Android 15 QPR1 adds Bypass Charging to Google Pixel Devices

This week, Google started to roll out the Android 15 QPR1 update. One of the features that comes with this update is the ability to limit charging to 80%. Along with that feature comes bypass charging. Which is a second feature that help save the health of your battery.

So what does this mean? Well, when your Pixel is set to stop charging at 80%, it does just that. However, if you are using the phone, it will use power from the wall outlet, instead of your battery, keeping it at 80%. Hence, “bypass” charging. The folks over at Android Authority were able to spot this by using a power monitor.

This monitor was able to show that the phone continued to draw power at a much lower rate that would vary based on what tasks were being performed on the phone. When the phone was fully idle, the power draw was just 0.1W. But it would ramp up to 0.74W when the screen was on, and up to 7.6W when benchmarking apps were being used.

How can bypass charging be useful?

While bypass charging likely won’t be used by that many people, it is very useful to have, if you plan to keep your Pixel for a long time. And let’s face it, with 7 years of software updates for the Pixel 8 and later, many will.

Bypass charging can help keep the device from overcharging, or draining the battery while you’re using it plugged in. It can also help keep the phone cool, which Google did a good job with thermals on the Tensor G4 already. This is a big reason why a lot of gaming smartphones use bypass charging, as it’s better on the battery, especially when playing demanding titles at full graphics settings.

It’s too early to tell right now how this might affect battery health after a couple of years, but we should find out in a few years. Since the Pixel 8 series and later all are getting 7 years of promised updates.