The battery is one of the most important components of any smartphone. It provides the power needed to run all the apps, services and features that make your Pixel 8 useful and fun. However, batteries do degrade and lose capacity over time. If you notice your Pixel 8’s battery life decreasing, it’s important to check the battery’s health and determine if it needs to be replaced.
Running battery diagnostics on your Pixel 8 is easy and only takes a few minutes. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to run battery diagnostics and test your Pixel 8’s battery life.
Preparing Your Phone for Battery Diagnostics
Before running diagnostics, it’s a good idea to prepare your phone so you get accurate results:
- Charge the battery to 100%. A fully charged battery will give you the best picture of your battery’s maximum capacity and lifespan. Use the included charger and cable and avoid third-party accessories.
- Close all apps. You want to avoid any active processes in the background that could skew battery usage. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to view open apps and close them.
- Adjust screen brightness to 50%. The default auto-brightness setting can fluctuate during testing. Manually setting brightness prevents this.
- Turn off Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and location services. Connectivity features can drain the battery in the background.
- Make sure the phone has cooled down. Heat can affect battery capacity measurements. Let the phone rest for 15-30 minutes before testing.
Accessing Battery Diagnostics
Now that your Pixel 8 is prepped, here’s how to access battery diagnostics:
- Open the Settings app on your Pixel 8.
- Scroll down and tap “Battery”.
- Tap “Battery health”.
- Tap “Battery diagnostics” at the bottom.
- If prompted, agree to the terms to proceed.
The battery diagnostics page will open. Here, you’ll find tools to test your battery’s capacity and lifespan.
Checking Battery Capacity
Battery capacity indicates how much charge your battery can hold relative to its original capacity. Lower capacity means the battery is worn and can’t hold as much charge.
To check current capacity:
- On the Battery diagnostics page, view the “Battery capacity” section.
- The percentage indicates remaining capacity relative to the new battery.
Google considers anything over 80% capacity to be good. Between 70-80% is moderate degradation. Under 70% ispoor and likely needs replacement.
If your capacity is lowered, continue charging and discharging a few times to see if capacity improves.
Testing Battery Lifespan
Battery lifespan reveals if your battery is still efficient at charging. Lower lifespan indicates aging and inability to hold a charge.
To test lifespan:
- On the Battery diagnostics page, tap “Battery lifespan”.
- Tap “Perform battery lifespan test”.
- Ensure your phone is charged to at least 90% and connected to a charger. Tap “Start test”.
- The Pixel 8 will discharge to empty then recharge to 100% while testing efficiency. This takes a few hours.
- When complete, you’ll see a lifespan percentage. Over 80% is good, 70-80% moderate, under 70% poor.
The lifespan test provides the most accurate battery health analysis. Perform it a few times if you get poor initial results.
Reviewing Battery Usage
In addition to diagnostics, you can review battery usage to see which apps and services are draining your Pixel 8’s battery the most.
To view battery usage:
- On the main Battery settings page, tap “Battery usage”.
- Review the list to see which apps have used the most battery recently.
- Tap an app to see details on its specific battery usage.
Checking battery usage helps identify apps misbehaving in the background so you can take action, like uninstalling or restricting background access. This improves battery efficiently.
Improving Pixel 8 Battery Life
If your diagnostics reveal degraded battery health, there are still ways to improve your Pixel 8’s battery life:
- Enable Battery Saver mode. This limits background activity and performance to conserve power.
- Reduce screen brightness and limit screen timeout delay.
- Turn off connectivity options like Bluetooth when not in use. Wi-Fi consumes less power than cellular data.
- Force close apps not being used. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and close apps.
- Limit push notifications for apps not essential.
- Set Dark theme to reduce power needed for brighter pixels.
- Consider replacing battery if capacity drops below 70%.
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Running regular battery diagnostics and monitoring usage ensures you stay informed on your Pixel 8’s battery health. Follow the tips above if you notice decreasing lifespan or capacity. Overall, checking and maintaining your phone battery helps provide the best Pixel performance.
