In this guide, we will show you various methods to fix the issue of excessive battery drain on Pixel devices after the Android 12 update. The latest iteration of the OS has bought in a truckload of new and intriguing features. Among them the Material You design and the Wallpaper based theming engine has given a completely new outlook to the overall look and feel of the UI. However, it seems that they are proving to be quite resource-intensive in nature as well. A slew of reports is lined up across Google Support Forum where users are witnessing excessive battery drainage issues on their Pixel devices. It started happening right after they had updated their device to the latest Android 12. What is even more concerning is the fact that the issue was present in the Beta builds as well. At that point in time, we took it along the expected lines because such issues are usually present in the testing phase. But now that it has reached the stable build, it needs to be addressed at the earliest. In this regard, Google has marked a user-shared tip as the Recommend Answer, which to be fair, you shouldn’t even try out in the first place! That so-called “Recommend Answer” asks you to factory reset your device but at the same time, tells you not to restore the data from the backup. Rather set up your device from scratch and bid adieu to all your important data. Well, keeping that strange suggestion aside, we have listed out some potential workarounds that shall help you to fix the excessive battery drain issue on Pixel devices running Android 12. Follow along.
How to Fix Pixel Excessive Battery Drain on Android 12
Do note that there’s no universal fix as such. You will have to try out each of the below-mentioned methods and then check which one works out in your favor. So with that in mind, let’s get started.
FIX 1: Restrict App’s Battery Usage
We will start off by restricting the issue-causing app’s uncontrolled battery usage in the background. So let’s first identify the culprit app and then apply the said restriction:
FIX 2: Disable AOD
Always on Display has ‘always’ been notoriously infamous for draining an astronomical amount of battery juice. So as of now, it’s better to keep it disabled.
FIX 3: Disable Mobile Data Always Active
Even if you are using WiFi, your device will still continue to have the Mobile Data active. This is because if your device isn’t able to pick up the WiFi signals, then it will automatically switch over to the carrier data. On the plus side, there will be no considerable productivity loss and you will continue to be online. But on the flip side, it is sure to result in a drop in the battery percentage. Therefore you should consider disabling this feature, which could be done as follows.
FIX 4: Lower the Screen Timeout
Screen Timeout is the duration after which your display will turn off. Every extra second the ‘pixel’ display is turned out, it will consume a minute amount of battery. But this when combined over the due course of time will lead to uncurbed battery use. So it’s better to limit its usage, using the instructions given below.
FIX 5: Disable Tap to Wake
Tap to Wake is an accessible feature (kind of) that allows you to wake up your device, check the pending notifications and carry out other related tasks, without the need to unlock your phone. While it is quite a handy feature, but it comes at a cost of a lavish expenditure in the battery quota. So as of now, the best bet is to disable both its associated features, which could be done as follows:
FIX 6: Use Battery Saver Mode
You all saw this coming, didn’t you? On a serious note though, this method gave out the best mileage when it comes to rectifying the battery issue. But why have we listed it in the end? Well, it’s because upon enabling it, you will have to sacrifice some other features. This includes bidding adieu to the high refresh rate, the auto-sync feature, and the likes. So if you are ready for this trade-off of gaining a few additional battery juices in return for a not-so-optimal usage experience, then here’s what you need to do:
FIX 7: Enable Extreme Battery Saver
If you wish to take an even more aggressive approach, then consider enabling the Extreme Battery Saver Mode as well. This mode will pause the functionality of most apps and services. At the same time, it gives you the option to add the desired apps to the whitelist, that is, they wouldn’t be affected by this mode. So before going to bed, you could consider enabling this feature and then turn it back on in the morning. At the same time, make sure that all your essential apps are added to the whitelist so that they don’t get affected by this feature. On that note, here’s how to enable and use this feature on your Android 12 device:
FIX 8: Turn off Adaptive Connectivity
One of the most underrated culprits of this issue seems to be Adaptive Connectivity. For the unaware, this feature helps your device to automatically switch from 5G to 4G whenever it deems fit. For example, when you are using an instant messenger app or just scrolling through feeds, then the Adaptive Connectivity feature will switch from 5G to 4G to preserve the battery life. On the other hand, if you are streaming a movie, then it will again switch back to 5G. However, at the time of writing, various Pixel 6/Pro users have voiced their concern that Mobile Network Standby is draining an excessive amount of battery on their device. Since the Mobile Network Standby is part of Adaptive Connectivity, turning off the latter has worked wonders in preserving the battery juice. Here’s how to do the same:
Fix Pixel 6/Pro Battery Drain after December 2021 Update
A slew of complaints have lined up across various forums that the Mobile Network Standby is consuming an exorbitant amount of battery. This issue started after users installed the December 2021 and have only turned for the worse after applying the January 2022 update (at this point, we shouldn’t even be surprised!). In this regard, the aforementioned workarounds are giving out a variable success rate.
The only fix that would surely rectify this issue involves downgrading your device to the November 2021 update (well, you could also wait for the February update to arrive and hope that Google rectifies that issue, but we all know how that might turn up). So if you wish to try it out, then check out our guide on How to Fix Mobile Network Standby Battery Drain on Pixel 6/Pro after December Update.
Conclusion
So these were the various methods to fix the excessive battery drain issues on Pixel devices running Android 12. We have listed eight different methods for the same, Do let us know in the comments which one spelled out success for you. Moreover, there are a few rumors doing the rounds that these battery-related issues will be fixed with the Android 12.1 rollout. We are keeping a tab on the same, and if we hear something concrete/along the official lines, we will update this guide accordingly.
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