Report shows Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 users can disable 5G to experience much better battery life

How many smartphone users are really happy with their battery life? Among the more popular flagship phones offered worldwide, perhaps iPhone 14 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra users are somewhat satisfied. Certain niche devices, like the Moto G Power, are not flagship phones. Ookla, the company behind the Speedtest.net app, recently examined the situation and reached some conclusions about smartphone battery drain.

Ookla says that phones connected to 5G networks typically run out of battery power before those that still use only 4G LTE. Well, that makes sense. In its recent blog post, Ookla wrote that "smartphone users accessing 5G networks experience higher battery drain than for those using 4G LTE, of between 6% and 11%, depending on the System on Chip (SoC) in their device."

If you're an Android user, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, used on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, is the most efficient SoC around with the lowest battery drain based on Ookla's testing. The chip had a battery drain of 31% for users on 5G, and 25% for users on a 4G LTE network. Ookla points out that there seems to be no improvement in battery drain between 4G and 5G networks over time, but flagship chipsets are getting better. As an example, Ookla points out that the MediaTek Dimensity 9200 had a 34% battery drain on a 5G connection compared to a 45% drain with the previous-generation Dimensity 9000.

Ookla says that smartphone users looking to extend battery life by turning 5G off on their phone and using 4G connectivity only could get the same battery life by upgrading to a newer 5G model. Pointing to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 again, Ookla says the 5G battery drain with that SoC is 32% compared to 31% for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 on 4G LTE.

The point is that with the newer 5G flagship phones, you can get the same battery life that you get by turning 5G off your older daily driver and running it on a 4G network. And with the newer model, you can actually experience 5G speeds.

If you own the Pixel 6, check out the chart that is embedded in this article. Note how there is a big difference between using 4G and 5G with the first-gen Tensor chip. That SoC had a 40% battery drain on 5G and a 29% drain on 4G. Pixel 6 users can save battery life by disabling 5G. The Tensor 2 on the Pixel 7 line has only slightly improved numbers with a 28% drain on 4G and a 39% drain on 5G. Either way, you might enjoy your Pixel 6 or 7 series phone more by turning off 5G.

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To disable 5G on the Pixel 6 series, open the dialer and tap *#*#4636#*#*. You'll see a page called Testing. Tap on Phone information and select the network you want to use. Based on the anecdotal evidence, doing this will increase your battery life.

Take another look at the chart and you'll see that the Tensor chipset is the most inefficient SoCs based on the increased battery drain between use over 4G and 5G networks. The Tensor 2 is next, tied with the Dimensity 9000.

Just the other day we told you that Google plans on offering its first fully customizable chipset for its Pixel phones by 2025 and perhaps the gap between 4G and 5G battery drain will be decreased by then. Or, and we're just thinking outside the box now, Google can increase the size of the batteries used on its Pixel handsets by more than the puny capacity hikes recently rumored for the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro. And while Google increases the size of the Pixel batteries, it might also want to deal with the currently slow charging speed.