How to IMPROVE Google Pixel battery life | Simple tips!

9to5Google
9 May 202410:24

Summary

TLDRThe video script offers practical tips to enhance the battery life of Google Pixel smartphones, acknowledging that the series has not always been known for superior battery performance. The advice includes charging strategies such as frequent smaller top-ups instead of full discharges and maintaining a charge between 20% and 80% for optimal health. Display settings are highlighted as a significant battery drain, with suggestions to disable auto-brightness, use dark themes and wallpapers, and adjust screen timeout durations. The importance of managing app permissions, particularly location access, is emphasized to reduce background battery usage. Additionally, viewers are encouraged to disable unnecessary connectivity features, such as 5G when not available, and to leverage battery saver modes when needed. The summary underscores the balance between battery conservation and utilizing the phone's key features, inviting Pixel users to share their own tips in the comments section.

Takeaways

  • ๐Ÿ”‹ Aim for frequent smaller top-ups instead of draining the battery completely to extend long-term battery life.
  • ๐Ÿ“ฑ Keep the charge between 20% and 80% for optimal battery health, especially for older Pixel models.
  • ๐Ÿšซ Disable auto-brightness and manually set a comfortable brightness level to reduce power consumption.
  • ๐ŸŒ‘ Use a dark theme and dark wallpapers to save battery, especially on AMOLED screens.
  • ๐Ÿ“‰ Consider disabling high refresh rate displays to improve battery longevity, if not using the feature extensively.
  • โฒ๏ธ Set a shorter screen timeout and disable 'Always on Display' to save power.
  • ๐Ÿ“ Limit location access for apps that don't require constant use to reduce background battery drain.
  • ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Use the battery usage panel to identify and manage apps with high background usage.
  • ๐Ÿ  Toggle location services on and off as needed instead of keeping them on all the time.
  • ๐Ÿ“ถ Disable 5G if not available and consider disabling mobile data always active in developer options to save battery.
  • ๐Ÿ”Œ Turn off notifications for available public Wi-Fi networks to reduce unnecessary scanning and battery use.

Q & A

  • Why is it suggested to aim for frequent smaller top-ups instead of draining the battery completely on a Pixel smartphone?

    -Frequent smaller top-ups help reduce the number of battery cycles, which in turn extends the long-term battery life. Draining the battery from 100% to 0% counts as one cycle, and fewer cycles mean less wear on the lithium-ion battery.

  • What is the recommended charge range for maintaining long-term battery health on a Pixel smartphone?

    -The general consensus for long-term battery health is to keep the charge between 20% and 80%.

  • Why is disabling auto-brightness suggested to improve battery life on a Pixel smartphone?

    -Disabling auto-brightness can help reduce power consumption because the display does not constantly switch between the highest and lowest brightness levels based on ambient light, which can adversely affect battery life.

  • How can using a dark theme potentially increase battery life on Pixel devices with AMOLED screens?

    -A dark theme can save battery life on AMOLED screens because each pixel on the screen is turned off when displaying black, leading to less power being used compared to displaying bright, colorful images.

  • What is the suggested screen timeout setting to balance battery life and convenience on a Pixel smartphone?

    -A screen timeout setting of 30 seconds is suggested as a good balance between conserving battery life and maintaining usability.

  • Why is it recommended to disable the 'always on display' feature on Pixel smartphones?

    -Disabling the 'always on display' feature can help save battery life because the screen does not need to be active at all times, reducing unnecessary power usage.

  • How can managing app permissions for location access affect battery life on a Pixel smartphone?

    -Limiting location access for apps that do not need constant location updates can reduce battery drain, as the device will not be constantly searching for and maintaining a GPS signal.

  • What is the importance of checking the battery usage panel on a Pixel smartphone?

    -The battery usage panel provides insights into which apps are consuming the most power, particularly in the background. This allows users to manage or restrict background usage for specific apps, potentially improving overall battery life.

  • Why might disabling 5G connectivity on a Pixel smartphone be beneficial for battery life in areas without 5G coverage?

