Google’s Pixel phones are well-known for providing a unique software experience with timely updates. Speaking of which, Google has recently extended the availability of some features that were introduced with the Pixel 5 to some of its older devices. One of the most useful in the bunch is Adaptive Charging. This article looks at how you can set up and use Adaptive Charging on your Pixel phone.
What Is Adaptive Charging?
Google’s Adaptive Charging is a feature intended to preserve battery health by controlling the speed at which your device charges. This is supposed to keep your battery health optimal and thus extend its overall life cycle.
Apple offers a similar option on iOS. It’s called “Optimized Battery Charging” and aims to reduce chemical aging by reducing the amount of time an iPhone’s battery spends fully charged. Google’s Adaptive Charging alternative works following a similar principle.
The idea is to let the phone steadily charge over a period of several hours, instead of topping it off as quickly as possible. The reason behind this is that the practice tends to degrade the battery more quickly. Basically, Adaptive Charging works to minimize the amount of time the battery spends in the 80 to 100 percent range to prevent premature aging.
Pixels with Adaptive Charging working properly will slow down the charging process overnight and quickly finish charging before the user wakes up.
How to Take Advantage of Adaptive Charging on Your Pixel
While the feature is already turned on by default on your Pixel, it won’t function as as it should unless you set an alarm. We’ll explain more in a second, but here’s how to find the feature on your phone and check that it’s indeed enabled:
1. Open Settings on your Pixel device.
2. Go to Battery.
3. Tap on Adaptive Battery.
4. Here you should see two options: Adaptive Battery and Adaptive Charging. Check to see whether they are enabled. If they are not, toggle them on.
Adaptive Battery is another tool that helps extend your battery’s life by making predictions about which apps you are most likely to use in the next few hours. It then works to reduce power to the ones you don’t use that much.
Going back to Adaptive Charging, it’s not enough to have the feature enabled on your phone. You’ll need to do one more thing: set an alarm.
Here’s the gist. The feature only becomes operational if you set an alarm to go off anytime “between 5 and 10AM.” Also, you’ll need to plug the phone in for the night anytime after 9PM. Once this is done, Adaptive Charging will use your alarm’s settings for guidance to complete the charging process just before you wake up.
Unfortunately, if your schedule does not align to these parameters, your phone will charge at normal speed, no extra tweaks involved. In contrast, Apple’s alternative learns from users’ charging habits, so it can adapt to a person’s unique schedule. Hopefully, Google is open to improving Adaptive Charging in the future so that it can offer a more comprehensive approach.
What Other Adaptive Features Can You Use on Your Pixel?
Adaptive Charging is just one of the many Adaptive features you can take advantage of on your Pixel device.
For instance, another option designed to help boost your battery’s performance is Adaptive Connectivity. The goal is to ensure the best connection while keeping the device’s power usage in check. The feature is on by default. You can find it by going to “Settings -> Network & Connectivity -> Advanced -> Adaptive Connectivity.”
On the Pixel 4a 5G+ and Pixel 5, Adaptive Connectivity will automatically switch between 5G andr 4G, depending on the app in use. For texting on WhatsApp, it will give you 4G, but for downloading a song, it will make the switch to 5G.
Moreover, Google recently pushed Adaptive Sound on the Pixel 4a 5G (also available on the Pixel 5). This feature uses the phone’s microphone to assess the sounds near you and then adjusts the equalizer. This results in optimization of volume based on the noise level in the environment you currently find yourself in.
There are a couple other Adaptive options on your Pixel including Adaptive Brightness and Adaptive Notifications. But both are baked into Android, so they should be accessible from most newer smartphones.
If you’re still concerned with improving your device’s battery life, you may be interested in browsing through or list of top tips to save battery life on your iPhone, or our guide on how to save battery life in your PS4 controller.
Image Credit: Google
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