Battery life took a hit after 8.1 update

[Lilybell2]

You could download Files Go by Google, which has an app cache clearing function.

Yes, I agree, Files Go is a handy app for freeing up storage space.

The system cache partition stores temporary system data, somewhat like a temp directory, and it is completely different from an app's storage cache. The cache partition does have a tendency to become cluttered over time, thus it's good to give it a wipe now and then just to clear out the clutter, especially after an OS update. However, as previously stated, Pixel phones do not utilize nor require a cache partition.

 

[cgonzalez82]

Getting great battery life on my 2XL even with 8.1 however it's a new device. Today was my first day of ownership, was taken off charge at 6:45am and running my normal apps, no power saver, playing with the new VR stickers, using the regular camera just testing it out throughout the day, streaming podcasts for a couple of hours to my Google home mini, watching YouTube for about an hour and quite heavy on web browsing and Facebook and managed just over 7hrs screen on time with 6% left before it went back on charge.

More than happy with that tbh, so maybe those getting bad battery need a factory reset as mine updated to 8.1 almost immediately after it was turned on and connected to WiFi once I got home from buying it.

 

[smallindiana]

has anyone actually fixed their battery issues. I've taken a considerable hit since 8.1 - basically getting half the battery life now with new update.

 

[cbreze]

has anyone actually fixed their battery issues. I've taken a considerable hit since 8.1 - basically getting half the battery life now with new update.

I've just performed a factory reset a couple of hours ago and should have a pretty good idea by morning if it improved my battery issue. Working on setting things back up and I'm getting a good feeling about it so hopefully this is not for naught. Feeling pretty optimistic.

 

[smallindiana]

I've just performed a factory reset a couple of hours ago and should have a pretty good idea by morning if it improved my battery issue. Working on setting things back up and I'm getting a good feeling about it so hopefully this is not for naught. Feeling pretty optimistic.

would be intersted to know your findings. I may try to FDR today if you can confirm that battery life is better.

 

[1901Madison]

For everyone getting worse battery life after updating to 8.1, are you sure it's not just that the battery is better calibrated and doesn't hang on 100% as long as it used to, which makes it seem like it's draining faster initially after taking it off the charger?

 

[smallindiana]

For everyone getting worse battery life after updating to 8.1, are you sure it's not just that the battery is better calibrated and doesn't hang on 100% as long as it used to, which makes it seem like it's draining faster initially after taking it off the charger?

I'm noticing a significant dump in battery, regardless of where I am at in the charge cyle. On idle (no usuage I'm losing 8-10% over the course of a few hours.

 

[sixty_four]

For everyone getting worse battery life after updating to 8.1, are you sure it's not just that the battery is better calibrated and doesn't hang on 100% as long as it used to, which makes it seem like it's draining faster initially after taking it off the charger?

That was my thought that was also shared by a couple of other folks here.

A more meaningful report would be some A/B results from people who had a good idea of what their SOT numbers looked like before and after the update. Still, that's hardly a controlled test. Ideally, it would be nice to see pre- and post-8.1 battery tests using automated and identical workloads.

 

[bigrobi24]

I just got my Pixel 2 Saturday and have used it on 8.0 from Monday to Thursday. The 8.1 was was sitting on my phone ready to install since maybe Monday, but I held off to see my average battery use and what it ends up with after normal work days so I can compare post update.

After installing the update last night, it does appear to be draining faster with 0 changes on my end (besides 3 minutes of AR, which I found to drain the battery fast last night). It COULD be because of better calibration, since I would stay at 100% for what I feel is an abnormally long time. For example, on Monday I used my phone in the morning for about 20 minutes then drove 2 hours (no phone use) and it still showed 100%.

I'm inclined to think it is updated calibration, since it says I still have a day of use at my current usage (not a heavy user). But I'll be watching it over the next few days to see if I'm getting less time out of it.

 

[xweb10]

I'm inclined to think it is updated calibration

This may be the case, but shouldn't Google explain that this is part of 8.1? Maybe a new "feature"?