    -Disabling 5G can save battery life because the phone will not be constantly searching for a 5G signal that is not available. Instead, it will use the more widely available 4G network, which requires less power.

  • How can adjusting Wi-Fi settings help improve battery life on a Pixel smartphone?

    -Disabling the 'notify for public network' option and turning off mobile data when on Wi-Fi can reduce the phone's constant scanning for Wi-Fi networks, which can be a hidden battery drain.

  • What is the role of battery saver mode in extending the battery life of a Pixel smartphone?

    -Battery saver mode limits certain features and background activities on the phone to reduce power consumption, which is particularly useful when trying to extend the battery life during periods of heavy use or when a charger is not readily available.

  • What simple tip is offered for conserving battery life when at home on a Pixel smartphone?

    -The simple tip is to toggle the location setting on and off as needed instead of leaving it on all the time, as this prevents apps from constantly accessing the location and thus saves battery.

Outlines

00:00

๐Ÿ”‹ Enhancing Google Pixel Battery Life

The first paragraph discusses strategies to improve the battery life of Google Pixel smartphones. It emphasizes the importance of lithium-ion batteries and their gradual weakening over time. The tips include frequent smaller top-ups instead of complete discharge, aiming to keep the charge between 20% and 80% for older phones, and considering a battery replacement if necessary. The paragraph also covers display-specific tips such as disabling auto-brightness, using a dark theme and wallpaper, and adjusting the screen timeout and lock screen settings to conserve power. Additionally, it suggests disabling the always-on display and wake screen for new notifications to further save battery.

05:00

๐Ÿ“ฑ Managing App and Connectivity Settings for Better Battery

The second paragraph focuses on managing app permissions and connectivity settings to extend battery life. It advises checking the Privacy dashboard to control app access to location, camera, and microphone, and disabling unnecessary permissions to reduce background activity. The paragraph also suggests using the battery usage panel to identify and manage apps with high background usage. It recommends disabling apps that are not in use and toggling location services on and off as needed. Furthermore, it discusses the impact of 5G connectivity on battery life and suggests switching to 4G in areas without 5G coverage. It also addresses the benefits of disabling mobile data in the background when primarily using Wi-Fi and turning off notifications for public Wi-Fi networks to save battery.

10:01

๐ŸŽ‰ Acknowledging the Channel Members and Closing Remarks

The third paragraph serves as a closing segment where the speaker expresses gratitude towards the channel members for their support. It mentions the love for the audience and the importance of their sponsorship for the channel's continuity. The speaker signs off with a promise to speak to the viewers later, followed by a musical outro.

Mindmap

Keywords

๐Ÿ’กBattery life

Battery life refers to the amount of time a device can operate on a full charge. In the context of the video, it is a central theme as the host provides tips to improve the battery life of Google Pixel smartphones, which are noted not to have the best battery life historically.

๐Ÿ’กLithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries are a type of rechargeable battery commonly used in portable electronics. The video explains that these batteries weaken over time and that each full charge counts as one cycle. Reducing the number of cycles can extend the long-term battery life, which is a key concept in the tips provided.

๐Ÿ’กAuto brightness

Auto brightness is a smartphone feature that adjusts the screen's brightness based on the surrounding light conditions. The video suggests disabling this feature to manually set a comfortable brightness level, which can help reduce power consumption and improve battery life.

๐Ÿ’กDark theme

A dark theme is a display setting where the background is dark, which can save battery life on devices with AMOLED screens. The video recommends enabling a dark theme and using dark wallpapers to potentially increase battery life, as they require less power to display.

๐Ÿ’กHigh refresh rate

High refresh rate refers to the ability of a display to show more images per second, which can make animations and transitions appear smoother. However, the video suggests that disabling the smooth display option or reducing the refresh rate can help improve battery life, as high refresh rate displays can be more power-hungry.

๐Ÿ’กScreen timeout

Screen timeout is the period of inactivity before a device's screen turns off to save power. The video recommends setting a shorter screen timeout, such as 30 seconds, as a way to conserve battery by reducing the time the screen stays on when not in use.

