Google responds to Pixel 2 and 2 XL battery drain issues

Over the past few weeks, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL owners have reported battery drain issues. Google confirmed it would investigate the issue, though it appears the search giant have not yet found a culprit.

That being said, Google told 9to5Google that there was no correlation between the February security patch and the battery issues device owners have reported thus far. This will be a disappointment to those who made that connection, though it is usually difficult to pinpoint where these issues crop up from.

Not every device owner who reported the issues were similarly impacted, since they reported different degrees of battery drain. Several forum posts confirmed that Google would privately reach out to impacted owners to gather more information about the issue.

Battery drain is not the only issue at play, with some Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL owners also reporting that their phones heat up, take longer than usual to charge, and random Wi-Fi disconnections following the February security patch. Enough people complained about the latter problem that a dedicated thread showed up on the Google Issue Tracking website.

Even weirder, a recent report alleged that the Pixel 2 XL charges significantly slower when cold. Even though the phone said it was “charging rapidly,” meaning 10W or more, tests reportedly showed the phone was charging at around 4W. Google said it would investigate the discrepancy between the real charge level and what the phone says, though the issue should be taken with a grain of salt.

As previously mentioned, it is difficult to assume where these issues come from. Device owners can only hope that either upcoming bug fixes or monthly security patches will smooth things over.