Battery

[_a!]

The Google page only shows one battery size for the two phones. Is that right?

 

[jimv1983]

It is kind of confusing on the page but the battery sizes are different.

Pixel 3: 2915mAh
Pixel 3 XL: 3430mAh

So disappointing for both on the battery.

 

[EeZeEpEe]

The Google page only shows one battery size for the two phones. Is that right?

Maybe you saw a typo?

The Pixel 3 is a decent increase over the Pixel 2 but not quite the 3000mAh of the S9.

Don't get why the XL dropped from 3520mAh but I wouldn't cry over a 2.5% decrease. But would've been nice for something in between the Pixel 2 XL and the Note 9 capacity.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[netwokz]

I hate to be that guy, but can we wait for some real use scenarios before we jump to conclusions? I'm all for battery life, but mAh capacity means nothing without use.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

 

[jimv1983]

Maybe you saw a typo?

The Pixel 3 is a decent increase over the Pixel 2 but not quite the 3000mAh of the S9.

Don't get why the XL dropped from 3520mAh but I wouldn't cry over a 2.5% decrease. But would've been nice for something in between the Pixel 2 XL and the Note 9 capacity. View attachment 4615976

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

The Pixel 3 battery is not a decent increase over the Pixel 2. It's only 8% which is nothing when you consider the fact that the Pixel 3 has a 13% larger screen and 12.5% more pixels. That 8% is easily used up (and more) by the increase in battery usage from the bigger display and more pixels. The battery life of the Pixel 2 was already pretty bad. Hardly any better than the Nexus 5X and original Pixel.

For the Pixel 3 XL yeah, it's only 2.5% smaller but like the smaller Pixel 3 the Pixel 3 XL has a bigger screen and higher resolution compared to its predecessor.

I hate to be that guy, but can we wait for some real use scenarios before we jump to conclusions? I'm all for battery life, but mAh capacity means nothing without use.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

You don't really need real world scenarios of the Pixel 3 to get a fairly accurate idea of battery life. You can compare it to similar phones and get a pretty good idea. Look at the Nexus 5X, original Pixel and Pixel 2. All three were pretty close in screen size, were 1920x1080 and had 2700mAh batteries. All 3 got similar battery life. Both Pixel were a little better than the Nexus 5X due to OLED screens and a slightly smaller size but it really wasn't much different.

To get a general idea of battery life you just have to look at the resolution and battery size. It's kind of like cars. If a car company announces a V8 truck with only an 8 gallon gas tank you wouldn't have to wait for real world usage to know it's not going to go that far on a tank of gas. Phones are the same way. The Pixel 3 battery life will be about the same as the Pixel 2 at best and probably closer to the Nexus 5X(which had awful battery life).

 

[EeZeEpEe]

True but remember new chips increase performance but also increase battery life. The 845 is, at least supposed to be, 30% more battery than the 835. See: https://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-new...45-vs-snapdragon-835/articleshow/61959724.cms

Also the Pixel 3 has a bigger screen but is still 1080p and OLED which can be more battery efficient.

I had the Nexus 5X and definitely don't disagree with it's battery life. At least with what I got when I had my original and replacement. I don't get how other got 5+ hours SOT yet I could barely get 3-3.5 hours. Now with my Pixel 2 XL, I can get 5-6 hours easily 50% more SOT(even hit 8 hours while other get up to 10+) yet the screen is 15.3% bigger, is 1440p, the battery is only 30% bigger compared to the Nexus 5X. Real life usage matters because, as the saying goes, YMMV.

The Pixel 3 battery is not a decent increase over the Pixel 2. It's only 8% which is nothing when you consider the fact that the Pixel 3 has a 13% larger screen and 12.5% more pixels. That 8% is easily used up (and more) by the increase in battery usage from the bigger display and more pixels. The battery life of the Pixel 2 was already pretty bad. Hardly any better than the Nexus 5X and original Pixel.

For the Pixel 3 XL yeah, it's only 2.5% smaller but like the smaller Pixel 3 the Pixel 3 XL has a bigger screen and higher resolution compared to its predecessor.




You don't really need real world scenarios of the Pixel 3 to get a fairly accurate idea of battery life. You can compare it to similar phones and get a pretty good idea. Look at the Nexus 5X, original Pixel and Pixel 2. All three were pretty close in screen size, were 1920x1080 and had 2700mAh batteries. All 3 got similar battery life. Both Pixel were a little better than the Nexus 5X due to OLED screens and a slightly smaller size but it really wasn't much different.

