Google’s Pixel 4 started shipping out last week. Based on the early reviews, the device is great when it comes to camera quality and display, but the battery life is disappointing. As of now, it isn’t clear what’s draining the battery or if it is even an issue. In either case, we do expect Google to take care of it in a future update. Meanwhile, if you are also facing battery issues, there are a few tricks that could help you to extend Pixel 4 battery life.
How to extend Pixel 4 battery life
Based on the reviews so far, the Pixel 4 battery life hardly lasts for a day. This seems a bit surprising considering the battery features accompanying the Android 10. There are still a few phone-specific setting options that could help you to extend the Pixel 4 battery life. The Pixel 4 comes with several new and advanced features, and most of these are battery intensive as well. So, turning them off could improve battery life. You can always turn them back on once Google addresses the battery woes:
The following are those options:
Disable Always-On Display – though useful, this feature consumes a lot of a phone’s battery life. So turning it off could extend the battery life to some extent. To disable it, go to Settings > Display > Lock screen Display, and turn off the feature.
Turn off Smooth Display – Google has introduced a 90Hz refresh rate with the Pixel 4. This again takes up a lot of battery. To turn it off, go to Settings > Display > Smooth Display. Once you disable it, your display will be set at a 60Hz refresh rate.
Turn off Motion Sense – the Pixel 4 motion sense feature allows you to wake the phone up and change songs using a hand gesture. Thus, this feature is always on to look out for any motion in front of the phone. To disable the feature, go to Settings > System > Motion Sense.
Use Android 10 features to save battery
Along with phone-specific options, there are a few Android 10 features that you can use to extend Pixel 4 battery life. These are:
Use Android 10’s Dark Theme – dark theme has grown very popular due to the fact that it is battery friendly and easy on the eyes. Google’s Android 10 also has a dedicated dark theme, which could help you to extend the battery life of your Pixel 4 phone. Once you apply the dark theme, the typical white background on many of Google’s own apps, as well as, third-party apps will be replaced with darker colors. To apply the dark theme, go to Settings > Display and enable the Dark Theme feature.
Limit Background Location Access – Android 10 comes with a smarter permission management system. Instead of just denying the location access to the app, you have an option to allow access to your location when you are using that particular app. Restricting location access also saves battery as every time an app wakes up your phone to access the location, it consumes a bit of your phone’s battery. Go to Settings > Privacy > Permission manager, here you will find the list of apps along with their location access status. Likely, most apps will have full location access. To change, tap into each app and select “Allow only while using the app.”
Don’t Use Live Action Wallpapers – though the live action wallpapers are fun and entertaining, they use more battery as well. So, to save some battery, it is recommended that you switch to standard wallpapers.
Battery saver options
Along with the above options, you can also use these battery saving options to extend Pixel 4 battery life, as follows:
Enable Adaptive Battery – to enable adaptive battery, go to Settings > Battery > Adaptive Battery and toggle it to On. This feature studies how you use your phone, and thus, limits how often the less-used apps run in the background. The adaptive battery feature will take some time to show results. Once it gets into the action, it will show the apps that it restricted from running frequently. You can always unblock them if you need them.
Battery Saver Mode – you can easily enable it from the notification shade. Once enabled, the phone does not allow apps to refresh in the background. Also, it turns off the following things: location services when the screen is off, “OK Google” hotword detection, and the system’s dark theme. If you don’t want the battery saver mode to stay on all the time, you can set it up to turn on automatically at a specific battery percentage. The default battery percentage for this is 15%, but you can set it up anywhere between 5% and 75%.
Uninstall Unused Apps – though the battery saver mode restricts the background app usage, it is better that you uninstall the apps that you no longer use. To check all the installed apps, go to the app drawer and uninstall the apps that you haven’t used for a while and you believe you won’t need them anymore. Remember, you can always re-install the apps from the Play Store as any app you install stays on your Play Store “library.”
You can also refer to the below video to know more about the Pixel 4 and 4 XL battery life:
