Some Pixel 11 Owners Report Idle Battery Drain, Wi-Fi Routers Suspected
Some Pixel 11 owners report excessive idle battery drain, with tests pointing to certain Wi-Fi routers repeatedly waking the phone. Switching to Wi-Fi 5 or another router reportedly improved battery life, but the cause remains unconfirmed.
Android Authority reported on September 21, 2026, that the issue has emerged among owners of the Pixel 11 series, which had otherwise appeared to be a step forward for the lineup. The report cited a Reddit investigation in which Reddit user Albamen13 noticed a Pixel 11 Pro XL losing roughly 2.5% to 3% battery per hour while sitting idle on Wi-Fi.
Using BetterBatteryStats, the user found that Wi-Fi activity was waking the phone about 135 times per minute. That activity prevented the phone from properly going to sleep for 59% to 67% of the test, according to the report.
The report said switching to Wi-Fi 5 or another router dramatically improved battery life. The exact cause of the drain remains unconfirmed, and the findings come from user testing rather than an official diagnosis.
The report noted that Pixel owners are no strangers to battery-life complaints, and Google’s Tensor era has had its share of heat, modem, and efficiency problems. The Pixel 11 series drew attention for its new MediaTek modem, but some owners are now dealing with a different kind of battery drain.
The Reddit investigation suggests certain Wi-Fi routers may be keeping Pixel 11 phones awake far more often than they should, Android Authority reported. No confirmed explanation has been established for why those routers interact with the phones in that way.