It seems that when a Pixel 4 with the dev build is placed on a wireless charger and the Qi components aren’t aligned properly, the phone displays a red wwarning message letting you know you need to realign. This could be incredibly handy – we’ve often placed phones down on flat Qi chargers and come back later to discover the phone wasn’t actually charging.
It’s worth noting that 9to5Google could only get this working on one Pixel they tested, but hopefully it’ll come to all Pixel 3, 4 and, presumably, 5 devices when Android 11 is released later in the year.
Presumably this works by the charger and phone Qi sensors being partially aligned and therefore able to detect a current but unable to deliver a full one. Whatever is at play it is quite clever and will save you waking up in the morning with a phone about to run out of battery.
On the other hand, long live charging cables?
Henry is Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, ensuring he and the team covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about for readers and viewers all over the world. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.
