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Battery be damned, people are buying the Google Pixel 4 anyway
June 23, 2025
As they appear to do year after year, Google-branded smartphones are selling. At least, as far as we can tell. TheGoogle Pixel 4andGoogle Pixel 4 XLare in short supply or backordered via various sales channels, which leads us to ponder whether or not people care about critical things such as battery life.
InAndroid Authority’sreview of the Pixel 4, we noted that battery life was well below expectations. We weren’t alone. Nearly every site that reviewed the phone slammed it for struggling to reach dinnertime, let alone the end of the day. The Pixel 4 XL, with a slightly larger battery, did somewhat better. Even so, it doesn’t match the battery life of class-leading devices such as theSamsung Galaxy Note 10 PlusandApple iPhone 11 Pro Max.
What gives?
As soon as the phones were announced,we knew battery life would be trouble. The smaller Pixel 4 ships witha 2,800mAh batteryand the larger Pixel 4 XL ships with a 3,700mAh battery. Both of these have less capacity than many competing flagships. The Galaxy Note 10, for example, has a 3,500mAh battery and the Note 10 Plus has a 4,300mAh battery.
Our testing bore out the predictions.
Earlier this monthAndroid Authoritypolled readers concerning the Pixel 4 devices andthe results were fairly predictable. Of those who responded, 18.7% said they’d buy the Pixel 4, 22.32% said they’d buy the Pixel 4 XL, 24.48% said they’d wait for reviews, while a whopping 35% said no way Jose.
Buying it anyway
Google itself lists shipping dates ofone to three weeksfor the Pixel 4, depending on the exact variant.Amazon.comalso lists various shipping dates, ranging from late November to early December. The Oh So Orange variant? It ships one one tothree months. Either Google stock is far more limited than Google initially implied, or people really love orange.
Android Authoritycalled several carrier stores today to see what local demand was like. According to several corporate-owned Verizon Wireless and AT&T shops in Northern New Jersey, the carriers sold “a lot” of them over the initial launch weekend. That’s not a representative sample, and it is certainly not a scientific poll, but local Best Buy and carrier shops were limited to just a few units each, with only a couple left in stock across a dozen stores as of the morning of October 28.
Don’t miss:Toys and jewels, or why I love the Pixel 4’s design
All this begs us to ask: Doesbattery lifematter or doesn’t it? Sure, the Pixel 4 takes great photos —especially of stars— and it runs pureAndroidwith the promise of future system and security updates. The hardware is decent-looking, and the90Hz displayis nice, too.
But if your phone is dead before the end of the day, aren’t all those points moot? Readers once told us that battery life isthe most important aspectof any phone. Based on what limited information we have concerning initial sales, that doesn’t necessarily seem to be the case.
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