Poor battery life in 4a 5g

[Big Ry]

I finally upgraded my Pixel 2 XL to a 4a 5G, which arrived yesterday. One of the things i was most excited for was the massive battery. But my real world experience during my first day of use is anything but good. I took it off the charger around 11am and it's already at 44% now at 7:50pm. This is worse battery life than my 3 year old Pixel 2 XL with a battery half the size. My usage today is typical for me, with some YouTube time and a bit of news article reading... Using Wi-Fi the entire day and never leaving the house. Android says 36% of my battery usage is the screen. Next highest on the list is YouTube at 4%. I keep brightness at 100% on every phone i own, including my Pixel 2 XL. I'm completely shocked at how underwhelming this battery life is...2 day battery life? Not a chance!

 

[eric002]

I'm very sorry to hear that! If I can give you a bit of a suggestion / tip though... I'm not sure if you have 5G coverage in your area, but what I realized with my Pixel 5 is that if you go into your mobile network data settings and switch it from global which means 5G, to LTE/CDMA, that will turn the 5G radio on your phone off. That will save quite a bit of battery. I hope this helps you out!

 

[Big Ry]

I'm very sorry to hear that! If I can give you a bit of a suggestion / tip though... I'm not sure if you have 5G coverage in your area, but what I realized with my Pixel 5 is that if you go into your mobile network data settings and switch it from global which means 5G, to LTE/CDMA, that will turn the 5G radio on your phone off. That will save quite a bit of battery. I hope this helps you out!

I have 5g here in Baltimore City - I believe it's even UWB. But i thought the radios really only sucked battery when WiFi was off...

 

[eric002]

I have 5g here in Baltimore City - I believe it's even UWB. But i thought the radios really only sucked battery when WiFi was off...

Haha, yep you're absolutely right. Well, that might be what's eating a battery up a little bit more so than you expected it to be. Switch on me here in New Jersey, at work I get sub 6 Nationwide 5G. Which isn't much faster than LTE 4G. So I just saw my 5G radios off for now. saves quite a bit of battery as far as I can tell so far.

 

[Big Ry]

Haha, yep you're absolutely right. Well, that might be what's eating a battery up a little bit more so than you expected it to be. Switch on me here in New Jersey, at work I get sub 6 Nationwide 5G. Which isn't much faster than LTE 4G. So I just saw my 5G radios off for now. saves quite a bit of battery as far as I can tell so far.

I did one test with speedtest.net (if that's still even reliable!) and got about 60Mbos down / 55Mbps up on the network. That definitely beats LTE in this area by about 5x, but I'm not sure what qualifies it as UWB versus fake-5G.

 

[eric002]

I did one test with speedtest.net (if that's still even reliable!) and got about 60Mbos down / 55Mbps up on the network. That definitely beats LTE in this area by about 5x, but I'm not sure what qualifies it as UWB versus fake-5G.

Okay, so on Nationwide subs-6 5G, I got 86.2 megabits per second downlink, 6.82 megabits per second upling. Now, on LTE, I got 160 megabits per second downlink, and 10.1 megabits per second uplink. Obviously come unfortunately, I do not have millimeter wave ultra wide band 5G in New Jersey or even New York.... Well, at least not yet!

 

[Big Ry]

Okay, so on Nationwide subs-6 5G, I got 86.2 megabits per second downlink, 6.82 megabits per second upling. Now, on LTE, I got 160 megabits per second downlink, and 10.1 megabits per second uplink. Obviously come unfortunately, I do not have millimeter wave ultra wide band 5G in New Jersey or even New York.... Well, at least not yet!

That don't make a lot of sense lol

 

[eric002]

That don't make a lot of sense lol

Haha yeah tell me about it. I mean come I don't get on myself. But whatever. All I heard is that sub-6 5 g Nationwide 5G coverage is supposed to be only faster slightly than LTE. Although I don't know what that means lol. But yeah, right now, I just have my 5G radios turned off.

 

[Big Ry]

Haha yeah tell me about it. I mean come I don't get on myself. But whatever. All I heard is that sub-6 5 g Nationwide 5G coverage is supposed to be only faster slightly than LTE. Although I don't know what that means lol. But yeah, right now, I just have my 5G radios turned off.

Just tried again and best of of 3 was 64/21. Switched to lte and got 53/13, so I'm guessing Verizon is completely lying about this being 5G. Kind of pissed right now.

 

[eric002]

Just tried again and best of of 3 was 64/21. Switched to lte and got 53/13, so I'm guessing Verizon is completely lying about this being 5G. Kind of pissed right now.

I mean from my marking standpoint , I completely get it. Sub-6 5G / Nationwide. Is not much faster than 4G LTE. Ultra wideband millimeter wave 5G is where you want to be at. Yeah LTE is not much slower than Nationwide sub-6 5G. I mean that's why all the tech YouTubers all day long day that you still shouldn't but a phone just for the 5g connectivity unfortunately. It'll be a nice advantage in the future though. Talk. About future proofing your phone...

 

[Big Ry]

I mean from my marking standpoint , I completely get it. Sub-6 5G / Nationwide. Is not much faster than 4G LTE. Ultra wideband millimeter wave 5G is where you want to be at. Yeah LTE is not much slower than Nationwide sub-6 5G.

It's hardly new for carriers to pull this ****, but it is blatant false advertising under the guise of new technology.

 

[eric002]

It's hardly new for carriers to pull this ****, but it is blatant false advertising under the guise of new technology.

Ugh....

 

[mustang7757]

I finally upgraded my Pixel 2 XL to a 4a 5G, which arrived yesterday. One of the things i was most excited for was the massive battery. But my real world experience during my first day of use is anything but good. I took it off the charger around 11am and it's already at 44% now at 7:50pm. This is worse battery life than my 3 year old Pixel 2 XL with a battery half the size. My usage today is typical for me, with some YouTube time and a bit of news article reading... Using Wi-Fi the entire day and never leaving the house. Android says 36% of my battery usage is the screen. Next highest on the list is YouTube at 4%. I keep brightness at 100% on every phone i own, including my Pixel 2 XL. I'm completely shocked at how underwhelming this battery life is...2 day battery life? Not a chance!

Give it about a week to settle in .

 

[Big Ry]

Give it about a week to settle in .

Settle in? Phones don't settle in lol

 

[mustang7757]

Settle in? Phones don't settle in lol

It learns your usage pattern if that makes sense to you lol

 

[bkdodger2]

What carrier are you on?

 

[Big Ry]

What carrier are you on?

Verizon

 

[bkdodger2]

Verizon

Are you using a 5G SIM?

 

[Big Ry]

Are you using a 5G SIM?

Yes, it shipped with a Verizon 5g sim. It says 5G in the notification bar

 

[bkdodger2]

Yes, it shipped with a Verizon 5g sim. It says 5G in the notification bar

Ah okay ..reason I was asking bc my friends phone had old sim was using on unlocked phone and once replaced sim it improved his battery drain... I've not tried yet other than on WiFi at home.. I need to try it out and about soon ...