To get a general idea of battery life you just have to look at the resolution and battery size. It's kind of like cars. If a car company announces a V8 truck with only an 8 gallon gas tank you wouldn't have to wait for real world usage to know it's not going to go that far on a tank of gas. Phones are the same way. The Pixel 3 battery life will be about the same as the Pixel 2 at best and probably closer to the Nexus 5X(which had awful battery life).

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[jimv1983]

True but remember new chips increase performance but also increase battery life. The 845 is, at least supposed to be, 30% more battery than the 835. See: https://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-new...45-vs-snapdragon-835/articleshow/61959724.cms

Also the Pixel 3 has a bigger screen but is still 1080p and OLED which can be more battery efficient.

I had the Nexus 5X and definitely don't disagree with it's battery life. At least with what I got when I had my original and replacement. I don't get how other got 5+ hours SOT yet I could barely get 3-3.5 hours. Now with my Pixel 2 XL, I can get 5-6 hours easily 50% more SOT(even hit 8 hours while other get up to 10+) yet the screen is 15.3% bigger, is 1440p, the battery is only 30% bigger compared to the Nexus 5X. Real life usage matters because, as the saying goes, YMMV.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Saying that the SD 845 is 30% more efficient than the SD 835 is very misleading. The chip being 30% more efficient doesn't have a very big impact on battery life. If would be like saying your car's air conditioner is 30% more efficient than the previous model so your mileage will be way better. The SoC power usage is nothing compared to the screen.

Yes, it is still 1080p on one side but the aspect ratio has changed. It's no longer 1920x1080. It is now 2160x1080. That's an increase of just over 1/4 million pixels or 12.5% higher than a 1920x1080 display.

I'm glad you agree on the Nexus 5X. The thing is both the Nexus 5X and Pixel 2 had a 1920x1080 screen and a 2700mAh battery and had very similar screen sizes(5" vs 5.2"). The Nexus 5X had a SD 808 and the Pixel 2 had the MUCH MUCH more efficient SD 835. However, the Pixel 2's battery life wasn't much better than the Nexus 5X. Most of the small improvement is because of the Pixel 2 using an AMOLED compared to the Nexus 5X that had a LCD. That shows that chip efficiency doesn't really matter that much so the 30% efficiency improvement of the SD 845 really doesn't matter much.

As far as the Pixel 2 XL I'd say a 30% bigger battery is pretty significant. The 8% increase in battery of the Pixel 3 over the Pixel 2 is much less significant.

And to complicate things even more batteries degrade over time and Android updates have a tendency to decrease battery life. As I've mentioned to you before my Pixel 2 XL battery drain has increased 50%(both standby and screen on time) just because of 3 monthly updates. With the Pixel 3 having a 13% bigger screen and 12.5% more pixels with only an 8% increase in battery compared to the Pixel 2 it's pretty clear the Pixel 3 will have worse battery life than the Pixel 2 right out of the box. A year from now it will probably be in Nexus 5X range battery life. And the Pixel 3 has wireless charging which just makes the battery degrade even faster. I really feel sorry for anyone that buys a Pixel 3 and leaves it on a wireless charger overnight every night. That could be as bad as my old Samsung Galaxy S2 which gives me nightmares.

 

[milan187]

Saying that the SD 845 is 30% more efficient than the SD 835 is very misleading. The chip being 30% more efficient doesn't have a very big impact on battery life. If would be like saying your car's air conditioner is 30% more efficient than the previous model so your mileage will be way better. The SoC power usage is nothing compared to the screen.

Yes, it is still 1080p on one side but the aspect ratio has changed. It's no longer 1920x1080. It is now 2160x1080. That's an increase of just over 1/4 million pixels or 12.5% higher than a 1920x1080 display.

I'm glad you agree on the Nexus 5X. The thing is both the Nexus 5X and Pixel 2 had a 1920x1080 screen and a 2700mAh battery and had very similar screen sizes(5" vs 5.2"). The Nexus 5X had a SD 808 and the Pixel 2 had the MUCH MUCH more efficient SD 835. However, the Pixel 2's battery life wasn't much better than the Nexus 5X. Most of the small improvement is because of the Pixel 2 using an AMOLED compared to the Nexus 5X that had a LCD. That shows that chip efficiency doesn't really matter that much so the 30% efficiency improvement of the SD 845 really doesn't matter much.

As far as the Pixel 2 XL I'd say a 30% bigger battery is pretty significant. The 8% increase in battery of the Pixel 3 over the Pixel 2 is much less significant.

