diff --git a/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetChannelBuilder.java b/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetChannelBuilder.java
index f42dabdd55a..e37d4b36d06 100644
--- a/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetChannelBuilder.java
+++ b/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetChannelBuilder.java
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@
 @ExperimentalApi("There is no plan to make this API stable, given transport API instability")
 public final class CronetChannelBuilder extends ForwardingChannelBuilder2<CronetChannelBuilder> {
 
+  private static final int DEFAULT_READ_BUFFER_SIZE = 4 * 1024;
+
   /** BidirectionalStream.Builder factory used for getting the gRPC BidirectionalStream. */
   public static abstract class StreamBuilderFactory {
     public abstract BidirectionalStream.Builder newBidirectionalStreamBuilder(
@@ -109,6 +111,7 @@ public static CronetChannelBuilder forAddress(String name, int port) {
   private boolean trafficStatsUidSet;
   private int trafficStatsUid;
   private Network network;
+  private int readBufferSize = DEFAULT_READ_BUFFER_SIZE;
 
   private CronetChannelBuilder(String host, int port, CronetEngine cronetEngine) {
     final class CronetChannelTransportFactoryBuilder implements ClientTransportFactoryBuilder {
@@ -142,6 +145,15 @@ public CronetChannelBuilder maxMessageSize(int maxMessageSize) {
     return this;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Sets the buffer size to read from the network. Default to {@link #DEFAULT_READ_BUFFER_SIZE}.
+   */
+  public CronetChannelBuilder readBufferSize(int readBufferSize) {
+    checkArgument(readBufferSize >= 0, "readBufferSize must be >= 0");
+    this.readBufferSize = readBufferSize;
+    return this;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Sets the Cronet channel to always use PUT instead of POST. Defaults to false.
    */
@@ -233,7 +245,8 @@ ClientTransportFactory buildTransportFactory() {
         alwaysUsePut,
         transportTracerFactory.create(),
         useGetForSafeMethods,
-        usePutForIdempotentMethods);
+        usePutForIdempotentMethods,
+        readBufferSize);
   }
 
   @VisibleForTesting
@@ -247,6 +260,7 @@ static class CronetTransportFactory implements ClientTransportFactory {
     private final boolean usingSharedScheduler;
     private final boolean useGetForSafeMethods;
     private final boolean usePutForIdempotentMethods;
+    private final int readBufferSize;
 
     private CronetTransportFactory(
         StreamBuilderFactory streamFactory,
@@ -256,7 +270,8 @@ private CronetTransportFactory(
         boolean alwaysUsePut,
         TransportTracer transportTracer,
         boolean useGetForSafeMethods,
-        boolean usePutForIdempotentMethods) {
+        boolean usePutForIdempotentMethods,
+        int readBufferSize) {
       usingSharedScheduler = timeoutService == null;
       this.timeoutService = usingSharedScheduler
           ? SharedResourceHolder.get(GrpcUtil.TIMER_SERVICE) : timeoutService;
@@ -267,6 +282,7 @@ private CronetTransportFactory(
       this.transportTracer = Preconditions.checkNotNull(transportTracer, "transportTracer");
       this.useGetForSafeMethods = useGetForSafeMethods;
       this.usePutForIdempotentMethods = usePutForIdempotentMethods;
+      this.readBufferSize = readBufferSize;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -275,7 +291,8 @@ public ConnectionClientTransport newClientTransport(
       InetSocketAddress inetSocketAddr = (InetSocketAddress) addr;
       return new CronetClientTransport(streamFactory, inetSocketAddr, options.getAuthority(),
           options.getUserAgent(), options.getEagAttributes(), executor, maxMessageSize,
-          alwaysUsePut, transportTracer, useGetForSafeMethods, usePutForIdempotentMethods);
+          alwaysUsePut, transportTracer, useGetForSafeMethods, usePutForIdempotentMethods,
+          readBufferSize);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientStream.java b/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientStream.java
index fcba49a7ae1..1d418d871ca 100644
--- a/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientStream.java
+++ b/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientStream.java
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@
  * Client stream for the cronet transport.
  */
 class CronetClientStream extends AbstractClientStream {
-  private static final int READ_BUFFER_CAPACITY = 4 * 1024;
   private static final ByteBuffer EMPTY_BUFFER = ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(0);
   private static final String LOG_TAG = "grpc-java-cronet";
 
@@ -85,6 +84,7 @@ class CronetClientStream extends AbstractClientStream {
   private final Collection<Object> annotations;
   private final TransportState state;
   private final Sink sink = new Sink();
+  private final int readBufferSize;
   private StreamBuilderFactory streamFactory;
 
