Charging Performance Issues?!?

D1andOnlyOmen

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I got my Pixel 2XL in mid-December and have been noticing some things with charging this phone that I'm not really sure if they are "issues", just random "fluctuations" that are to be expected or something else entirely. With the general battery life on this phone being so good (for me at least), I'm only charging my phone about every other day and then some. I can generally get about 48hrs w/ my usage out of a full charge and in some instances where I've had heavier usage, I might plug it in with my car charger for a little extra juice.

The first incident I noticed was about a week or so after having the phone. I was getting down to 30% or so and we were going to be leaving town for an overnight holiday gathering at my in-laws. So I threw the phone on my charger (the one that came with the phone) and had it plugged in to an outlet I'm certain works, but I hadn't used for charging previously. After about an hour when I grabbed the phone as we were ready to head out, I noticed that it hadn't charged at all (or maybe only a few percentage points if that). I took that same charger with us and plugged the phone in when we got to my in-laws and it seemed to charge just fine and with the "rapid charging" it was full within an hour, hour and a half from being in the 20% range.

Normally, what I use to charge the phone is an Aukey charging station that has 4 regular USB ports and 2 USB-C ports, which is what I use to charge my phone. I know it's "recommended" to always use the charger included with the phone, but let's be real......how many of us RELIGIOUSLY do that?!? I at least make sure that the cables I've purchased are quality cables and rated for rapid charging accordingly. Using this charger, sometimes the phone will charge within an "expected" timeframe (hour to hour and a half from 20-25% remaining battery) but the other day I put it on the charger at around that same level it it seemed to take several HOURS to get to a full charge.

Likewise, I've had varying results with my Vinsic car charger that has USB-C port and was recommended to provide proper USB-C voltage when I bought it. But sometimes when I plug the phone in using this charger and a same brand of USB-C cord used wit the Aukey charging bank, it might charge 5% while I'm driving to work (roughly 20-25 min commute) while I'm using the phone to stream radio......but other times (like this morning), the phone charged from just under 50% to 80% in roughly the same amount of time.

In nearly ALL instances I've outlined above, the phone will show "Charging Rapidly", yet sometimes it will show time to full charge remaining......and sometimes it doesn't, but still says charging rapidly.

Is this just really random and potentially an issue with my device specifically?? or are others having "mixed" experiences with charging similar to this?
 

hallux

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I'm having a similar experience with an Anker charging station (one with 40w output on USB-C) and my Pixel 2 XL. Sometimes just unplugging the cable and plugging it back in gets me the full charge rate. The last 2 times I've put it on charge with that charge block it's worked correctly, though. Sometimes it'll show 4 hours to full charge even though it reports rapid charge.
 

KWKSLVR

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Have you tried swapping cables with the OEM Power Brick to see if you can replicate the problem? I think a charging component is probably at fault here. I suppose you could have a hardware issue, but eliminating the power brick and cable as culprits would be my first move.
 

hallux

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In my case - yes, and had similar results. FWIW, I used the same cable and charge block with my Nexus 6p on a regular basis and experienced no issues.
 

D1andOnlyOmen

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Have you tried swapping cables with the OEM Power Brick to see if you can replicate the problem? I think a charging component is probably at fault here. I suppose you could have a hardware issue, but eliminating the power brick and cable as culprits would be my first move.

I've honestly only used the charging block that came with the phone a couple of times, generally just use the Aukey charging station, which does have two different USB-C cables in each of the available spots since my daughter also has a Pixel that uses USB-C and both cables seem to provide mixed charging results. Sometimes speedy, sometimes not.

I guess my next "test" could be to strictly use the charging block and cord that came with the phone for my next few charging cycles and see how it goes.
 

D1andOnlyOmen

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Too long, don't read... So, yeah...

Cliff's Notes version - basically using the same charging station and cord, I will regularly get different charging "performance", i.e. it will charge faster sometimes than other times. Same thing with charging in the car using same car charger and cord (though different from cord in the house on the charging station), sometimes charges more over the same time period than other times, doing the same things usage wise while plugged in (in the car at least, streaming media)
 

D1andOnlyOmen

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I plugged my phone into my car charger on my drive to work again this morning and like yesterday, streamed ESPN radio over BT connection. Drive was about the same time as yesterday, approximately 20 minutes. Today, the phone was at 64% when I plugged it in. When I unplugged it from the charger.......66%.

