Is my Pixel XL Battery defective?

[Bash_Man]

hi everyone,
I recently purchased a used Pixel XL.. the OS and the phone overall are excellent.. the camera is what sold me on it and its absolutely outstanding.

What makes me want to go back to my OnePlus 5 or possibly upgrade to a 5T is the battery life on this Pixel XL. I have the same apps and use it exactly like how I was using my OnePlus 5 and I cant even go near a full day on a single battery charge. I was able to go about 1 1/2 days on a single charge on my OP5.

Do I buy any chance have a defective battery? or is the battery life on this device in general isn't the best?

Thanks

 

[PowrDroid]

I've found the battery life on my Pixel 2 XL to be excellent, better than my Droid Turbo.

It's hard to comment without seeing some usage statistics--screen on time, app usage, etc. You might have an app that is eating battery, or you are using your phone in an area with a weak signal (are you in different areas than where you typically used your OP5?) Check your screen display brightness. Having the brightness turned up hogs battery. I have mine set to 20%. Once in a while I turn on Adaptive Brightness but it's usually off.

If you could post a screenshot I'm sure some of the battery gurus around here would comment. Here's one of mine where I had charged it up in the morning then used the phone most of the day. I think 6 hours of screen-on time with 40% of battery remaining is outstanding.

 

[Bash_Man]

Hey there,
thank you for the response.

here are 2 screen shots.

I am pretty much in the same areas and doing the same things as I did when I had my OnePlus 5. Reception is the same.

I know the Higher resolution and higher DPI on the Pixel XL may use more battery life, but i didnt think it was this much.

Thanks

 

[PowrDroid]

I just realized that you have the original Pixel XL and not the 2 XL. Looks like you would end up with a bit over 5 hours screen time before needing recharging. Maybe 5 1/2 hours if you pushed the battery under 10% (I don't like doing that.) That's not too shabby. Of course if you are used to getting more battery life, it's tough to downgrade to lesser amounts.

My son has the original Pixel and he gets over 6 hours screen time but he also has his screen set so dim I can hardly see it. He says my 20% setting on my screen is way too bright (ha ha).

Looking at your app usage nothing really jumps out. If you used Maps for navigation and had your location on high accuracy that would take a bit more battery than other apps. But only 15 minutes of usage. If you don't use navigation that often you could reduce your location accuracy to "battery saver". Settings > Location and Security > Location > Mode > Battery Saver

If you want to squeeze more battery life out of your Pixel I would play around with the screen brightness. I see you've got adaptive brightness enabled. Maybe turn that off and find the lowest screen brightness you can live with. I accomplish this by using Google Assistant and simply saying, "set screen to 20%". Google Assistant is kind of picky on the words used, it must be "set screen to X%". Just for fun I turned mine down to 10% and I didn't notice any difference in readability of the screen.

If all of this seems like unnecessary hassle, I guess you could go to the 5T. According to GSM Arena battery tests it has a better battery than the Pixel XL.

https://www.gsmarena.com/battery-test.php3?

 

[Bash_Man]

I just realized that you have the original Pixel XL and not the 2 XL. Looks like you would end up with a bit over 5 hours screen time before needing recharging. Maybe 5 1/2 hours if you pushed the battery under 10% (I don't like doing that.) That's not too shabby. Of course if you are used to getting more battery life, it's tough to downgrade to lesser amounts.

My son has the original Pixel and he gets over 6 hours screen time but he also has his screen set so dim I can hardly see it. He says my 20% setting on my screen is way too bright (ha ha).

Looking at your app usage nothing really jumps out. If you used Maps for navigation and had your location on high accuracy that would take a bit more battery than other apps. But only 15 minutes of usage. If you don't use navigation that often you could reduce your location accuracy to "battery saver". Settings > Location and Security > Location > Mode > Battery Saver

If you want to squeeze more battery life out of your Pixel I would play around with the screen brightness. I see you've got adaptive brightness enabled. Maybe turn that off and find the lowest screen brightness you can live with. I accomplish this by using Google Assistant and simply saying, "set screen to 20%". Google Assistant is kind of picky on the words used, it must be "set screen to X%". Just for fun I turned mine down to 10% and I didn't notice any difference in readability of the screen.

If all of this seems like unnecessary hassle, I guess you could go to the 5T. According to GSM Arena battery tests it has a better battery than the Pixel XL.

https://www.gsmarena.com/battery-test.php3?

Thank you. I am going to perform a "battery reset/recalibration" by letting the Pixel Drain to a point where it wont turn ON and then charge it to 100%. See if that will help at all. If not then oh well, i tried.

