DO NOT BUY the Pixel 4 if you care at all about battery life!!!

[robtani]

First off, let me start by saying that I've been a long time Nexus/Pixel user. I've had every Nexus device since the Nexus 4, and the last Pixel device I had was the Pixel 3a (after a brief stint with the Pixel 3). Despite hesitations about this phone with its small battery, I was taunted by the alleged camera quality and bought the Pixel 4. Again, keep in mind, I'm only talking about the Pixel 4 here and not the XL version.

First let me quickly talk about the good. The phone feels great in the hands and the display is very sharp indeed! The gestures are a total gimmick and frankly other than waving to the next song, I don't know what else it could even be used for. Face unlock WORKS and it's fast! but honestly I still prefer the fingerprint reader in the back especially since I used to use it all the time to pull down the notification bar and totally miss it. Just for kicks, I did try that face unlock with eyes or one eye close and it's true, it does still unlock.. but who cares.. I'm not concerned about it being a security issue.

With that said.. the phone is going back! I can't stand the battery life on this.. It can't even get me through a moderate day. I can safely say, this is THE WORST Pixel phone ever when it comes to battery life. I'm not stupid about battery life.. I've tried to optimize things and have alwaysOn display turned off and even usually run it on battery saver mode but no matter what I do, can't really manage to squeeze more than 3 hrs of SOT of this phone and the standby battery life is also pretty bad.. not sure if it's that near Soli radar constantly beaming or what. I just CAN'T believe in 2019-2020.. while Apple has phones out with the best battery life ever, Google puts out this??? Did they even bother testing it?? WTF?? Getting 2.5 hrs of screen on battery life is just not acceptable! And frankly, I can't even tell the camera is all that much better compared to what I had on the 3a. Will wait for the 4a and hope they don't screw that one up also.

 

[B. Diddy]

That's too bad. The smaller Pixels have never been good with battery life, with the exception of the Pixel 3a. I personally always go for the XL.

 

[robtani]

It really is too bad... I wanted to like this phone so much! i love having the top of the line mobile camera (even though that's not debatable with the iPhone 11 Pro) and pure Android.. but a phone that can't even get you through a basic day is just not usable! I can't even imagine if I had to rely on it during a travel day or something when I use the phone so often. Would have loved to get something like the Moto G7 Power if it had top of the line camera and if after the Lenovo buyout, Motorola hadn't quickly become worst in class for issuing Android updates!

 

[Mike Dee]

First off, let me start by saying that I've been a long time Nexus/Pixel user. I've had every Nexus device since the Nexus 4, and the last Pixel device I had was the Pixel 3a (after a brief stint with the Pixel 3). Despite hesitations about this phone with its small battery, I was taunted by the alleged camera quality and bought the Pixel 4. Again, keep in mind, I'm only talking about the Pixel 4 here and not the XL version.

First let me quickly talk about the good. The phone feels great in the hands and the display is very sharp indeed! The gestures are a total gimmick and frankly other than waving to the next song, I don't know what else it could even be used for. Face unlock WORKS and it's fast! but honestly I still prefer the fingerprint reader in the back especially since I used to use it all the time to pull down the notification bar and totally miss it. Just for kicks, I did try that face unlock with eyes or one eye close and it's true, it does still unlock.. but who cares.. I'm not concerned about it being a security issue.

With that said.. the phone is going back! I can't stand the battery life on this.. It can't even get me through a moderate day. I can safely say, this is THE WORST Pixel phone ever when it comes to battery life. I'm not stupid about battery life.. I've tried to optimize things and have alwaysOn display turned off and even usually run it on battery saver mode but no matter what I do, can't really manage to squeeze more than 3 hrs of SOT of this phone and the standby battery life is also pretty bad.. not sure if it's that near Soli radar constantly beaming or what. I just CAN'T believe in 2019-2020.. while Apple has phones out with the best battery life ever, Google puts out this??? Did they even bother testing it?? WTF?? Getting 2.5 hrs of screen on battery life is just not acceptable! And frankly, I can't even tell the camera is all that much better compared to what I had on the 3a. Will wait for the 4a and hope they don't screw that one up also.

