Pixel 11 battery drain could have an unexpected culprit: Your Wi-Fi router
Tests point to a router-specific sleep issue, but the cause isn't confirmed.
A group of Pixel 11 users have been experiencing an unexpected issue with their device's battery life, according to early reports. While many Pixel owners have previously complained about battery drain, the Pixel 11 series seemed to offer a promising improvement with its new MediaTek modem. However, some users are now reporting excessive battery consumption when their phones are idle and connected to Wi-Fi.
One Reddit user, identified as Albamen13, detailed their findings after conducting a series of tests on their Pixel 11 Pro XL. They observed that their device was losing between 2.5% and 3% of its battery life per hour while sitting idle on Wi-Fi. Utilizing the BetterBatteryStats app, Albamen13 discovered that Wi-Fi activity was waking the phone an astonishing 135 times per minute.
This constant wake-up cycle prevented the phone from achieving proper sleep mode, resulting in a significant 59% to 67% loss of battery life over the test period.
Despite this issue, the exact cause of the excessive battery drain remains unconfirmed. While some users have found that switching to Wi-Fi 5 or using another router has dramatically improved their battery life, the root of the problem remains a mystery. Google's Tensor era has seen its fair share of heat, modem, and efficiency problems, and the Pixel 11 series was anticipated to be a step forward. However, for some users, the only drain they're chasing is a different kind of battery loss.
Written by urgent.news from Android Authority's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