 

[Nauga]

definitely worse...losing 7 percent overnight ...was losing 2 percent or 3 at most

That's my experience, too. The days of charging to 100% at night and waking up to a phone still displaying 100% charge seem to be over. My 2 XL typically loses about 6% overnight now. Not a major hit, but still a hit.

[BTW--Can some moderator delete this duplicate post? I'm not getting a delete option here.]

 

[Nauga]

definitely worse...losing 7 percent overnight ...was losing 2 percent or 3 at most

That's my experience, too. The days of charging to 100% at night and waking up to a phone still displaying 100% charge seem to be over. My 2 XL typically loses about 6% overnight now. Not a major hit, but still a hit.

I'm inclined to think it is updated calibration,

Sounds about right, t'me.

 

[xweb10]

This really seems bad. Brand new phone (less than one week) had great battery until 8.1. Please take a look at these screens from this A.M. Charged to 100% 3 hours ago and limited usage. Does this seem reasonable?

 

[cbreze]

In my web search I saw nothing in any type of info regarding the 8.1 release and battery calibration of any kind. Lots of complaints tho about batteries draining and curiously the standard checks and fixes regarding rogue apps and the like. Facebook was mentioned as a culprit.
I'm starting to think our batteries get better , more realistic calibration in this update. Yesterday I decided to perform an FDR on my Pixel2.
Previously on Oreo 8.0 , same scenario I'd wake after 8 hours to a Pixel showing either 99% or actually more often 100%. Now after the 8.1 update every morning I wake to 93% battery. The consistency tells me the same processes are going on over nite and when I check battery stats
it shows system: 3%
phone idle: 2%
White noise app(which ran for 1 hour): 1%
Mobile network standby: 1%.
All that totals to the 7% I lose over nite.
And, this is the only usage I get when my phone is basically sitting idle for 8 hours.
I've searched the web for any info on a possible battery calibration that came along with the 8.1 update but can't find anything. Didn't surprise me as finding update info seems akin to pulling teeth at times.
I'm guessing the battery is fine and it is now more accurately displayed. Being stuck at 100% or losing 0% over nite is unrealistic to my way of thinking.
I'm glad I did the FDR since now I'm fairly sure my phone is good and no battery issue. As long as I get thru the day which I have everyday since day one then I'm happy. A full day on a charge is plenty sweet IMHO. So this is what I found out and your experience may be different. Loving the Pixel.

 

[idiotekniques]

Not noticing much of a hit in battery life on 8.1 - I did go and turn off the always on mobile data setting right away. So far so good.

 

[cbreze]

Not noticing much of a hit in battery life on 8.1 - I did go and turn off the always on mobile data setting right away. So far so good.

Also tried that for a couple days but didn't see any difference

 

[xweb10]

Also tried that for a couple days but didn't see any difference

Me too.

 

[1901Madison]

I might sit this update out until this gets figured out. The battery life is one of the things I love most about my Pixel 2.

 

[DustBow]

I think 8.0 was just off, especially at the top of the charge. It would take a while for my phone to drop from 100, then it would take a while (too long in all honesty) to drop below 90%, then it seemed to drop more rapidly from that point on... Reminded me of one of our cars where each 1/4 tank on the fuel gauge drops faster than the previous one...

 

[AGReklaw]

Some of these apps aren't working properly with the 8.1 update...

I caught the ES Task Manager using 20% of my battery while doing nothing. It wouldn't even launch when I tried to use it.

Nevertheless, I still got 6 hrs 42 mins of straight SOT playing HULU @ 20% brightness...
I got 4 hrs 20mins playing HULU with the flashlight on during the whole time...

But once again, I caught the ES Task Manager draining my battery for no reason. Before the update I could walk around with my phone in my pocket for 3 hours and only use 1%. Now I lose that every 30 minutes. I uninstalled the task manager, now I will see if it still drains...