So I ask again........why such varying degrees of charge in nearly identical conditions? Yesterday it gained 30% in nearly the same amount of time (maybe a few minutes more, but no more than 5 minutes more). Is this really pointing to some sort of hardware issue that I should be contacting Google about?
 

GSDer

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Was your screen on during most of the trip? The screen is the #1 battery user so if that's on substantially longer during one session vs another that could make a noticeable difference in charging.
Also, have you been using an application to measure charging current/voltage during these sessions?
 

D1andOnlyOmen

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Was your screen on during most of the trip? The screen is the #1 battery user so if that's on substantially longer during one session vs another that could make a noticeable difference in charging.
Also, have you been using an application to measure charging current/voltage during these sessions?

No screen time while driving in either instance. Haven't tried any app to measure charging current/voltage. Any recommendations on a quality app?
 

Mooncatt

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The problem with Ampere is it only measures with the screen on and while you're in the app. For this sort of stuff, I'm more partial to this one, which measures dang near everything and records the history. You may need to manually select she which current value you use (I.e. On my V20 the default reads charging as a negative amperage and discharging as positive, so I set it to reverse the readout).

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ccc71.bmw
 

hallux

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Ampere is a good one.

One way to get around the limitation is to get a stable reading while plugged in, then unplug and note the negative charge rate. Turn that negative to a positive and add that to the previous number and you have a rough estimate of the current being supplied to the device.
 

Mooncatt

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Ampere is a good one.

One way to get around the limitation is to get a stable reading while plugged in, then unplug and note the negative charge rate. Turn that negative to a positive and add that to the previous number and you have a rough estimate of the current being supplied to the device.
The 2 XL is made by LG, which is known for rather aggressive charge throttling. If the screen is on, the charging rate on their phones are cut, even if battery temp is cool. So this suggestion isn't one I'd recommend here. If you want to know charging performance with the screen off, you really should use an app that can do this. Gsam can as well, but I prefer the of I linked above because it can give more detailed results.
 

GSDer

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D1andOnlyOmen

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Coming back to this thread as I'm again (or maybe still) experiencing odd "minimal charge" situations with my phone. Things have seemed fine over the past month+ with charging, but again today I had an odd situation. Phone was down to around 37% when I went to bed last night. I'm trying to limit leaving it plugged in overnight based on stuff I've read recently, so I waited until I woke up this morning to plug it in figuring that while for the 20-30 while I got ready for work would give it a solid "bump" and that I could top it up some more with my car charger.

When I went back to the phone after getting ready for work, it hadn't gained ANY charge at all. I looked and it still registered as "Charging Rapidly" so I know it was plugged in, but no battery gain at all. On the drive to work today I had it on my car charger (close to another 30 minutes) it again showed "Charging Rapidly" and while it DID gain some battery, it only bumped it up to 44% (approx 7% gained) in that amount of time. I was streaming radio via BT, but as mentioned in previous comments in this thread, that same usage has resulted in MUCH more significant battery gains in other situations, ALL using the same equipment. I should note also, the charge I used while getting ready for work was the OEM charging block and cable......and YES, I know it was plugged in.

I didn't install any new apps over the weekend though I know I did receive a number of app updates. I should also note that when I plugged the phone into my car charger, I did power off the phone and then restarted it just to see if that would trigger anything. Not really sure that it did much, although it at least gained some charge as noted.

The only other "weird" thing I can think to note is that last night while using the phone, I went to an app using Task Switcher and as soon as that app popped up, the screen went to the while Google "boot" screen, but that "reboot" was really quick and I was able to go right back into what I was doing previously. My battery graph does show this brief little "break" in the line and after that break (this was right before bed), the overnight trend basically showed things level with no drop at all (7hrs+) sitting idle.
 

Nubwy

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Leaving your phone in does nothing. All these battery myths are persistent but they're still myths. There are redundant safety systems at the battery, port and brick levels while charging your phone. They control how much charge is going to your phone, control heat and stop charging after a certain point. I have been leaving my phones plugged in overnight since 2013, and I've never run into decreased battery life or performance on any phone I've ever owned.