Google's Pixel 6 Phone Charging Speed Claims 'Misleading,' Says Plaintiff

Google’s claims of charging speeds for the Pixel 6 smartphone are “misleading,” alleged Brooklyn plaintiff Esther Klang in a Feb. 17 fraud class action (docket 1:23-cv-01316) in U.S. District Court for Eastern New York in Brooklyn. The company failed to disclose that its claim of a phone charging speed of 50% in about 30 minutes requires buying its $25 30-watt USB-C charger based on the USB Power Delivery protocol, said the complaint. Even where the need for the 30-watt charger is disclosed, the maximum power obtained by the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro is just 22 watts, with an average of 13 watts over a full cycle, the complaint said, citing an independent test report this month in Android Authority. The promise of 50% charging in 30 minutes would lead a smartphone user to believe the product can fully charge in an hour, the complaint said, but the testing revealed the time to charge the phone’s battery from near empty to full “takes over two hours.” A consumer wouldn’t expect that a new type of charger, sold for $25, “will only save them 10 minutes,” especially with “fast charging” claims, the complaint said. False and misleading representations of the Pixel 6’s charging capability mean the $549 Pixel 6 “is sold at a premium,” it said. The plaintiff claims violation of the New York General Business Law, multiple states’ consumer fraud acts, breach of warranty and unjust enrichment. The complaint seeks monetary, statutory, and/or punitive damages and interest, plus reasonable attorneys’ fees and expert fees.