Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
As a tech writer, I test and review many phones and gadgets, but rarely put them back in a drawer when I’m done. I live my daily life with these same gadgets that I write about. They accompany me on fun outings and fun vacations, they preserve memories of my favorite times, they show me the way when I’m in unfamiliar territory and they help me stay in touch with my family and friends. They are also there when tragedy strikes and my whole life is turned upside down. (I’m sorry if you weren’t expecting this dreary change of subject when you started reading.)
Tragedy struck two Sundays ago. One heartbreaking call and my husband’s life and my life were changed forever. We dropped everything and booked the next flight back to Beirut, Lebanon. Two weeks later, I’m far from cured, but life must go on. And even during those tough days, my tech-loving side was still buzzing in the background. Call it denial or resilience, whatever, but I often took mental notes, analyzing the usefulness of certain devices and features that accompanied me on this difficult journey.
I flew to Beirut with a Pixel 7 Pro in my hand, a Pixel Watch on my wrist, and a pair of Pixel Buds Pro in my ears. I love using Google’s latest Pixel products, but I’ve always had one big concern about this range: battery life and charging. And put to the test, this turned out to be a significant weakness.
In my day to day life, I have a foolproof setup for charging my gadgets. But I wasn’t ready for an irregular schedule.
See, in my day-to-day life, I have a foolproof setup with 24/7 power, multi-port chargers and USB-C cables everywhere, and multiple power banks ready to charge. any gadget. I can also anticipate and organize anything, even on days when I break my routine and get away from the comforts of home. But the situation in Lebanon is very, very different. Erratic day-long blackouts are common, even daily. Additionally, the purpose of our “visit,” if you want to call it that, dictated unpredictable charging times. I couldn’t predict in advance when I would be in a house, which house I would be in, for how long, and whether I could take an electrical outlet for myself.
Despite the impromptu nature of the trip and the uncertainty that awaited me in Lebanon, I thought I was ready. A few wall chargers, two large, fast Baseus power banks, several USB-C cables, and the Pixel Watch charging cable, all in a small pouch that came with me whenever possible. I thought that would be enough.
I never ran out of juice on my Pixel 7 Pro or Pixel Watch, but I got close more often than I would have liked.
What I’ve found is that the best-laid plans fail when you test them. During the two weeks, I never ran out of juice on my Pixel 7 Pro or Pixel Watch, but I got closer more often than I would have liked. And I had to commit to charging for everything every chance I got, which is admittedly very annoying.
Running out of battery on your Pixel 7 or Pixel Watch?
957 votes
Pixels and power: let’s start with positive thoughts
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
The Pixel 7 Pro retains power longer and more efficiently than I expected. I was surprised how slowly it draws power when not in use compared to my Pixel 6 Pro. I haven’t done any objective tests and measurements, obviously, but even on the longest days I’ve always been surprised to see that it barely drops a few percentage points every hour on standby — far less than what I expected from my Pixel 6 Pro. However, I’m not sure if this is just an improvement on the Pixel 7 series or a consequence of wearing the watch and therefore unlocking and using my phone less.
The Pixel Watch also continues to give me a stable 24-hour battery life, with always-on display (AOD) enabled. I’ve read lots of horror stories and tests of people failing to get 12, let alone 18 hours of watch use, even when turning the AOD off. I don’t know why there is such a discrepancy, but that’s clearly not my experience. 24 hours is easily doable, provided I use bedtime mode when I sleep, as I explained in my initial Pixel Watch impressions.
The Pixel 7 Pro draws power slowly compared to the 6 Pro, and the Pixel Watch lasts me 24 hours on a charge.
As for the Pixel Buds Pro, they were always ready whenever I needed to use them for a phone call or solitary moments. The case is the absolute best feature of all true wireless buds and I kind of wish all other product categories came with a charging case as well. If my Pixel 7 Pro or Pixel Watch could fill up every time I put them in my purse or backpack, I’d be a happy, happy geek.
And having all three Pixel products — plus my Pixelbook — charged with the same USB-C port was fantastic. I didn’t have to worry about different cables or charging speeds. (Well, except for the special watch cable.)
But a few big annoyances quickly became clear with each passing day during my two-week stress test.
Problem 1: Slow charging Pixel 7 Pro
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
As we noted in our Pixel 7 Pro review, the phone charges slowly. Very slowly. At least compared to other modern smartphones. A top speed of 23W and a charge time that typically exceeds the 100 minute mark aren’t ideal when electricity is an issue and you have no control over your schedule. A few times, I’ve had the luxury of plugging my phone in and letting it sit on a charger for a few hours. But most of the time I had to resort to small top-ups that only raised the percentage a few notches. It made me obsessively think about charging the Pixel 7 Pro just to make sure I could take condolence calls, make important arrangements, and handle other smartphone-only tasks.
The 23W max charging speed had me obsessively thinking about charging the Pixel 7 Pro.
In my daily life, the slow charging of the Pixel is not a problem. But when I’m in a hurry and plug my phone in at 20% for twenty minutes and only see it fill up to 40% before going out for several hours, it’s a little grating. Especially when I see another family member with a OnePlus 9 Pro and their Warp Charger fully charging 10% in half an hour.
I often wished the Pixel had a boost charging option – a button I could press to get up to 50W or 65W of on-demand charging. This would help keep the battery healthy on normal days, while allowing for a real fast charging option when needed.
Problem 2: Pixel Watch daily charging
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
Before switching to the Pixel Watch, I had a Fitbit Inspire HR that lasted about 10 days on a charge. I rarely had to “think” about recharging it, usually putting it down once a week when it was convenient. With the Pixel Watch, that’s never the case, because ninety minutes of convenience doesn’t come every day, even if you spread it out over several periods.
90 minutes of convenience doesn’t come every day, so I had to compulsively charge the Pixel Watch at every opportunity.
The unpredictable timings completely betray the watch’s inadequacy – we even called it “disappointing” in our Pixel Watch review – 24-hour battery life. Especially if you want to use it as a Fitbit tracker to keep tabs on your activity and sleep. Something has to give and you will end up popping something along the way. The limited battery life also gives infinitesimal leeway in your day-to-day use: I forgot to manually activate bedtime mode once and woke up to 37% lost juice. I had to rethink my whole load plan that morning.
On the other hand, my husband only had to charge his Fitbit Versa three times during his stay. He never had to make a charging plan or travel to charge his watch. For now, that kind of longevity seems unrealistic on a good smartwatch, but we deserve more than 24 hours. I’d like to see 48 hours of battery life on the next Pixel Watch; finding 40 or 45 minutes of charging time each day is much easier than spending 90 minutes on it.
Troubles, not dealbreakers
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
Look, the latest Pixel 7 Pro is undoubtedly the best Pixel that Google has released. It’s the culmination of everything the first five Pixels put together and a big refinement over the redesigned Pixel 6 series. The slew of Pixel-only features is the icing on top of a really good cake. As for the Watch, it’s a first-generation Google product in every sense of the word — delightful but frustrating.
The billing issues I’ve highlighted aren’t dealbreakers, but they can definitely turn into big annoyances if something unexpected happens and your schedule is thrown off balance.
Personally, I prefer my technology to be at my service and not the other way around. The past two weeks have certainly tested that, and they’ve forced me to overthink when, where, and for how long I should charge my phone and watch. I hope the next generation will correct these remaining pain points.
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