Google Pixel- The First Google Phone with Active USB Power Delivery over Type-C

The Google Pixel phone was recently announced and unlike the LG Google Nexus 5X and Huawei Google Nexus 6P, the Google Pixel actually supports active USB Power Delivery for fast charging up to 18 watts over its USB Type-C connector. There doesn't look to be any support of DisplayPort over USB Type-C though, so you'll have to rely on Chromecast's wireless display capabilities.

The 3.5 mm audio jack wasn't touched by Google unlike other phones which have removed it in favor over Bluetooth or USB Type-C/Apple  Lightning implementations.

Google also bucked the trend of bringing back the SD card in favor of promoting Google cloud based photo storage services.

When we placed the order for the Google Pixel on Oct 5, 2016, Verizon was claiming a Oct 20 shipping date while the Google Store promised shipment between Oct 26-28. Best Buy had a webpage dedicated to Google Pixel but no way to purchase.

Click here to see what sorts of accessories are inside the Google Pixel's packaging.

Using the USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester from Granite River Labs to run just a subset of the full USB Power Delivery compliance test suite, we can see that the Google Pixel makes use of these PDO's for charging- 2.5 watts (5 volts @ .5 amps) and 4.5 watts (5 volts @ .9 amps). Note some compliance failures were observed.

DUT Information

Manufacturer	Google
Model Number	Pixel Phone
Serial Number	Comm

Test Information

Date and Time:

20180224_011128

Controller and Instrument Information

Parameter	Value
GRL USB-PD_C2 Serial No.	035.013.035.032.064.
GRL USB-PD Software Version	1.3.3.8
GRL USB-PD Firmware Version	1.3.3.0.7
Board Calibration	Calibration Success.
App Mode	COMMUNICATION_ENGINE_TESTS
Tx Mask	true
Rx Mask	false
RX mask Power selection	Neutral Power
Device Type	DRP
Cable IR drop Imp(R)	0

Product Capabilities

Parameter	GetCapabilities
UUT_Device_Type
Vendor_Name
Product_Name
Version_Info
TID
Type_C	NONE
SOP_Capable	NONE
SOP_P_Capable	NONE
SOP_PP_Capable	NONE
SOP_P_Debug_Capable	NONE
SOP_PP_Debug_Capable	NONE
Manufacturer_Info_Supported_Port
Manufacturer_Info_VID_Port
Manufacturer_Info_PID_Port
USB_Comms_Capable	YES
DR_Swap_To_DFP_Supported	YES
DR_Swap_To_UFP_Supported	YES
Externally_Powered	NO
VCONN_Swap_To_On_Supported	NONE
VCONN_Swap_To_Off_Supported	NONE
Responds_To_Discov	NONE
Attempts_Discov	NONE
Chunking_Implemented_SOP	NO
Unchunked_Extended_Messages_Supported	NO
Accepts_PR_Swap_As_Src	YES
Accepts_PR_Swap_As_Snk	YES
Requests_PR_Swap_As_Src	NONE
Requests_PR_Swap_As_Snk	NONE
XID
Structured_VDM_Version
Data_Capable_as_USB_Host	NONE
Data_Capable_as_USB_Device	NONE
Product_Type_UFP_SOP
Product_Type_DFP_SOP
Modal_Operation_Supported	NONE
Security_Msgs_Supported_SOP	NO
USB_VID
PID
bcdDevice
SVIDs Min	0
SVIDs Max	0
SVID Fixed	NONE

Power Capabilities

Parameter	GetCapabilities
PD_Power_as_Sink
No_USB_Suspend_May_Be_Set	YES
GiveBack_May_Be_Set	NO
Higher_Capability_Set	NO
Num_Snk_PDOs
Supply Type #1	Fixed
Voltage #1	0x64(5V)
OP Current #1	0x32(.5A)
Supply Type #2	-
Min Voltage #2	-
Max Voltage #2	-
Supply Type #3	-
Min Voltage #3	-
Max Voltage #3	-
Supply Type #4	-
Min Voltage #4	-
Max Voltage #4	-
PD_Power_as_Source
Rp Value
USB Suspend may be cleared	NO
Send Ping	NONE
No of Source PDOs
Supply Type #1	Fixed
Peak Current #1	0x0(A)
Voltage #1	0x64(5V)
Max Current #1	0x32(.5A)
Supply Type #2	Fixed
Peak Current #2	0x0(A)
Voltage #2	0x64(5V)
Max Current #2	0x5A(.9A)
Supply Type #3	-
Min Voltage #3	-
Max Voltage #3	-
Supply Type #4	-
Min Voltage #4	-
Max Voltage #4	-
Supply Type #5	-
Min Voltage #5	-
Max Voltage #5	-
PD_Power_as_Sink
No_USB_Suspend_May_Be_Set	YES
GiveBack_May_Be_Set	NO
Higher_Capability_Set	NO
Num_Snk_PDOs
Supply Type #1	Fixed
Voltage #1	0x64(5V)
OP Current #1	0x32(.5A)
Supply Type #2	-
Min Voltage #2	-
Max Voltage #2	-
Supply Type #3	-
Min Voltage #3	-
Max Voltage #3	-
Supply Type #4	-
Min Voltage #4	-
Max Voltage #4	-

Result Summary

Sl No	Test ID	Test Name	Test Result
1	TDA.2.1.1.1	BMC-PHY-TX-EYE	PASS
2	TDA.2.1.1.2	BMC-PHY-TX-BIT	PASS
3	TDA.2.1.2.2	BMC-PHY-RX-INT-REJ	PASS
4	TDA.2.1.2.1	BMC-PHY-RX-BUSIDL	FAIL
5	TDA.2.1.3.1	BMC-PHY-TERM	PASS
7	TDA.2.2.1	BMC-PROT-SEQ-GETCAPS	FAIL
10	TDA.2.2.5	BMC-PROT-DISCOV	FAIL
12	TDA.2.2.7	BMC-PROT-BIST-NOT-5V-SRC	PASS
14	TDA.2.3.1.1	POW-SRC-LOAD-P-PC	FAIL
15	TDA.2.3.1.2	POW-SRC-LOAD-CP-ACC	FAIL
16	TDA.2.3.2.1	POW-SRC-TRANS-P-PC	PASS
18	TDA.2.3.3.2	POW-SNK-TRANS-PC	FAIL
19	TDB.2.2.9	BMC-PROT-GSC-REC	FAIL

BMC Eye Diagram

Looking at the load trace diagram generated using the GRL-USB-PD C2 Compliance Test Solution App, we can see that the Google Pixel also supports various voltage and current levels for charging.