Pixel 2 XL battery not lasting near as long as everyone else? Please help.

[Android Central Question]

I keep seeing that everyone is having awesome battery life from their 2XLs, some people not even having to charge their phone for 2 days. My XLs battery is not getting anywhere near as much as that. I'm only getting around 2 hours of screen time. Just tonight my phone went from 90% to 87% from listening to music in the car while going to get some food. I've checked my battery screen every night but nothing seems to be wrong with the apps or anything. Can anyone help me figure out whats going on?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Is Location always set to High Accuracy? If so, that can be a drain, especially if you're driving and using navigation a lot -- set Location to Battery Saving if you don't need precise location. (Also, in the Location menu, tap Scanning and turn off Wi-fi and Bluetooth Scanning.)

How's your cell signal? Poor cell signal also eats battery. Use an app like GSam Battery Monitor to see what your cell signal strength over the course of a full charge. If it fluctuates widely, or tends to stay in the medium to low range, that's part of the problem.

 

[Madbrad2]

I came here looking for advice on this. I've had this pixel 2 xl for a few months, and the battery life was phenomenal until a few days ago. A sudden drop. Huge drop. I haven't changed use patterns or any settings. It's fully charged on a dock in the morning, I take it to work, use the internet for a few minutes, turn it off, then 2 hours later use it to play games for a half hour, then turn it off, and at 1:00 pm it turn it on, and the battery level is way down in the red.

 

[Morty2264]

Does your low battery life persist in Safe Mode?

 

[Rukbat]

Do you charge it when it drops to 40%, or do you let it drop down really low? Constantly dropping it really low can kill a new battery in a month. Also don't overcharge it. 40% to 80% is the best range for long life, so charge when it drops to 40%, unplug when it gets to 80%.

And look at the battery graph (in Settings). If you see a very thin line down to 0 (or almost 0), the battery is throwing a dendrite. (Lithium Battery Dendrite links if you're interested.) That means a new battery. Batteries usually aen't covered by the warranty, but knowing Google support as well as I do (I'm waiting for my 3rd replacement - nothing to do with the battery, though), they might just replace the phone if it's that new. Or just replace the battery. (But it would be the first case I've heard of a dendrite in a Pixel battery.)

Edit: Good point, Morty. I didn't think of a runaway app.

 

[hallux]

@Madbrad2 does your battery life drop seem to coincide with installation of the Pie update? Several people have complained of the same. I have Pie but have not seen the same. In fact - I realized today that I have not fully charged my phone all week, it just gets a bump as I have a chance to and it's lasted. Some have also reported that it's taken a few days for battery life to settle after the update.