Tethering is crucial for me while traveling, especially to conserve battery power. I used to rely on Bluetooth tethering, which gave me around 1-3 Mbit/s—slow but energy efficient compared to Wifi hotspots. Nowadays, Bluetooth tethering no longer works with a modern Pixelbook and Pixel phone combo.
Now I use USB-C tethering. Even when public Wi-Fi is available, I prefer 4G/5G, as it’s often faster and more reliable. The only drawback is that one device always charges the other, and there’s no way to stop it.
✨ To turn on USB-C tethering, tap twice on the silent notification that says “Charging this device via USB,” then select “USB tethering.”
One quirk I’ve noticed is with Quickshare. It doesn’t use the USB-C tethering connection, and file transfers are notably slow until I disconnect tethering. But even then, it needs a transfer restart for better speeds.