And to complicate things even more batteries degrade over time and Android updates have a tendency to decrease battery life. As I've mentioned to you before my Pixel 2 XL battery drain has increased 50%(both standby and screen on time) just because of 3 monthly updates. With the Pixel 3 having a 13% bigger screen and 12.5% more pixels with only an 8% increase in battery compared to the Pixel 2 it's pretty clear the Pixel 3 will have worse battery life than the Pixel 2 right out of the box. A year from now it will probably be in Nexus 5X range battery life. And the Pixel 3 has wireless charging which just makes the battery degrade even faster. I really feel sorry for anyone that buys a Pixel 3 and leaves it on a wireless charger overnight every night. That could be as bad as my old Samsung Galaxy S2 which gives me nightmares.

This is a lot of speculation. Battery may very well last much more then previous gen.
How big is the S9? 3000 mAh and that has a 5.8 display. So this should be much better if that's how you look at things.

 

[EeZeEpEe]

For what it's worth, Nexus 5X vs Pixel 2 GSM Arena battery tests. Coincidentally, 30% better. LOL. Basically I'm posting this because I hardly believe that the Pixel 2 battery was as bad or got as bad as the Nexus 5X. And why I doubt the Pixel 3 would be too.




Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[milan187]

So to bring this back jimb1983 was wrong. The 3 gets much better battery life then the 2. Approaching what 2 XL can do.

Here is a review from gizmodo:

That said, in terms of usefulness, one of the standard Pixel 3's biggest upgrades is a larger 2,915 mAh battery that lasted 10 hours and 50 minutes on our rundown test, a big jump up from the paltry 8:59 the Pixel 2 managed last year. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of the Pixel 3 XL whose 3,430 mAh battery is actually slightly smaller than what you get in a Pixel 2 XL, which resulted in the Pixel 3 XL’s longevity increasing by less than 10 minutes to 11 hours and 24 minutes.

9to5google:

The Pixel 3’s battery comes in at just under 3,000 mAh, while the larger Pixel 3 XL is 3430 mAh. I’m not one to religiously test screen-on-time performance, because I don’t find it to be a helpful indicator of real world use. But I didn’t have a single day with either of these devices where I felt the need to top up between nightly charges, and that’s using them extensively as review devices. The vast majority of people charge their phone once per night, so that’s my litmus test.

 

[EeZeEpEe]

That said, in terms of usefulness, one of the standard Pixel 3's biggest upgrades is a larger 2,915 mAh battery that lasted 10 hours and 50 minutes on our rundown test, a big jump up from the paltry 8:59 the Pixel 2 managed last year.

That's a good 20% increase from only an 8% battery increase size. Sounds possible to me.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[bartolo5]

People need to stop looking at the mAh numbers to know battery life. The only thing that matters is real life battery life endurance.

My pixel 2, that in theory has average battery life, usually puts me at 5-6 hours of SOT. It is, with a massive lead, the best phone I've had in this size range in terms of battery life. It all has to do with the very careful optimizations Google does when it comes to ramping up the CPU and everywhere else. Also, idle battery life is finally starting to work well on Android, and it will work better on November 1st when all updated apps are forced to obey background limit restrictions. I'm excited to see what Pixel 3 has to offer.

 

[jimv1983]

This is a lot of speculation. Battery may very well last much more then previous gen.
How big is the S9? 3000 mAh and that has a 5.8 display. So this should be much better if that's how you look at things.

3000mAh isn't very big for a 5.8" 2960x1440 screen. The battery life of the S9 isn't very good.

---------- Post added at 06:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 AM ----------

So to bring this back jimb1983 was wrong. The 3 gets much better battery life then the 2. Approaching what 2 XL can do.

Here is a review from gizmodo:

That said, in terms of usefulness, one of the standard Pixel 3's biggest upgrades is a larger 2,915 mAh battery that lasted 10 hours and 50 minutes on our rundown test, a big jump up from the paltry 8:59 the Pixel 2 managed last year. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of the Pixel 3 XL whose 3,430 mAh battery is actually slightly smaller than what you get in a Pixel 2 XL, which resulted in the Pixel 3 XL’s longevity increasing by less than 10 minutes to 11 hours and 24 minutes.

9to5google:

The Pixel 3’s battery comes in at just under 3,000 mAh, while the larger Pixel 3 XL is 3430 mAh. I’m not one to religiously test screen-on-time performance, because I don’t find it to be a helpful indicator of real world use. But I didn’t have a single day with either of these devices where I felt the need to top up between nightly charges, and that’s using them extensively as review devices. The vast majority of people charge their phone once per night, so that’s my litmus test.

Sorry but you're wrong. It's just simple math and common sense. The screen is by far the biggest battery drain on any phone. That's just a fact. A 5.5" 2160x1080 screen is going to take a lot more power than a 5" 1920x1080 screen. A battery increase of only 8% isn't enough to make up for that huge increase in battery drain from the more power hungry screen.

