My Google Pixel was draining battery left and right, then I changed these settings

There is nothing more frustrating than watching your Google Pixel’s battery percentage drop while sitting in your pocket.

I love the camera and the software, but for a while, the sudden battery drain had me thinking about going back to my Samsung Galaxy phone.

After some trial and error (and a lot of digging into the system menus), I found a few settings that were still killing my battery life. After I changed these switches, the difference was huge.

If your Pixel is draining faster than it can charge, these are the key tweaks you need to do right now.

Switch to LTE network

I like fast Internet speeds as much as the next person, but unless you’re sitting directly under a 5G tower, your Pixel is probably working overtime to maintain that connection.

In my experience, the modem always receives the 5G signal, which generates heat and affects the battery. I made the controversial decision to switch my preferred network type to LTE.

I didn’t notice a difference in my daily driving or YouTube Music streaming, but my battery stopped draining.

You can go to Settings > Network & internet > SIMs > Preferred network type then choose LTE from the following list.

I also turned off the adaptive connection so that my Pixel wouldn’t switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data due to a bad wireless connection. The battery drain (battery lost while the phone was sitting on my desk) is much improved.

Remove AOD

The Pixel’s Always On Display (AOD) is the most important. It’s just a dull clock and some notification icons staring at you all day.

Even on my Pixel 8’s OLED screen, keeping those pixels burning can account for about 1% of my battery drain every hour.

Instead of having the power to burn the screen 24/7, I switched to Lift to view the phone and Tap to check the phone body gestures.

Now, my screen stays completely black and saves power until I need to see something.

The second I pick up my phone or take it out of my pocket, the screen wakes up immediately. It gives me the same data as I would get from AOD.

It’s simple, intuitive, and maintains a large amount of capacity throughout the work.

Close Play Now

Another feature that I finally decided to buy was Now Playing.

Don’t get me wrong – the thought of my phone identifying every song that’s playing at a coffee shop or in a car is fun.

But it means my microphones are always on, and the processor is always listening and comparing sound patterns against a local database.

It’s a great party trick, but the Pixel version of it is more valuable. Half the time, it doesn’t hear the song, or it points to something I already know.

Instead of letting my phone listen 24/7, I switched to using the Google Song search tile in the Quick Settings panel. Then, if I hear something I like, I scroll down and tap that tile. It’s basically a Shazam book built right into the OS.

It listens for a few seconds, does a quick Google search, and gives me the artist and song instantly.

Create a dark mode

We all know that Dark Mode is the gold standard for OLED screens because, unlike traditional LCDs, the OLED panel turns off individual pixels to show black.

But I’ve found that I actually like the Light mode during the day when I’m out in the sun and need more coverage.

I stopped changing it manually and put it on a strict automatic program. I set my Pixel to automatically go into Dark Mode at 7 PM and back off at 7 AM.

It may sound like a small adjustment, but in 12 hours, the energy saved from not lighting millions of white pixels adds up.

Pay attention to the battery consumption chart

Finally, I had to stop guessing and start looking at the facts. The battery usage chart became my best friend during this process. It’s the only way to know if one tool is affecting your progress.

Besides, the above tricks won’t work if a particular app or game is consuming all the background resources.

When you enter Battery > Battery usage menu, be sure to check the section on applications and system.

You can force close such malicious apps and reset their power consumption.

Stop charging twice a day

The Google Pixel is an amazing phone, but it shouldn’t need a portable power bank just to get through a typical work day.

By taking five minutes to explore these special settings, I finally got the “all-day” battery life Google promised.

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t accept a call that hangs up before you do. Spend a few minutes in the settings menu and adjust the drain properly.

While you’re at it, adjust these camera settings to get the most out of your Pixel’s lens.