๐Ÿ’กLocation usage

Location usage pertains to how often an app accesses the user's location. The video points out that unnecessary location access can drain the battery, and suggests reviewing and limiting location permissions for apps that do not require constant location updates.

๐Ÿ’กBackground usage

Background usage refers to how apps run and consume resources even when not actively in use. The video advises checking the battery usage panel to identify and manage apps with high background usage, which can be a significant drain on the battery.

๐Ÿ’กMobile data

Mobile data is the wireless transmission of data through a cellular network. The video suggests disabling mobile data in the background when primarily using Wi-Fi to prevent unnecessary battery drain from the phone constantly searching for and maintaining a cellular connection.

๐Ÿ’กBattery saver mode

Battery saver mode is a power management feature on smartphones that limits certain functions to extend battery life. The video mentions this mode as a useful tool for when the user needs to conserve battery, as it can disable some features to prolong the device's usage time.

๐Ÿ’กExtreme battery saver mode

Extreme battery saver mode is a more aggressive power-saving setting that further limits the phone's functionality, typically allowing only basic functions like making calls and sending texts. The video briefly mentions this mode as an option for situations where maximum battery life is critical.

Highlights

The Google Pixel series is not known for having the best battery life, but there are tips to improve it without disabling core functions.

Subscribe to the channel for more tips and tricks specifically for Pixel and Google devices.

Lithium-ion batteries weaken over time, and reducing the number of charge cycles extends their long-term life.

Aim for frequent smaller top-ups instead of draining the battery completely for better battery health.

It's suggested to keep the charge between 20% and 80% for long-term battery health.

For older phones with many cycles, a battery replacement might be necessary and is cheaper than a new phone.

The display is one of the biggest battery consumers on smartphones.

Disabling auto-brightness and manually setting it can help reduce power consumption.

Using a dark theme and dark wallpapers can save battery life, especially on AMOLED screens.

Disabling the smooth display option on high refresh rate devices can improve battery longevity.

Adjusting the screen timeout and disabling certain lock screen features can help save battery.

Location usage is a significant battery drain, and controlling app access to location can improve battery life.

Checking the battery usage panel can help identify apps causing battery issues and manage their background usage.

Disabling apps that are not frequently used can prevent them from consuming unnecessary battery.

Using the location toggle in the Quick Settings panel can help save battery when precise location access is not needed.

Disabling 5G in areas without coverage and using 4G can extend battery life by reducing the phone's search for a 5G signal.

Disabling mobile data when primarily relying on Wi-Fi can prevent background activity and save battery.

Turning off notifications for public Wi-Fi networks can reduce unnecessary scans and save battery.

Using the built-in battery saver mode can extend phone life when needed, without disabling key features.

Transcripts

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the Google pixel series hasn't always

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been renowned for having the best

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battery life so here are a few real

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world tips that don't disable core

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functions to help you improve the

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battery of your pixel smartphone before

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that if you like tips and tricks

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specifically for Pixel and Google

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devices go on become a friend of the

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channel and hit the Subscribe button

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it's completely free you get content we

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like it and it's nice for everyone

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involved and if you're a real supporter

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how about becoming a channel member if

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you really do love our content you'll

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get some neat stuff shout outs discounts

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and it helps keep the wheels turning but

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let's save your phone battery there's a

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couple of things we need to go over

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first because there are limitations to

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what we can do here smartphones use

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lithium ion batteries that weaken over

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time each full charge or multiple

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partial charges count as one cycle

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reducing the Cycles on that battery

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extends long-term battery life our first

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tip before we even start messing around

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in settings and whatnot is to aim for

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frequent smaller topups instead of

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draining the battery completely that

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means going from 100 to 0% and this

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accounts for every single Pixel that you

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probably will be using daily nowadays

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ideally we would say keep the charge

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between 20 and 80% that's a general

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consensus for long-term battery health

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there are exceptions to the rule but for

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older phones with many cycles it is

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worth noting the damage might already be

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done you'll probably want a battery

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replacement which is way cheaper than a

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new phone anyway and it is something we

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would suggest if you want to hang on to

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something for a long period of time so

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with that little bit of battery

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housekeep keeping out of the way we all

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know the display is one of the biggest