So someone from 9to5Google was able to get an entire day on a Pixel 3. What was the usage? I was able to get a full day of low endurance usage from my Nexus 5X but that phone had awful battery life. Anything more than like browsing on wifi and it didn't get a full day. Again, it depends on how you are using it. I just went to a music festival this last weekend. My Pixel 2 XL got through a full day of heavy use but didn't have much to spare. The Pixel 2 wouldn't have made it under that usage and the Pixel 3 would have died earlier.

 

[netwokz]

So, I will try to sum it up, in a few words. Depends on usage? Some people sit there and play games a lot; some occasionally browse the web, check news feeds; some browse social media all day; again, depends on usage. You can't judge a phone on mAh. Never understand why battery life was determined on a spec. "EVERYBODY" uses their phone differently.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

 

[jimv1983]

For what it's worth, Nexus 5X vs Pixel 2 GSM Arena battery tests. Coincidentally, 30% better. LOL. Basically I'm posting this because I hardly believe that the Pixel 2 battery was as bad or got as bad as the Nexus 5X. And why I doubt the Pixel 3 would be too.

View attachment 4616921
View attachment 4616922

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

GSM Arena's battery life tests are a freaking joke. I stopped paying attention to them a long time ago. 8.5 hours of web browsing? Hahahaha. Maybe 6.5-7 at best on wifi. And no way was the Pixel 2 that much better. Look at battery life threads here on XDA for the 2 phones.

 

[EeZeEpEe]

GSM Arena's battery life tests are a freaking joke. I stopped paying attention to them a long time ago. 8.5 hours of web browsing? Hahahaha. Maybe 6.5-7 at best on wifi. And no way was the Pixel 2 that much better. Look at battery life threads here on XDA for the 2 phones.

Like I said, take the test for what they're worth. That's fine they don't worth much to you but they do show better battery with the Pixel 2 over the Nexus 5X.

I was part of the Nexus 5X battery thread and just looked at some Pixel 2 threads (Seems to be less active that Pixel 2 XL ones). I know how bad the 5X was for me but somehow others got 4-5+ hours SOT "easily". I didn't get close to that with two units. With the Pixel 2 threads, I didn't get the impression that it has terrible battery life. People said they get 4-5+ hours SOT and don't need to charge midday.

Also, you never explained how a 30% increase in battery got me 50% better SOT with my Pixel 2 XL which has more pixels to push on a larger, brighter, screen than my 5X? Yes I'm saying this with some sarcasm because it is possible for 8% battery increase to give an improvement. Might not be much but if people in the Pixel 2 thread say they got 4-5 hours SOT then with would be something like 4.5-5.5 hours.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[milan187]

Daniel Mader is pretty happy with it. Lasting him a while day with heavy usage for him. He said 4-5 hours of SOT. Which is decent.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[EeZeEpEe]

So, I will try to sum it up, in a few words. Depends on usage? Some people sit there and play games a lot; some occasionally browse the web, check news feeds; some browse social media all day; again, depends on usage. You can't judge a phone on mAh. Never understand why battery life was determined on a spec. "EVERYBODY" uses their phone differently.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

It's still something to go by though. Would you get a phone that had 500-750 less mAh than your current phone and not think it would impact you?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[dew.man]

So, I will try to sum it up, in a few words. Depends on usage? Some people sit there and play games a lot; some occasionally browse the web, check news feeds; some browse social media all day; again, depends on usage. You can't judge a phone on mAh. Never understand why battery life was determined on a spec. "EVERYBODY" uses their phone differently.

Could not agree more!

Daniel Mader is pretty happy with it. Lasting him a while day with heavy usage for him. He said 4-5 hours of SOT. Which is decent.

I got almost 5 hours SOT last night playing with my new toy on its first charge. Pretty heavy usage today since 5am with several calls, numerous notifications, music playing non-stop in the background and I'm at 71% mid-day. Way better than my S8 and at least on par with 2XL. This is only it's second battery cycle and none of the app optimizations have kicked in yet. I'm very optimistic!

It's still something to go by though. Would you get a phone that had 500-750 less mAh than your current phone and not think it would impact you?

Depends! Contrary to what's been posted here, a radio trying to hold a faint signal or constantly trying to reconnect can run down a battery much, much faster than a screen. Pegging the processor can also chew up your battery in a heart-beat. That said, there are tons of optimizations that can be introduced in hardware, firmware, and even software that can make a smaller battery outlast a larger one!

 

[EeZeEpEe]

Contrary to what's been posted here, a radio trying to hold a faint signal or constantly trying to reconnect can run down a battery much, much faster than a screen. Pegging the processor can also chew up your battery in a heart-beat!

Right those two right there affects small and large battery capacity phones. Might as well get as large as battery as you can to begin with.

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