Root in order to increase battery on Pixel 3A or 3A XL?

[dr0832]

I am wondering if it makes sense to root the Pixel 3A XL in order to remove system apps and increase battery? Has anyone come out with a ROm that is mostly just stock, but with all of the junked removed? I don't really need root access like most people do. I just want to use the basic features of the phone "camera, internet browsing, email, finger print reader, etc and get the most battery life possible. I use an app like greenify to kill apps but that doesn't work on system apps. Is LineagOS this sort of thing?

 

[ctfrommn]

A custom kernel will do far more for battery savings then rooting will. And there are several Roms in various states of completion in the works right now, including my own but not very many I would consider ready for prime time and none Ive seen yet that are what youre looking for. Stock AOSP is very different then stock Google and typically when a Rom dev goes that far they also add lots of other customizations which may or may not be to your liking.

 

[dr0832]

A custom kernel will do far more for battery savings then rooting will. And there are several Roms in various states of completion in the works right now, including my own but not very many I would consider ready for prime time and none Ive seen yet that are what youre looking for. Stock AOSP is very different then stock Google and typically when a Rom dev goes that far they also add lots of other customizations which may or may not be to your liking.

Thanks for your response. Could you point me in the direction of where I can read about and follow the progress of the projects you are referring to?

 

[ctfrommn]

Thanks for your response. Could you point me in the direction of where I can read about and follow the progress of the projects you are referring to?

There are a couple on here and the 3a XL forums. Im sure all the big dev teams have unofficial builds for both devices as well. As I build my own Rom I dont keep up on this too closely though.

 

[pasha_d]

Thanks for your response. Could you point me in the direction of where I can read about and follow the progress of the projects you are referring to?

Agree. Custom kernel might be all you need at first.
I switched to a custom kernel by flair2 for a different reason, as I was looking for LZMA compression support for TWRP, but I'm quite happy with the battery benefits that kernel brought to my Pixel 3a. You can find it here - https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-3a/development/kernel-pixel-3a-xl-elementalx-1-01-t3931185

 

[dr0832]

Agree. Custom kernel might be all you need at first.
I switched to a custom kernel by flair2 for a different reason, as I was looking for LZMA compression support for TWRP, but I'm quite happy with the battery benefits that kernel brought to my Pixel 3a. You can find it here - https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-3a/development/kernel-pixel-3a-xl-elementalx-1-01-t3931185

Will this work on the Pixel 3A XL as well? I assume they are the same besides the size.

 

[ctfrommn]

Will this work on the Pixel 3A XL as well? I assume they are the same besides the size.

Kernels for these devices are interchangeable.

 

[dr0832]

Agree. Custom kernel might be all you need at first.
I switched to a custom kernel by flair2 for a different reason, as I was looking for LZMA compression support for TWRP, but I'm quite happy with the battery benefits that kernel brought to my Pixel 3a. You can find it here - https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-3a/development/kernel-pixel-3a-xl-elementalx-1-01-t3931185

Are you running it on Android 9 or 10? I haven't updated to 10 because I have heard of issues with battery life after doing this update.

 

[ctfrommn]

Are you running it on Android 9 or 10? I haven't updated to 10 because I have heard of issues with battery life after doing this update.

Battery on 10 is better than on Pie. I get roughly 10% better battery since updating. My guess is those experiencing it didnt clean flash 10 and just took the OTA.

 

[dr0832]

Is there a guide that explains how to do that? I'm pretty inexperienced with all this.

Battery on 10 is better than on Pie. I get roughly 10% better battery since updating. My guess is those experiencing it didnt clean flash 10 and just took the OTA.

 

[Uzephi]

Is there a guide that explains how to do that? I'm pretty inexperienced with all this.

A clean flash involves a factory reset. Be sure to back up any files to a different storage medium (PC, cloud, etc.) Once backed up, just use the factory image provided by Google.

Main page (has instructions): https://developers.google.com/android/images

3a December image: https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/sargo-qq1a.191205.011-factory-c5ec22ee.zip

3a XL December image: https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/bonito-qq1a.191205.011-factory-af411823.zip

The included .bat file (bat for windows, sh for Linux or Mac) is what you run. Be sure you get the latest fastboot drivers so you have no issues flashing in fastbootd. For future updates, just flash the stock boot image before taking the update or download the next month's image and delete the -w flag in the bat/sh file. That is the wipe switch.

 

[pasha_d]

Are you running it on Android 9 or 10? I haven't updated to 10 because I have heard of issues with battery life after doing this update.

I started using EX kernel on 9 to get permanent TWRP, but still using it now on 10, where we don't have TWRP. So I like that kernel a lot.