Pixel 8 and 8 Pro terrible battery life using network

Question

Everybody is saying there's some issues with battery life and network, literally every review on YouTube says that. 
It's pretty obvious it's not an user behaviour but a malfunction of the phone. This has to be escalated to Google Devs team.
For reference: https://www.androidcentral.com/phones/google-pixel-8-and-8-pro-battery-drain-and-network-issues
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/thread/241163982/pixel-8-pro-battery-drain-from-mobile-network?hl=en
https://www.androidauthority.com/pixel-8-battery-drain-connectivity-issues-3381576/
https://www.androidpolice.com/google-pixel-8-users-reporting-poor-battery-life-mobile-data/
https://www.phonearena.com/news/google-pixel-8-pro-battery-drain-issue-deja-vu_id152184
https://www.nextpit.com/google-pixel-8-pro-5g-modem-battery-life-drain
https://mashable.com/article/pixel-8-issues-overheating-battery-drain-connectivity
And lots of XDA and Reddit posts.
We need to know if this is being fixed or just can't be fixed, because in case this isn't fixed I am returning my phone and probably many more users will, less than 5h of SOT with mobile data is just unacceptable.
Again, the battery life while using WiFi is not the best but at least acceptable.

User 11613398838959942832 · Accepted Answer

PIXEL 8 USER
I bought the pixel 8 on December 2023, I have used the pixel phone for 2 months now and I hate it. I had a good redmi phone but I just thought upgrading to the pixel phone would be an upscale only for it to disappoint, the battery drains so fast, I feel like throwing it and let it be smashed by a moving vehicle. I work and use my phone to listen to music most times, nothing like heavy browsing that I would do on the weekend, but by the time I leave work at 5. The battery is at 15%. Sometimes it even dies before 5. I can't imagine having a phone with battery issues, I am going to return it. I will never purchase a Google phone again.

The pi$$ed off · Accepted Answer

I bought it late December and updated to the latest software and I can tell you nothing is resolved with updates so far, I'm convinced that Google gave up on its users, the same ones who were promised 7 years of updates, I don't know why the 7 years at all, I'm thankful if I can complete one year before this battery would be as dead as my grand grandfather. Back in 2016 I bought a Samsung J5 for $175 and I SWEAR TO GOD its battery performance and endurance was much better for at least 6 months even on very heavy usage than this thing I just bought from Google. The 8 pro is my first pixel phone and its battery performance is absolutely hideous, like outstandingly hideous, I can't find the words to describe it, nothing close to a £1000 flagship.
I tried everything I knew, every option I could think of:
Dark mode always on.
Very low brightness all day therefore even adaptive brightness was off.
Restricted all apps from background.
Turned on battery saver all day.
Turned on adaptive charging and adaptive battery.
Turned off all vibrations and haptics.
No live or moving wallpapers whatsoever.
Screen timeout 30 seconds.
Turned off any lift-the-phone-screen-goes-on sensors that might consume the battery, I considered them luxury features just to see how far this would go...
Switched off (mobile data always active) in developer options as I know data is a major battery killer.
Used mobile data for less than 60 minutes a day (if any) while on wifi for the rest of the day.
GPS turned off since I bought it, barely used it at all.
Turned off face unlock so the camera won't be used every time I turn the screen on.
Turned off identify songs nearby so the microphone won't be used all the time.
Did everything that was mentioned in the tips for preserving battery life in settings.
Sacrificed smooth display (60 hz literally all the time).
Even took the damn resolution down to the lower option.
That said I practically took it back to a mid-range phone, it's barely a smartphone at this point so I waited 2 days and surprisingly enough the battery drainage was the same, like not the slightest improvment that would make me feel guilty while writing this. It's like don't waste your time cause something in there is gonna eat your battery no matter what you do. And I know what many of you might think, factory reset? Nah I did that first thing out of the box: Turn on, install all updates, factory reset and a fresh start.
I  am so surprised, so frustrated, can't describe how disappointed I am with this battery that feels like it's been used excessively for 2 or 3 years. And of course putting the device back to its box tomorrow and returning it back for a refund, no fancy camera features or smart AI processor would hold me at this point, I didn't pay a £1000 for barely 7 hours of moderate usage from 100 to 10 percent even after all these miserable adjustments I mentioned. A two week test from Google before launching the phone would've been enough to let them know the disaster they're selling people, shame on you google

User 2411956921345999603 · Accepted Answer

I think this screenshot attached says it all really, just over 4 hours screen on time browsing the internet and I'm on 33% battery. Have a moderate to good signal too. Totally unacceptable! The network connection has used 45% of my battery

Hemma Tv · Accepted Answer

Scott, what are you talking about?! "Are your toothbrush brand supported for your type of teeth?" 
I phone will automatically use 4G if 5G is not available in the area. If a phone using 4G and parallel burning battery scanning for 5G 24-7 then there is a manufacturer error. Never heard of any other flagship 5G phone having any batteryproblems regard 5G network.

Scott B · Accepted Answer

I am genuinely curious if any of you are using a supported model officially released and supported by your carrier in your area?
https://pixel.withgoogle.com/5G/
If not, odds are pretty good that the phone is burning battery looking for that.
Scott