Google’s May patch might’ve tanked its Pixel line battery life, per reports

What you need to know

Users on the Pixel Phones subreddit report incredibly shortened battery lives following the May patch.
Reports say their Pixel phone is only managing roughly three-and-a-half hours of battery life, which isn’t the norm.
Throwing a wrench into things are reports from others that say the May update has aided their batteries.
A similar issue happened in March where some Pixels suffered brightness problems, audio, and vibration issues, which were patched out in April.

Google’s Pixel issues after a monthly security patch reportedly continue, as users bring their voices together online.

There’s a lengthy thread on the Pixel Phone subreddit where users are reporting a severe hit to their device’s battery life after the latest security update (via Android Headlines). The original poster (OP) put up a screenshot of their Pixel’s battery usage which showed their Wi-Fi connectivity sucked up 100% in three hours. While the user acknowledges this could be a (strange) bug, the root of the issue is that their device only lasted three hours.

It seems as though this problem — the battery drain, specifically — is the result of the May security update.

More users chimed in about their experiences following the May patch. One post states their Pixel 8 Pro only survives for roughly three-and-a-half hours on a full charge. Another report referenced a user’s Pixel 7, which also took “a huge hit.” While some of these reports concern older Pixel phones, there were a few that brought up the Pixel 9a and even the Pixel 9 Pro Fold after the May update, each suffering shorter power spans.

What’s strange is that these tanked battery issues aren’t affecting everyone. Some say Google’s recent update has improved their battery lives.

A little Topsy-Turvy

What happened to Pixel? from r/pixel_phones

Without a clear-cut cause, it’s hard to determine what’s at fault. However, with some users clearly affected, Google might have to take another look a deliver an update as quickly as possible.

This isn’t the first time Pixel users have suffered problems in recent history, as, following the March patch, devices were acting strangely. Users reported brightness fluctuations, audio problems, and vibration issues. The brightness issue seemingly only occurred when users attempted to watch shows or movies via a streaming app like Prime Video. There were band-aid fixes, but those were, as the name implies, temporary.

Those with Pixels that were affected had to wait until April before Google patched them. A similar approach might happen again this time for people with these battery problems.

Google rolled out its May patch ten days ago, and its changelog didn’t mention any “fixes” for batteries. So, it’s not like we can call that out as the culprit of the conflict. What the update did was solve a critical zero-day Android flaw. Elsewhere, Google patched Bluetooth, microphone quality when recording, and Framework issues.

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