{"id":175531,"date":"2025-12-09T14:32:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T14:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/175531\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T14:32:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T14:32:27","slug":"i-upgraded-to-the-pixel-10-pro-xl-for-better-battery-life-and-it-failed-me-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/175531\/","title":{"rendered":"I upgraded to the Pixel 10 Pro XL for better battery life, and it failed me again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Putting aside the excellent Pixel 5, battery life was never one of the Pixel line-up\u2019s strong suits. The Pixel, Pixel 2, and Pixel 3 had average battery life; the Pixel 4 and 6 series were pretty bad, while the Pixel 7 and 8 were very average. Last year\u2019s Pixel 9 phones put the series on a better trajectory, despite the still questionable modem and Tensor G4 processor. With the Pixel 10 series, however, Google promised its best battery life yet \u2014 30+ hours on a charge! \u2014 thanks to an optimized Tensor G5 and larger batteries on all models.<\/p>\n

This claim is one of the reasons I chose to upgrade from my Pixel 9 Pro XL. My experience had been pretty average for a whole year, starting pretty decently, but then getting to a point where the battery would die by mid-afternoon on busy travel days, where I\u2019d be using the camera and maps frequently throughout the day on 4G or 5G. I hoped the Pixel 10 Pro XL<\/a> would fix this, but so far, I\u2019m just left scratching my head.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about battery life on the Pixel 10 series?<\/p>\n

3444 votes<\/p>\n

Great, I get through the day no problem.<\/p>\n

33%<\/p>\n

Consistently average.<\/p>\n

30%<\/p>\n

Very inconsistent.<\/p>\n

20%<\/p>\n

Bad all the time.<\/p>\n

17%<\/p>\n

Some days are great, some days are bad<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/p>\n

Robert Triggs \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think I\u2019m a typical Pixel user. On most days, there are hours when I barely touch my phone while I\u2019m working, and hours when I\u2019m constantly using it, usually during the morning or when I\u2019m testing some new app or feature. But I also go on short daytrips or short trips pretty often, which is when I rely on Google Maps\u2019 transit directions to guide me throughout the day, and also when I take 100+ photos on average every day.<\/p>\n

On top of this, my phone is constantly paired to my Pixel Watch 4 and Oura Ring 4. I\u2019ve been testing several Bluetooth trackers with their own apps (Pebblebee, Moto, Chipolo) that require a constant connection, too. Plus, I use a few smart home apps that rely on geolocation (Nuki smart lock, Tado thermostat, Home Assistant) to trigger specific notifications or automations. All of it obviously creates a mishmash of criteria that can significantly influence the battery life of my phone.<\/p>\n

Still, I can\u2019t shake the feeling that my Pixel 10 Pro XL\u2019s battery life<\/a> is a bit of a crapshoot. Even on days that feel pretty similar, where I\u2019m home, on Wi-Fi, and using similar apps, I get widely varying battery drain. One day, it\u2019s down to 50% with three hours of screen-on-time, the other, it\u2019s down to 42% while eking an impressive five-plus hours of screen time.<\/p>\n

\"pixel\"pixel<\/p>\n

There are days when I go to bed with more than 40% of battery life remaining, and days when the phone goes into battery-saving mode at 8 PM, despite being at home for the whole of the day. There are days when I\u2019m traveling and get back to my hotel at the end of the day without needing a power bank top-up, and days when I have to grab my Qi2 power bank<\/a> in a rush because the battery plummeted to 30% mid-afternoon.<\/p>\n

My colleague Rob has already theorized and proved that the Pixel 10 Pro XL\u2019s battery usage goes up on data networks<\/a>, probably due to the inefficient Exynos 5400 modem. But my experience is more erratic than just a matter of using 4G or Wi-Fi, or being in areas with bad reception or not. Sure, I notice more drain when I\u2019m out of my home and specifically when I\u2019m roaming, but as I said, there are days when I\u2019m just home, and the Pixel 10 Pro XL rolls a dice and chooses average or great battery life.<\/p>\n

The Pixel 10 Pro XL raises my expectations with excellent battery life days, then crushes them with mediocre days.<\/p>\n

For example, here, it managed nearly seven hours of screen time before going to battery saver mode at 19%, while keeping the total Wi-Fi and mobile network use under 15% despite this extensive use. It could\u2019ve easily lasted eight and a half hours if I\u2019d continued using my phone until the battery died.<\/p>\n

Whereas here, it dropped to 26% in less than five hours, meaning it would\u2019ve only lasted around six hours total on a full charge if I continued. Sure, there are differences in how I used the phone with less streaming on Canal+ and more WhatsApp chatting, but the rest is pretty similar with Photos, Camera, Google, and the Pixel Watch. The main difference? Wi-Fi and mobile network use were both up to more than 50% total. Why? I have no idea.<\/p>\n

The discrepancy is frustrating<\/p>\n

What annoys me the most about this is that I don\u2019t really know what to expect from my phone. Sometimes, I stream a lot of video, and it lasts forever; other days, I see it dropping in front of my eyes. Some days, I\u2019m out and use the GPS a lot, but it lasts all day; other days, it just plummets after a few hours.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an unfortunate but silly story: I couldn\u2019t kill the Pixel 10 Pro XL when I was testing a bunch of chargers and had to actively work to empty the battery to 0% to start my test, but I could easily kill it in a few hours by doing random things on my phone. I keep complaining to my Android Authority colleagues that this battery won\u2019t die when I need it to, but it dies all the time when I don\u2019t want it to.<\/p>\n

\"pixelTheoretical battery life: <7 hours\"pixelTheoretical battery life: >7 hours\"pixelTheoretical battery life: >10 hours<\/p>\n

The Pixel 10 Pro XL could give me six hours of screen time, or it could give me 10 hours. When I see more than three hours of screen time with 32% of battery use (such as in the rightmost screenshot above), the \u201cDon\u2019t introduce me to a vibe you can\u2019t maintain\u201d quote comes to my mind. The day might continue to be epic, or the battery might drop drastically soon after this promising start. With the phone promised seven years of updates, I fear for what battery life will be like in a few months once I reach the 200 charging cycles magical number and Google starts throttling it in the name of Battery Health Assistance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I can’t kill this phone’s battery when I need to when I’m doing charger tests, but it drains very fast when I don’t want it to.<\/p>\n

At this point, I\u2019m just flipping a coin and hoping it\u2019ll be a great day, but there are still as many poor days as there are excellent ones. Despite how inconsistent this seems to me, I realize it\u2019s still more consistent than many online reports of people who have seen their phone\u2019s battery go anywhere between three hours and nine hours, depending on specific software updates. Yikes.<\/p>\n

On average, I\u2019m in the six- to seven-hour range, but I really can\u2019t predict what kind of day it\u2019ll be, no matter whether I\u2019m staying home or going out. I just make sure I have a charger with me at all times, and hope I don\u2019t need it. At least the Pixel 9 Pro XL was reliably bad for me.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n

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