I honestly don't think I should be making so many system changes to get a decent battery life. I dont even consider my self a heavy use and not able to make it a full day on a single battery charge. I'd really hate to see what a heavy user battery consumption is like. LOL

When ever I use google maps for GPS, i plug the phone in, even did that with my OP5.

Thanks

 

[Bash_Man]

So I performed a battery reset and didn't seem to fix the battery issue of draining way too fast.

Could it be that the battery itself is defective ?

 

[Morty2264]

Looks like Chrome is using a lot of your battery. I thought I read somewhere that Chrome is a bit power hungry. I use Chrome as well. Perhaps downloading or using another browser app may help as well.

 

[anon(10360853)]

Could be faulty. But I'd first check to see what tasks are running like what Morty said Google Chrome does eat up alot of your power,

 

[Bash_Man]

Looks like Chrome is using a lot of your battery. I thought I read somewhere that Chrome is a bit power hungry. I use Chrome as well. Perhaps downloading or using another browser app may help as well.

Thank you. I was using Chrome quiet a bit that day, but what I am refering to as a battery drain is just in general. I was texting my friend the other day and between 9:30 and 11:30pm, the phone drained 42% battery within those 2 hours. This is using android messenger. Using regular sms, not RCS.

 

[Bash_Man]

Could be faulty. But I'd first check to see what tasks are running like what Morty said Google Chrome does eat up alot of your power,

It doesn't seem to only happen with chrome. I could text for an hour, use WhatsApp, browse the internet, look at news.. no matter what, battery drains quicker than I'd like. Sometimes I feel like it jumps as well. It could go from 100 to 96 in one shot. 89 to 86 then 85 right away.

I sure do hope that it's a defective battery. Only thing is if it's not, then I'd be out almost $100 for nothing unfortunately.

 

[Morty2264]

It doesn't seem to only happen with chrome. I could text for an hour, use WhatsApp, browse the internet, look at news.. no matter what, battery drains quicker than I'd like. Sometimes I feel like it jumps as well. It could go from 100 to 96 in one shot. 89 to 86 then 85 right away.

I sure do hope that it's a defective battery. Only thing is if it's not, then I'd be out almost $100 for nothing unfortunately.

Based on the situations you are describing, that does sound suspicious. Drain the phone to 0%; then charge it and then use it as you normally would; then screenshot your battery stats and show them to us

 

[Bash_Man]

Based on the situations you are describing, that does sound suspicious. Drain the phone to 0%; then charge it and then use it as you normally would; then screenshot your battery stats and show them to us

I've done that twice and no go unfortunately. Still drains. Getting the battery replaced and gonna see the results.

 

[Morty2264]

I've done that twice and no go unfortunately. Still drains. Getting the battery replaced and gonna see the results.

Okay, just wanted to put that out there in case! That sounds like a good plan. Let us know what happens!

 

[Bash_Man]

Hi everyone,
Good news. had the battery replaced (near $85+tax) and I've been using the phone since this morning 11AM charged to 100% and until now and I am only down 65%. Prior to replacing the battery, this time I Wouldve already had the phone on charge at least 1 1/2 times.

Awesome phone.

Cheers

 

[Davidoo]

Where did you get it replaced? I know it is replaceable, but never knew anyone that did it. Did they scratch it getting it opened up?

 

[Bash_Man]

Where did you get it replaced? I know it is replaceable, but never knew anyone that did it. Did they scratch it getting it opened up?

I went to a place here in Toronto called uBreakIfix. They're a good authorized repair shop.

https://www.ubreakifix.com

He said they have a special machine that works on samsungs and Pixels that can remove the screen off of the phones body without causing damage as it would by using hands on manual process. The phone is in the same condition when i brought it in.

Hope that helps

Cheers

 

[Davidoo]

Thanks, that is good to know that the battery is that easy to replace.

 

[Bash_Man]

Thanks, that is good to know that the battery is that easy to replace.

well.. I am not sure if its so much easy to replace as much as having the right tool this shop does makes the job easy, but irregardless, the battery can be replaced

This is now going a week on the Pixel and its been working great. I can now get about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 days of usage on a single battery charge.

 

[matty032]

I have the same issue. I was thinking about doing it myself. Anyone done that and did you have any issues?

 

[Bash_Man]

I have the same issue. I was thinking about doing it myself. Anyone done that and did you have any issues?

I think part of the issue is removing the screen panel off of the body, my usual phone repair guy said he wouldn't do it because without the "proper" tools or machine, there's a chance the screen could break during the removal process.

Good luck