The Pixel 7 can’t charge your Pixel Watch — even if it looks like it can

That charging animation is lying to you

Charging the best Android smartwatches and the best fitness trackers the market is in chaos right now. Other than their bundled charger, there’s no guarantee you’ll get a consistent charging experience. For example, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 5 series features WPC-based wireless charging. This means you can use your Galaxy phone to charge the watch, but not most other Android phones, even if they support reverse wireless charging via Qi. If you were hoping Google Pixel watch to do better in this area, prepare to be disappointed.

The Pixel Watch’s official specs page makes it clear that it doesn’t support Qi wireless charging. Google made this clear to editors in its product review guide. This means you have to use the included USB-C charger to charge.

Our team, however, noticed that the charging animation appeared on their Pixel watches when placed on a Qi-enabled surface. However, the battery never gets any power and continues to drain. There are reports from other Pixel Watch users Reddit and Twitter with a similar experience. Some have managed to get the charging animation to show using reverse wireless charging on them Pixel 7but ten seconds after that the wearable stopped charging.

Google confirmed this strange behavior of the Pixel watch and doubled down on the lack of Qi charging in a statement to 9to5Google:

Qi charging is not supported on the Google Pixel Watch. There may be some charging configurations where reverse wireless or Qi charging seems to work. This will be very specific to the device and charger and is not guaranteed to provide a consistent, steady or strong charge. Note that in some cases this may cause the device to discharge while on the charger. The Pixel Watch only supports charging with the included inbox (sic) charger.

This means you’ll need to carry the Pixel Watch’s magnetic charger with you on vacation and business trips. It will be especially inconvenient if you are already packed up to your neck.

The Pixel Watch isn’t the only watch with this charging problem. Unlike smartphones, there is no universal charging standard for smartwatches as companies have come up with their own solutions and they all end up being incompatible with each other.