I tried going back to the Pixel 10 Pro XL, but one missing feature makes it impossible to use

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I’m a notoriously erratic gadget charger. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard “hurry up” while trying to get the kids out of the house for the weekend — snatching my phone off the plug at the last possible second, praying that it has enough juice to get through the day.

Having spent a good deal of my recent time with super-fast charging phones like the OPPO Find X9 Ultra and Xiaomi 17 Ultra , I’m always pleasantly surprised that just 20 minutes on the USB-C cable while eating breakfast is enough to get me through the day. However, I recently went back to the Pixel 10 Pro XL to get reacquainted with its cameras and see how I felt about gaming on its Tensor chip again. It didn’t take long for the battery anxiety to come flooding back.

Not because Pixel 10 Pro XL’s battery life is poor, though it’s not amazing, but simply because I keep forgetting to charge the thing, and it takes forever to get back on its feet when I need to. Yes, there are battery packs and MagSafe accessories I could use, but being tethered is hardly ideal when I want to whip out my Pixel to grab a fleeting snap of the kid’s latest adventures.

If there’s one feature that I really want for the upcoming Pixel 11 Pro XL , it’s faster, more reliable charging. Honestly, I think we deserve it by now.

Don’t take my word for it; our testing data bears out my complaint as well. Looking at the chart below, it’s hard not to be disheartened by Google’s best flagship to date. It takes roughly twice as long to fill up as the OnePlus 15 , yet it has a smaller 5,200mAh Li-Ion cell compared to the OnePlus’ comparatively gargantuan 7,300mAh Si/C Li-Ion battery .

The disparity is just as bad for short top-ups; 20 minutes on the plug gets the OnePlus 15 to 64% charge, while my Pixel languishes on 45%. Not only do rival flagships offer longer battery life, but they also spend less time on the plug to deliver it.

Pixel’s charging deficiency has been made all the more galling by Samsung’s adoption of 60W charging in the new Galaxy S26 Ultra . That added power means Samsung’s Ultra hits full charge in just 42 minutes — the same as the fastest Chinese flagships on the market. Granted, it has a smaller 5,000mAh battery than these 7,000mAh-plus rivals, but it’ll be full before the Pixel 10 Pro XL reaches 80%, and it’s miles ahead on shorter top-ups as well.