’s 27W and 30W, respectively.

The good news, if we can call it that, is that the Pixel 8a charges with an almost identical power profile to the older Pixel 7 (also an 18W phone). It looks like Google has fixed the overheating issues that caused the Pixel 7a to freeze up again when turned on. Unfortunately, the upgrade is only worth a five-minute upgrade before reaching 50%, 75%, and 100% power. But it’s at least something.

Looking at the temperature, the Pixel 8a seems to have a bit of headroom. We recorded peak internal temperatures 2°C lower than the Pixel 8, while average charging temperatures were 4.7°C lower. It certainly looks like the Pixel 8a could handle a bit more power (at least thermally) if it were available.

As a result of its extra power, the regular Pixel 8 fully charges in 77 minutes, about 23 minutes faster than the Pixel 8a. Similarly, the phone charges 10 minutes faster to 75% and 5 minutes faster to 50%. Every minute counts if you want to get back on your feet quickly. Unfortunately, the Pixel 8a doesn’t provide anything close to what we consider modern fast charging.

At just $500, we’re not expecting all the bells and whistles from the Pixel 8a, but faster charging isn’t an anomaly at this price point. For example, the $499 OnePlus 12R has 100W charging (80W in the US), which drains the much larger battery in about half an hour. By this point, the Pixel 8a isn’t even half charged.

But even if we don’t consider this extreme, the mid-range Samsung Galaxy A55 (and the more expensive Galaxy S24) has 25W charging. A representative of the middle class of Samsung is fully charged in less than an hour and a half. It’s not quite fast, but it’s still faster than Google’s budget phone, and hits the key 50% and 75% benchmarks faster. Meanwhile, Samsung’s regular flagship has a 25W charging capability that can charge the phone in about 70 minutes. Even better, the Nothing Phone 2a, a much cheaper budget phone, offers 45W charging that charges the phone in about an hour.

You only have to look around to see that affordable phones don’t have to charge slower than a turtle’s pace. To Google’s credit, it packs a lot into the Pixel 8a, but some important day-to-day features like charging are spaced too thinly. I’d rather sacrifice wireless charging, which is also pathetically slow at 7.5W, in exchange for faster wired charging, which shaves off 20 or 30 minutes.

No one will want to wait 100 minutes or more to charge their phone in 2024, Google. Make your next budget phone charge that much faster.