Pixel 2 XL Battery: 0 to 100 in 9,780 seconds

The Pixel 2 XL features a pretty nicely sized 3,520mAh battery. It’s not the biggest battery we’ve seen in an Android device, but it’s definitely beats something like the Galaxy Note 8’s 3,300mAh battery by a smidge. With the Pixel 2 XL featuring Google’s “Rapid Charging,” I was curious to see how the phone compared against alternative methods like Samsung’s Adaptive Fast Charging, or the OnePlus 5’s Dash Charging.

I ran the battery down to 0% and closely monitored how long it would take to full charge the Pixel 2 XL. For this test, I used the stock Type-C to Type-C cable that came in the box, along with the stock charger that outputs at 5V/3A (regular) or 9V/2A (Rapid Charging). The results? The phone took a surprising 163 minutes to fully charge or 9,780 seconds depending on how you want to look at it. You can find a more detailed breakdown below.

Pixel 2 XL charging time

• 0 – (24min until full)
• 10 min: 20% (36 min until full)
• 20 min – 26% (57 min until full)
• 30 min – 35% (57 min until full)
• 40 min – 44% (53 min until full)
• 50 min – 55% (42 min until full)
• 60 min – 66% (32 min until full)
• 70 min – 76% (23 min until full)
• 80 min – 83% (17 min until full)
• 90 min – 88% (13 min until full)
• 100 min – 91% (10 min until full)
• 120 min – 94% (7 min until full)
• 130 min – 96% – (5 min until full)
• 140 min – 97% – (4 min until full)
• 150 min – 98% – (3 min until full)
• 160 min – 99% – (2 min until full)
• 163 min – 100%

Total: 2 hours, 43 min

Interestingly enough, charging on the phone was sort of inconsistent, especially when it came to the projected charging times shown on the lock screen. At first, it was showing an extremely optimistic 24 min until full, but that number eventually jumped way up and slowed down dramatically during the time it was plugged in. In other words: the Pixel 2 XL’s estimated “until full” times mean absolutely nothing.

It’s worth noting that full charge times are usually about the same between devices — that’s the way fast charging works. What you want to pay attention to is how quickly the phone hits 50% – 75%. After that is where charging speeds are throttled and you usually see a dip in charging speeds to preserve battery health.

By comparison, the Galaxy Note 8’s 3,300mAh battery took 1 hour and 47 min to fully charge, while the OnePlus 5’s 3,300mAh battery can charge to 60% in only 30 minutes. Fast charging speeds are more of an added benefit when it comes to Android devices and while a slow charging device can be an inconvenience, it’s rarely a deal breaker.