Google just revealed the beautiful Pixel Fold with loads of features and a heavy price tag, but are the battery life and charging time on par with the competition? Pixel Fold has been subject to leaks and rumors for a long time, and those gave enthusiasts a pretty good idea about its specifications. Pre-launch reports did indicate the presence of a large battery that would add heft to the device. However, now that the device and its details are out, interested buyers can get a better idea of what they’re dealing with.
Per the official landing page, the Google Pixel Fold comes with a 4,821 mAh battery split into two cells in the two halves of the phone. On paper, this is the largest battery on a mainstream foldable smartphone. The most popular phone in this category, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, comes with a smaller 4,400 mAh battery. So does that mean that the Pixel Fold lasts longer than the Galaxy Z Fold 4? Well, it’s not that simple. Although Google’s first folding phone has a larger physical battery, it doesn’t necessarily imply that it offers more usage hours.
Here’s What You Should Expect From The Pixel Fold
The effective battery life of a phone depends on many factors, including the processor’s efficiency, the size/type of display, network settings, and of course, the usage pattern. For instance, the Tensor G2 (5nm) used on the Pixel Fold isn’t as efficient as the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4nm) on the Galaxy Z Fold 4. For the Pixel Fold, Google promises “beyond 24-hour battery life.” However, in the fine print, the company also mentions that the “average battery life during testing was approximately 33 hours.“
That said, buyers should expect the Pixel Fold to last about a day of moderate usage. An Extreme Battery Saver mode extends the battery life up to 72 hours — however, it does so by limiting app activity, pausing notifications, and switching to LTE from 5G connectivity. Although the regular brick-style phones come with a larger physical battery, as seen on the Galaxy S23 Ultra (5,000 mAh battery), or are way more power-efficient, like the iPhone 14 Plus (4,323), the Pixel Fold’s battery shouldn’t fall short of other foldable phones.
Regarding charging, Google says that the Pixel Fold supports fast charging that provides “hours of power with minutes of charge” with Google’s 30W USB-C Charger that supports USB-PD 3.0. The phone supports Qi wireless charging as well. However, how long it takes to charge from zero to 100 percent isn’t specified. The Pixel 7 Pro (5,000 mAh battery, up to 23W wired charging) takes about 30 minutes to hit 50 percent and just under two hours to hit 100 percent. From what it looks like, the Pixel Fold could also take the same time or perhaps even more.
Source: Google
