I found 5 ways to save Google Pixel battery life without giving up features

Another major battery drain on your phone is connectivity. Features like Wi-Fi, cellular data, Bluetooth, and others are constantly active and consume power. While they are fundamental to a smartphone, there is one specific setting you can disable that will make little to no difference to your daily usage.

The setting I’m referring to is ‘Mobile data always active.’ Even when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, your Pixel keeps cellular data running in the background so it can quickly switch over if the network drops or slows down. However, most of the time, you know that if you’re connected to Wi-Fi, it is stable enough. Disabling this feature can slightly improve battery life, since the phone’s modem will not stay active unnecessarily.

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide / Sanuj Bhatia)

To disable it, you first need to enable Developer options. You do this by going to Settings > About phone and then tapping the Build number seven times.

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Once Developer options are enabled, head to Settings > System > Developer options and turn off the Mobile data always active toggle under the Networking section.

Android offers a feature that automatically shows available open Wi-Fi networks in the notifications tray when you’re in a public place. While it may seem useful, connecting to public Wi-Fi isn’t always great for privacy, and most of the time, you probably open Wi-Fi settings manually anyway.

To display those open networks, Android continuously scans for Wi-Fi networks in the background, which does consume battery. You can reduce this by turning off Wi-Fi scanning on your Pixel, especially if you mostly use Wi-Fi in known places like home or the office.

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide / Sanuj Bhatia)

To disable it, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Internet. Tap Network preferences, then turn off the toggles for Turn on Wi-Fi automatically and Notify for public networks. You’ll still be able to connect to Wi-Fi as usual, but Android will stop constantly searching in the background, helping save some battery.

Another connectivity-related factor that can drain battery is 5G. While 5G offers faster speeds for streaming and downloads, it also puts more strain on your battery since it relies on more power-hungry radios and modems.

One thing I’ve found that does not noticeably affect my usage but helps save battery is switching my SIM to 4G permanently. In many areas, 5G coverage is still inconsistent, and 4G remains reliable. For now, it makes practical sense to stick to 4G and preserve some battery life.

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide / Sanuj Bhatia)

To do this, go to Settings > Network & Internet, select your SIM, and change the Preferred network type to 4G instead of 5G.

Lastly, the third major battery drain on any smartphone is the display. Tweaking a few display settings to make them more battery-friendly can help lower power consumption and extend battery life.

One of the first things I’d suggest disabling on your Pixel is the Always-on display. While it’s convenient to glance at the time and notifications when the phone is locked, Pixel also offers tap to wake, which I find just as useful. Always-on display can drain battery during idle use, so turning it off makes sense. Head over to Settings > Display & touch and disable the toggle for Always-on display.

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide / Sanuj Bhatia)

While you’re in Display & touch, it’s also worth adjusting a couple of other settings to reduce power usage. If you’ve set the screen to maximum resolution, consider switching it back to High resolution, as a lower resolution consumes less power. You can change this under Screen resolution.

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide / Sanuj Bhatia)

You can also shorten the screen timeout to 30 seconds or one minute. This ensures your phone stays awake for less time when idle, helping conserve battery. To do this, head over to Screen timeout and select 30 seconds or 1 minute.