Arstechnica said that Google was locking out third party Qi chargers from reaching the highest charging speeds on the Pixel 3.

Third party chargers are capped to a miserable 5W charging speed which effectively means that Google is forcing you to buy the overpriced Pixel Stand, for $79.

Users are being told that Pixel sets a limitation for third-party charging accessories and is afraid that even its  fast wireless charger can only provide 5W for these 2x devices.

Google PR claims that third party gear was slower because it had a ‘secure handshake’ for the phone's ambient display mode, which can do things like display a photo slideshow while charging. Third-party chargers would be limited to 5W we guess because Google knows them not. If only there were a good way to search the internet to find a reliable supplier.

Given that regular 10W wireless chargers can be had for around $15-$25, Google's $79 Pixel Stand is grossly over priced. Qi is a standard, and a phone should strive to work with every charger.

Google said it was because the Pixel 3 does not support 10W Qi charging at all. It supports 10W wireless charging, which supports the Qi wireless charging standard, but these are two different things.

Qi is capped at 5W, and for 10W wireless charging, you need a charger with what Belkin calls "Google's 10W proprietary wireless charging technology".