Google Pixel 8 battery and charging: Everything you need to know
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The highly anticipated debut of Google's upcoming flagship phones, the Pixel 8 series, is already in the annals of history. The Made by Google event happened on October 4, 2023, and it brought us a slew of new and exciting Google products. But we're here for the Pixels, right?
In today's article, we delve into the Pixel 8's battery and charging capabilities, aiming to answer a bunch of questions you might be asking yourselves. Battery life is extremely important (as countless polls here on PhoneArena have shown over the years), so it's time to see what these Pixels are made of, in terms of milliampere hours, that is.
There are two key factors concerning the battery life of the Pixel 8. Firstly the Pixel 8 family received a slight boost in battery capacity compared to the last generation.
Secondly, the all-new and improved Tensor G3 chipset inside the Pixel 8. Given the gap in efficiency between the first and second iterations of this chipset, we expect some decent gains in efficiency, hence battery life, from the next-gen Tensor and Pixel 8 devices. The Pixel 8 devices made it to our test bench and results are down below. Good news for Pixel fans all over the world!
Looking at the graph above, it's clear to see that the Tensor G3 chipset is indeed more efficient than its predecessor. The Pixel 8 Pro outperforms the previous model in browsing and video streaming by roughly an hour, and and hour and a half, respectively. The Pixel 8 has also gained half an hour of YouTube streaming and an hour and a half of browsing compared to its predecessor.
In today's article, we delve into the Pixel 8's battery and charging capabilities, aiming to answer a bunch of questions you might be asking yourselves. Battery life is extremely important (as countless polls here on PhoneArena have shown over the years), so it's time to see what these Pixels are made of, in terms of milliampere hours, that is.
Does the Pixel 8 have better battery life?
There are two key factors concerning the battery life of the Pixel 8. Firstly the Pixel 8 family received a slight boost in battery capacity compared to the last generation.
Looking at the graph above, it's clear to see that the Tensor G3 chipset is indeed more efficient than its predecessor. The Pixel 8 Pro outperforms the previous model in browsing and video streaming by roughly an hour, and and hour and a half, respectively. The Pixel 8 has also gained half an hour of YouTube streaming and an hour and a half of browsing compared to its predecessor.
The gaming situation is a bit controversial at the moment, we got some abhorrent results and need to redo the tests to be absolutely sure! So stay tuned for the full picture. But all in all, the new Pixels are doing better than the old ones, as far as battery life is concerned.
Also read: Pixel 9 battery and charging: What we expect to see
The Pixel 8 family received a slight upgrade when it comes to battery capacity. Check out the table below.
The Google Pixel 8 model gets a slightly a larger 4,575mAh battery instead of the old 4,270mAh one (around 5% increase), and the Pixel 8 Pro also features a tiny bump in capacity to 5,050mAh, up from the 4,926mAh battery on the Pixel 7 Pro.
That's a positive right there. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro both support wireless charging. According to Google, you can get up to 18W of wireless power transferred to your Pixel 8 with 2nd generation Pixel Stand, and up to 23W wireless charging support for the Pixel 8 Pro using the same accessory. If you rely on any other Qi-certified wireless charger the speed for both devices is 12W
Another positive answer here. The Pixel 8 series comes with reverse wireless charging support. The name Google uses for this feature is Battery Share. This feature is designed to charge Qi-certified devices and will decrease the Pixel 8 battery, obviously. Google doesn't disclose the charging speeds for the Battery Share feature, and only states "Charging speeds may vary." Nevertheless, if you have a bunch of accessories that can charge wirelessly, you can use your Pixel to top them up.
The Pixel 8 series uses a USB-C charger with speeds up to 30W (albeit it's not included in the retail box). You'll also be able to use a Qi-certified wireless charger to top up your Pixel 8 battery with wireless charging speeds up to 12W, or get a Pixel Stand and get even faster wireless charging. You can check out some of the best Pixel chargers here.
Both new models received a 4W bump in wired charging speed, from 20W to 24W for the Pixel 8 and from 23W to 27W for the Pixel 8 Pro. We can't tell whether or not this increase in power will translate to faster charging times, and we'll have to wait until the Pixel 8 phones arrive at our test lab, but in theory, we should get slightly faster charging on the new Pixels.
How much battery does the Pixel 8 have?
The Pixel 8 family received a slight upgrade when it comes to battery capacity. Check out the table below.
| Pixel 8 | Pixel 8 Pro | Pixel 7 | Pixel 7 Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 4,575 mAh | 5,050 mAh | 4,270 mAh | 4,926 mAh |
| Wired charging | 24W | 27W | 20W | 23W |
| Wireless charging | 18W (with Pixel Stand 2nd gen) | 23W (with Pixel Stand 2nd gen) | 12W | 12W |
The Google Pixel 8 model gets a slightly a larger 4,575mAh battery instead of the old 4,270mAh one (around 5% increase), and the Pixel 8 Pro also features a tiny bump in capacity to 5,050mAh, up from the 4,926mAh battery on the Pixel 7 Pro.
Does the Pixel 8 have wireless charging?
That's a positive right there. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro both support wireless charging. According to Google, you can get up to 18W of wireless power transferred to your Pixel 8 with 2nd generation Pixel Stand, and up to 23W wireless charging support for the Pixel 8 Pro using the same accessory. If you rely on any other Qi-certified wireless charger the speed for both devices is 12W
Does the Pixel 8 have reverse wireless charging?
Another positive answer here. The Pixel 8 series comes with reverse wireless charging support. The name Google uses for this feature is Battery Share. This feature is designed to charge Qi-certified devices and will decrease the Pixel 8 battery, obviously. Google doesn't disclose the charging speeds for the Battery Share feature, and only states "Charging speeds may vary." Nevertheless, if you have a bunch of accessories that can charge wirelessly, you can use your Pixel to top them up.
What charger does the Pixel 8 use?
The Pixel 8 series uses a USB-C charger with speeds up to 30W (albeit it's not included in the retail box). You'll also be able to use a Qi-certified wireless charger to top up your Pixel 8 battery with wireless charging speeds up to 12W, or get a Pixel Stand and get even faster wireless charging. You can check out some of the best Pixel chargers here.
How fast does the Pixel 8 charge?
Both new models received a 4W bump in wired charging speed, from 20W to 24W for the Pixel 8 and from 23W to 27W for the Pixel 8 Pro. We can't tell whether or not this increase in power will translate to faster charging times, and we'll have to wait until the Pixel 8 phones arrive at our test lab, but in theory, we should get slightly faster charging on the new Pixels.
Conclusion
So, there you have it. Everything we know about the battery and charging of the newly-announced Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones. We've updated the article with benchmarks so you have some hard numbers to support your buying decision. As things stand at the moment, the Pixel 8 family performs better then the last generation when it comes to battery life. Yey!
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