I've used every Pixel since the 5, and I'm still baffled by their battery life

Setting expectations is a funny thing. Usually, it’s built on experiences you’ve already had, and often takes reasonable forecasting into account — the key word being reasonable. For example, if you’ve gone out and run one marathon, it’s reasonable to expect that you’d run your second one a bit better. After all, you know what the distance feels like, you know when it starts to get hard, and you know what it takes to push through.

And yet, when we try to set expectations in the world of smartphones, we’re so often left wanting more. We create lofty goals, and we’re confused and disappointed when they aren’t met. So, why do we bother setting expectations for Google when it comes to the battery life of its Pixel series? I’ve used them for years, and here’s what it will take for me not to give up.

I was told that Tensor improvements would change everything

Alright, so I know it’s not an entirely fair comparison, but let’s go all the way back to the Pixel 6 series. After all, it was the first to bring its chipset in-house, sporting the Tensor name for the very first time. I was excited, you were excited, we were all excited as Pixel fans. And, despite buying my Pixel 5 less than a year before, I knew I had to have it.

The only — well, the biggest — problem was that its battery life was terrible over time. I picked up the Pixel 6 Pro, and I found myself putting it right back down to either cool off or recharge (or both) early and often. For a while, I was happy to dismiss it as the Tensor chip simply learning my usage habits, but I quickly realized my returns were getting worse, not better.

Then, we all agreed to blame most of the woes on the modem in the Pixel 6 series, which was a perfectly reasonable decision. It really was a problem, just not one that Google would get around to fixing before the Pixel 7 series. So, when that duo, powered by the Tensor G2, came around, I set my expectations high. Surely, this had to be the Pixel that improved upon the legacy of the quirky Pixel 5 that I’d loved so much.

It… wasn’t. Well, it was, in the sense that I praised its updated modem and fingerprint sensor, but the Tensor G2 presented a familiar set of problems. It ran hot, which tanked the battery life and meant that I’d often have to put the phone down to let it cool. Rinse and repeat the process for both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 series, with slight improvements to the thermals each time, slowly making it easier to enjoy Google’s cameras and software for longer at a time.

But, with as long as it took for Google to make modest gains, I felt like there had to be a new scapegoat. Surely, something or someone had to be to blame for year after year of just-okay battery life — battery life that looked good in our controlled testing, but became a headache after just a few months of regular usage. So, I turned my annoyance to Samsung. After all, its less efficient 5nm (and later 4nm) process had to be costing the Pixel its longevity somehow.

Now, though, I don’t know what to think. The Tensor G5 was yet another opportunity for Google to usher in change, as it ditched Samsung in favor of a 3nm TSMC process that promised greater efficiency. Again, it kind of worked, with the Pixel 10 series leaping ahead in terms of CPU performance, but it lagged in terms of GPU performance and, most concerningly, thermal management. We found that the Pixel 10 ran hotter over the course of our stress tests, which meant it throttled harder, bringing its performance level almost to that of the Pixel 9 series before it.

Oh, and don’t forget that over the course of all this, Google has been packing its Pixels with larger batteries. It’s jumped from 4,600mAh in the Pixel 6 to over 4,900mAh in the Pixel 9, and its latest Pro XL model offers a 5,200mAh cell. That’s an increase that should come with a sizable bump to battery life, and yet I still find myself charging my Pixel nearly every single day.

Maybe it’s time for Google to hop on the silicon carbon train

So, if taking the Apple route and bringing your chipset in-house for better efficiency didn’t work — which is worth several thousand words in its own right — what on earth is Google to do? I mean, it sounds like the Tensor G6 is going to stay the course that’s already been established, so any change is going to have to come from somewhere else. And, in that case, it’s time to go SiC-ko mode.

Please excuse… whatever that term was, but don’t dismiss the idea behind it. At this rate, if Google wants anyone to take its Pixel batteries truly seriously, it has to get on board with silicon-carbon cells. OnePlus has been at it for two generations now, packing the OnePlus 13 with a 6,000mAh battery and then bumping it to 7,300mAh for the OnePlus 15. And, in both cases, it’s paid off, letting us go days between charges without battery anxiety.

All Google really needs to do is, well, the same thing. The best way to ensure that battery life becomes a highlight of its Pixels rather than something of a holdup is to get out with the old and in with the new. A Pixel 10 Pro XL, or realistically a Pixel 11 Pro XL, with a silicon-carbon battery could easily match the OnePlus 15’s capacity, extending its battery life from a safe day to a day and a quarter between charges to a full two days.

Why do I say easily? The Pixel 10 Pro XL is already almost exactly the same size as the OnePlus 15, with a difference of a millimeter or less on most sides. It shouldn’t (in my mind, anyway) take too much redesigning to remove one battery and replace it with another, even if a few other parts have to be adjusted. Sure, there are components like the Pixelsnap magnets and the larger camera sensors, which probably won’t be moved, but that shouldn’t stop Google from adding at least a little to its battery capacity.

And, if it does that, then who knows? Maybe the Pixel 11 series will take yet another step forward. I’ve already called it the presumptive phone of the year for 2026, and cementing its battery strategy will only further that claim.