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battery hogs on any smartphone

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especially as smartphones are ballooned

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in size and here are some display

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specific tips to help you improve the

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battery life of Google pixel one of our

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first tips is to disable auto brightness

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and it seems counterintuitive at first

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but having your display constantly

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switch from the upper to the lowest

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brightness levels based on the ambient

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light using that feature can actually

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adversely affect how long your phone

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will last in my case I've found that

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with the pixel 8 Pro it does do that

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quite a lot depending on how my lighting

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is in the in the immediate surroundings

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but disabling the function and manually

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setting brightness as needed has been a

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better way to reduce power consumption

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especially as I've found a pretty

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sizable and big window for brightness

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that is the most comfortable this is

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something we suggest doing so go into

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settings go into display disable this

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and find a brightness that suits you you

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can always change this from the Quick

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Settings panel anyway if your pixel runs

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Android 10 yes it actually took this

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long to add the setup process Auto

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enables a dark theme this saves your

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eyes and in theory with AMOLED screens

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increases the battery life that's great

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but you can actually miss out some some

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extra power savings if you have a bright

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colorful wallpaper I'd suggest try

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setting a darker wallpaper and that

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might actually help eek out a little

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more from your phone so I will leave a

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link in the description to some dark

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wallpapers that I've been using these

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seem to make a difference they're a

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little bit easier on your eyes and they

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fit better with that dark beam anyway so

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an optional one we want to suggest

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although if you do have a high refresh

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rate I wouldn't say do that is disable

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the smooth display option of course High

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refresh rate displays can be taxed in on

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battery and I am hesitant to tell people

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to tune their displays down from 90 or

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120 HZ to 60 HZ as this does actually

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ruin the smooth Android experience with

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the pixel device that said sometimes

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dropping the refresh rate is a Sure Fire

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way to improve pixel battery longevity

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so go ahead and try that out for

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yourself another tip that could improve

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battery life on your pixel is adjusting

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the screen timeout phase this is just

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how long it takes before your phone

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locks itself or puts the display into

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sleep mode you can set this as low as 15

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seconds which I think is a little bit

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too much but I think 30 seconds is

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probably going to be The Sweet Spot most

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people should aim for and this is very

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easy to set within the display settings

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the lock screen is another area to try

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and Claw back some pixel battery

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improvements if you don't care about the

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always one displ play you can actually

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disable this by toggling the always show

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time and info option in the lock screen

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settings pane I find that's too easy to

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activate on your pixel screen just by

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moving or touch it as well and because

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of that i' suggest disabling your

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display from becoming active by turning

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off the tap to check phone and lift to

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check phone options most of the time

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you'll press that side power button

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anyway so it feels a little bit of a

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waste of time having these active while

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you're there it also disable wake screen

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for new notifications if you're happy or

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you do check notifications manually and

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don't need the screen powering on with

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every app ping if you get lots of

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notifications this will add up so it's

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well worth disabling so that's the

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display portion out of the way as we all

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know not all apps are created equally

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some might be hurting the daily battery

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life spawning your pixel and here are

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some tips on what to look out for

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location usage is one of the biggest

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draining factors and we're not talking

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about Google Maps to get around but I

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will ask do you need to let apps like

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Google Maps know your location in even

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when you're not using it or actively

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using it well the Privacy dashboard

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section lets you see just what apps have

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access to your location the camera the

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microphone and all of that information

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throughout the previous 24-hour period

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some you'll naturally want to keep and

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others you should disable if you're not

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using them extensively as they're

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negatively affecting lifespan with real

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little benefit on your daily experience

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as you're going to open the application

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anyway the downside is that some

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sections of your phone might not work as

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expected and certain widget specifically

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may not work as intended but it's likely

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a price worth paying to get an extra few

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hours from your phone screen another way

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you can check and disable apps causing

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battery issues is to access the battery

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usage panel this section gives you an

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idea of the app screen time since the

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last full charge of your device although

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I disagree with that metric for being

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the perfect metric the important metric

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is the background usage though which

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allows for feed updates Powers

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notifications and more you can disable

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background usage or set rules for almost