While SOT is not the only criteria to measure a battery, 2.5 hrs is certainly well below normal.

 

[mustang7757]

Should at least get 3.5 to 5 SOT

While SOT is not the only criteria to measure a battery, 2.5 hrs is certainly well below normal.

 

[kolyan2k]

I wonder if upgrade from P3 will result in downgrade in battery life

 

[Mike Dee]

I wonder if upgrade from P3 will result in downgrade in battery life

A lot depends on how worn the battery on a P3 is.

 

[bhatech]

Should at least get 3.5 to 5 SOT

Personally for my use I got 5 hrs SOT on the smaller Pixel 4. But I got more with 4 XL and went with it. The battery on the smaller Pixel 4 is in line with smaller Pixel 3. But every other company improved on battery life so that's probably the reason everyone is so upset.

 

[mustang7757]

Personally for my use I got 5 hrs SOT on the smaller Pixel 4. But I got more with 4 XL and went with it. The battery on the smaller Pixel 4 is in line with smaller Pixel 3. But every other company improved on battery life so that's probably the reason everyone is so upset.

Yeah , I get anywhere between 3.5 to 7 on pixel 3a with my Att sim , I think if I used my TMobile sim be the better half of those stats

 

[almath]

Too late I bought it, and battery life is great..

 

[mustang7757]

Too late I bought it, and battery life is great..

The 4 or 4xl?

 

[Jeremy8000]

Definitely sounds like the battery won't be sufficient for you. Couple of questions, though:

How long have you been using the P4? There's a slew of reviews out there noting how battery life became progressively and in some cases substantially better nearly every day over the first week, with some folks reporting 50%+ increases, citing the adaptive battery management optimizing to their personal style.

If this was 'day 1' or 'day 2' it's to be expected that the life would be horrible for a few reasons, such as that the actual battery indicator may not be accurately reflecting the true level until it's run a few cycles, or that when you first set up the device it is chewing through battery at an atypical pace while downloading and installing any applications and any OS updates.

Not trying to provide any excuses for the phone, as if it's not getting at least 3h SOT it's barely meeting the average user's needs (much less we, the enthusiasts), but wanting to make sure that 2.5h is after it's been in use for more than the first couple of days as that won't be representative of what one should anticipate in the long run.

 

[almath]

The 4 or 4xl?

Y'all know I got XL, anyone crazy enough to get the .. nevermind.
Just acting up using my gifs..

 

[kolyan2k]

Just saw another review.....everyday makes it harder and harder to even consider P4 over P3 even if you have money to waste XL is too big for me, and even that only offers avg battery life.

 

[Mike Dee]

Y'all know I got XL, anyone crazy enough to get the .. nevermind.
Just acting up using my gifs..

Uh oh

 

[Mike Dee]

Just saw another review.....everyday makes it harder and harder to even consider P4 over P3 even if you have money to waste XL is too big for me, and even that only offers avg battery life.

Some say it's horrible, others say it's fine. It's a tuff call if you can't top off during the day. For me it wouldn't be an issue but I don't like small phones so it's an automatic no for me.

 

[anon(50597)]

The fact that people are discussing battery life so much isn’t a good sign.

 

[B. Diddy]

I wonder -- is it a lot worse than the Pixels 1, 2, and 3? (The non-XL versions.)

 

[Mike Dee]

I wonder -- is it a lot worse than the Pixels 1, 2, and 3? (The non-XL versions.)

I don't know for sure but I doubt it's a lot worse. Of course, first we have to define a lot worse. My suggestion to anyone that's overly concerned is to avoid it or at least wait for more feedback.

 

[me just saying]

check out the following article

https://www.androidcentral.com/how-fix-google-pixel-4-battery-problems