New user, secondhand Pixel 6 battery concerns

cornphone

I finally am trying out Graphene after years of running /e/ OS and Lineage. I came to realize that RCS is a thing that I need to use and Google Messages was the only real solution unfortunately. I was able to find a Pixel 6 for under $100 with a barely noticible screen crack. Installation etc. went fine and I think I have it setup fairly well, but I'm a little concerned about the battery health.

First full day with it - I charged it overnight last night without optimization and didn't have battery saver turned on all day. In about 12 hours it went from 100 to 45%. It felt warm to me so I turned off all the draining things like smooth display, etc. Screen time today was just under 3 hours, Google Play Store and Camera both had the most usage at 16%, everything else was 8% or less. I turned on charging optimization and battery saver later in the day and I'm hovering around 43%, about an hour before I go to bed as I type this.

It's got 710 cycles according to the battery info. I'm not expecting much, but does anyone think it will improve with the charging optimizing and battery saver on? Does Google Play Store need to be slapped down more into the sandbox? I'm pretty sure I've tweaked any battery draining apps/etc. but it's possible I have missed something else.
Save up and buy a newer phone? lol

de0u

cornphone 700 cycles is a lot, especially if some of those cycles were fast drain / fast charge... and the more cycles there are the more likely it is that some were fast.

Given how soon the device will go EOL, arguably carrying a powerbank makes more sense than a battery replacement.

tango

cornphone

Unfortunately you bought your Pixel 6 a couple of years too late. Its a great phone (ive been using one with GOS flawlessly for years) but i suspect your battery is close to being cooked. As suggested above, look for an 8a if you want best value for money.

23Sha-ger

Your bigger concern is that Google will stop supporting the Pixel 6 on Oct 2026, which means no more updates.
So yes, buying a newer phone is recommended.

cornphone

23Sha-ger
True, but I was unsure if I was going to jive w/ Graphene and finding anything still supported for cheap is impossible. Literally every used 6 for sale in my market is double what I paid for mine. Even 5's and older aren't cheap.

23Sha-ger

The 8a sells for around $200 on ebay and will receive updates for another ~ 5 years.

cornphone

Well, I guess I've got a few months to shop around while I get used to the phone/OS. I did an optimized charge last night, it was at 75% when I picked it up, ₉₀ min later I'm at 67%. The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Foggy

Install AccuBattery (don't allow it network access) and see what it says about your battery health. Give it a few days to monitor your charging and discharging cycles.

That will tell if it's the battery that's bad or if it's apps draining it. I've heard people say that the first few days of a new OS take more battery as various caches etc warm up - not sure how true that is for GOS.

Johnnyloans

I was curious about my battery and got accubattery for a few days.

Estimated capacity 3900mAh out of 4600 brand new -- 85%.

902 cycle count pixel 6

de0u

Johnnyloans Charged mostly wired, or mostly wireless? Mostly slow or mostly fast?

Johnnyloans

de0u

Actually, I think its measurement is off and should be worse.

Mostly slow, wired. I keep my battery between 25%-80%

If I'm charging my phone and I see it at 60%, I take it off since I won't be needing the longevity of a full battery.

Foggy

Pixel 7 Pro here, battery manufactured June 2022, 706 cycles.

AccuBattery over the last 3 months says my battery health is 84% with a capacity of 4225mAh of the original 5000. Losing capacity at 5% per year. I tend to fast charge but only to 80%. I bought the phone used so don't know how it was used in the first year.

cornphone

OP here, so yesterday I went from 100 to 14% in one day (₁₄-16 hrs). Had Accubattery running and it was showing 77% battery health. I needed to get it down under 15% for Accubattery to log more accurate data during the next charge. Today it's showing 74% battery health, but the discharge rate seems slower, I'm only down to 68% in the late afternoon as I type this (from 100% at wake up). It feels like it's running slightly cooler too. I had BT on for a few hours and only made a couple of calls and texts today, so light usage.