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all apps on your phone which is really

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useful using the battery usage section

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just select an application hit the allow

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background usage toggle or go a step

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further and tap this option to choose if

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apps have optimized or unrestricted

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background usage settings and you can

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tune this as you basically want your

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phone to run the most efficiently you

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can also go a step further and simply

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disable some apps that you're not using

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head into settings apps select an app

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and disable it this should mean that

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it'll have no access to anything and

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won't cause you problems later down the

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line This is a somewhat simple and silly

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tip actually we should have shown this

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out first but if you're at home there's

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likely no reason that your phone needs

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access to your location at all times

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what I would suggest is just using the

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Quick Settings panel add that location

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toggle and toggle it on and off as you

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need it it should mean that you gain

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some extra battery because no apps that

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will access your location are going to

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be able to do so of course a phone needs

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connections to well be a phone and even

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so there are lots of little quality of

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live functions that might not actually

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be useful to you each and every day here

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are some things I'd suggest to play with

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to improve your pixel battery and they

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all relate to connectivity so if you

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live in an area without 5G coverage I

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think disabling this connection option

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on your Google pixel can be a smart way

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to extend battery life since your phone

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constantly searches for a 5G signal that

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it can't grasp it drains battery

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unnecessarily so switching to 4G a more

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widely available Network lets your phone

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use less power power while still

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providing a good connection for most

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everyday tasks you can also do things

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like disable mobile data in the

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background if you primarily rely on

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Wi-Fi you can do this by disabling the

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mobile data always active toggle in

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developer options as it is a pretty

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sneaky way to squeeze some extra juice

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out of your phone this setting is

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actually enabled by default and keeps

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mobile data running even when connected

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to Wi-Fi allowing for faster Network

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switching when you do disconnect this

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constant background activity can be a

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hidden battery drain in areas with

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strong and stable Wi-Fi especially when

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you're at home or at the office for

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instance turning this off lets your

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phone Focus solely on that Wi-Fi

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connection potentially improving battery

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life without sacrificing that everyday

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functionality as when you disconnect

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it'll power back on those modems and

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connect to a local cell tower anyway to

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add to that even when you're not using

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your pixel we will actually constantly

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scan for available Wi-Fi networks and if

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a public network is available you'll get

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a notification to try and connect to it

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all to alert you that it is available in

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some cases this is a nice feature to

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have especially if you're out in public

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but most of the time this process is

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something that you'll do manually by

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going to the Wi-Fi settings menu anyway

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so why waste that battery if you want to

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change this go to settings internet

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Wi-Fi and network preferences and toggle

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the notify for public network option and

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this should reduce that help you save a

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little bit of battery there as well so

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there are a few practical tips for

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battery saving on Google pixel devices

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and at no point have we claimed this is

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a comprehensive list of tips for you to

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save that little bit of battery we've

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also arrain from suggesting any device

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specific functions be disabled things

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like Face Unlock or even those High

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refresh rate displays because that kind

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of defeats the purpose of spending 700

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800 $900 Plus on a phone only to avoid

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using the real key selling features I

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think if you don't want to adjust

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anything just try using the battery

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saver mode it's baked in and although it

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does actually disable some features on

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your phone it's useful when you need to

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get more lifespan and on top of that the

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extreme battery saver mode turns your

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phone into a basic vessel for calls and

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text if you in dire need of increased

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longevity say you're out traveling you

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just cannot get near a charger want to

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ask you what battery saving tips do you

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have save not using your phone at all do

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you have for Pixel owners let us know in

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the comments section I'm actually

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fascinated with this as I'm trying to

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improve my own pixel8 Pro battery life

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at the moment as with the last couple of

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updates it's taken a little bit of a hit

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compared to where it was a few months

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ago thanks for watching though

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especially to our channel members who

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are on screen now we love you guys keep

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sponsoring the channel and I will speak

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to you later

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[Music]

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Related Tags
Battery LifePixel SmartphonePower SavingDisplay SettingsLocation ServicesApp ManagementConnectivity TipsBattery UsageDevice OptimizationMobile DataWi-Fi Networks