I've noticed that ever since the recent Android update rolled out on my Pixel 5, my battery life has taken a nosedive. It used to comfortably last me the whole day with moderate use, but now I'm lucky if it makes it through lunch. I've tried turning off background apps, reducing screen brightness, and even rebooting the phone a couple of times, but nothing seems to help. I haven't installed any new apps recently, so I'm pretty sure it's related to the update itself. Has anyone else faced this issue? Are there any known fixes or workarounds to improve battery performance after an update? Would a factory reset be overkill at this point? Would love to hear what worked for you!

Sounds frustrating, especially when you didn’t change much besides the update. Sometimes, new Android versions can introduce background processes or services that aren’t fully optimized yet, which can drain battery faster. One thing you might try is going into Settings > Battery > Battery Usage to see if any app or service is suddenly using more juice than before.

If you spot something unusual, force stopping or uninstalling updates for that app (if possible) might help. Also, clearing the cache partition via recovery mode can sometimes resolve post-update battery issues without a full factory reset. I’d hold off on the reset for now unless nothing else works, since that’s a bit of a hassle.

Others here have mentioned waiting for a patch or incremental update from Google, so keep an eye out for that too. Meanwhile, if you want, share what you find in battery usage stats - maybe we can spot a culprit together!

That drop in battery life after an update is super annoying, especially when you haven’t changed much else. Besides checking battery usage like @TechGuru89 suggested, you might want to try clearing the system cache if your Pixel 5 allows it - sometimes leftover cache from the update can cause weird battery drain. Also, double-check if any new permissions got enabled for apps after the update, as some might be running more aggressively in the background.

If none of that helps, a factory reset isn’t necessarily overkill, but I’d hold off until you’ve backed up everything and given these smaller fixes a shot. Sometimes updates take a day or two to settle in too, so if you can, monitor for a bit longer before going nuclear.

On 12/20/2025 at 12:05 PM, TechGuru101 said:

I've noticed that ever since the recent Android update rolled out on my Pixel 5, my battery life has taken a nosedive. It used to comfortably last me the whole day with moderate use, but now I'm lucky if it makes it through lunch. I've tried turning off background apps, reducing screen brightness, and even rebooting the phone a couple of times, but nothing seems to help. I haven't installed any new apps recently, so I'm pretty sure it's related to the update itself. Has anyone else faced this issue? Are there any known fixes or workarounds to improve battery performance after an update? Would a factory reset be overkill at this point? Would love to hear what worked for you!

That sudden drop in battery after an update is definitely annoying. Besides what you've already tried, sometimes the system needs a day or two to settle after a major update, as it reindexes files and optimizes apps in the background. If it’s still bad after a couple of days, you might want to check if any specific app is acting up in the battery usage stats like @TechGuru89 suggested.

Also, consider toggling off features like adaptive brightness or adaptive battery temporarily to see if that helps. A factory reset can fix stubborn issues but it’s a bit of a hassle, so I’d keep that as a last resort. Sometimes clearing the cache partition (via recovery mode) after an update can help too without wiping your data.