   CronetClientStream(
@@ -102,7 +102,8 @@ class CronetClientStream extends AbstractClientStream {
       CallOptions callOptions,
       TransportTracer transportTracer,
       boolean useGetForSafeMethods,
-      boolean usePutForIdempotentMethods) {
+      boolean usePutForIdempotentMethods,
+      int readBufferSize) {
     super(
         new CronetWritableBufferAllocator(), statsTraceCtx, transportTracer, headers, callOptions,
         useGetForSafeMethods && method.isSafe());
@@ -120,6 +121,7 @@ class CronetClientStream extends AbstractClientStream {
     this.annotations = callOptions.getOption(CRONET_ANNOTATIONS_KEY);
     this.state = new TransportState(maxMessageSize, statsTraceCtx, lock, transportTracer,
             callOptions);
+    this.readBufferSize = readBufferSize;
 
     // Tests expect the "plain" deframer behavior, not MigratingDeframer
     // https://github.com/grpc/grpc-java/issues/7140
@@ -309,7 +311,7 @@ public void bytesRead(int processedBytes) {
         if (Log.isLoggable(LOG_TAG, Log.VERBOSE)) {
           Log.v(LOG_TAG, "BidirectionalStream.read");
         }
-        stream.read(ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(READ_BUFFER_CAPACITY));
+        stream.read(ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(readBufferSize));
       }
     }
 
@@ -429,7 +431,7 @@ public void onResponseHeadersReceived(BidirectionalStream stream, UrlResponseInf
         Log.v(LOG_TAG, "BidirectionalStream.read");
       }
       reportHeaders(info.getAllHeadersAsList(), false);
-      stream.read(ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(READ_BUFFER_CAPACITY));
+      stream.read(ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(readBufferSize));
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientTransport.java b/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientTransport.java
index 465df8b2cc9..0be0117c32a 100644
--- a/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientTransport.java
+++ b/cronet/src/main/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientTransport.java
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ class CronetClientTransport implements ConnectionClientTransport {
   private final boolean useGetForSafeMethods;
   private final boolean usePutForIdempotentMethods;
   private final StreamBuilderFactory streamFactory;
+  private final int readBufferSize;
   // Indicates the transport is in go-away state: no new streams will be processed,
   // but existing streams may continue.
   @GuardedBy("lock")
@@ -92,7 +93,8 @@ class CronetClientTransport implements ConnectionClientTransport {
       boolean alwaysUsePut,
       TransportTracer transportTracer,
       boolean useGetForSafeMethods,
-      boolean usePutForIdempotentMethods) {
+      boolean usePutForIdempotentMethods,
+      int readBufferSize) {
     this.address = Preconditions.checkNotNull(address, "address");
     this.logId = InternalLogId.allocate(getClass(), address.toString());
     this.authority = authority;
@@ -108,6 +110,7 @@ class CronetClientTransport implements ConnectionClientTransport {
         .build();
     this.useGetForSafeMethods = useGetForSafeMethods;
     this.usePutForIdempotentMethods = usePutForIdempotentMethods;
+    this.readBufferSize = readBufferSize;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -132,7 +135,7 @@ class StartCallback implements Runnable {
       final CronetClientStream clientStream = new CronetClientStream(
           url, userAgent, executor, headers, CronetClientTransport.this, this, lock, maxMessageSize,
           alwaysUsePut, method, statsTraceCtx, callOptions, transportTracer, useGetForSafeMethods,
-          usePutForIdempotentMethods);
+          usePutForIdempotentMethods, readBufferSize);
 
       @Override
       public void run() {
diff --git a/cronet/src/test/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientStreamTest.java b/cronet/src/test/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientStreamTest.java
index e2b0e0b26ca..32e391dfa9f 100644
--- a/cronet/src/test/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientStreamTest.java
+++ b/cronet/src/test/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientStreamTest.java
@@ -127,7 +127,8 @@ public void setUp() {
             CallOptions.DEFAULT,
             transportTracer,
             false,
-            false);
+            false,
+            4 * 1024);
     callback.setStream(clientStream);
     when(factory.newBidirectionalStreamBuilder(
             any(String.class), any(BidirectionalStream.Callback.class), any(Executor.class)))
@@ -591,7 +592,8 @@ public void addCronetRequestAnnotation_deprecated() {
             CallOptions.DEFAULT.withOption(CronetClientStream.CRONET_ANNOTATION_KEY, annotation),
             transportTracer,
             false,
-            false);
+            false,
+            4 * 1024);
     callback.setStream(stream);
     when(factory.newBidirectionalStreamBuilder(
             any(String.class), any(BidirectionalStream.Callback.class), any(Executor.class)))
@@ -626,7 +628,8 @@ public void withAnnotation() {
             callOptions,
             transportTracer,
             false,
-            false);
+            false,
+            4 * 1024);
     callback.setStream(stream);
     when(factory.newBidirectionalStreamBuilder(
             any(String.class), any(BidirectionalStream.Callback.class), any(Executor.class)))
@@ -666,7 +669,8 @@ public void getUnaryRequest() {
             CallOptions.DEFAULT,
             transportTracer,
             true,
-            false);
+            false,
+            4 * 1024);
     callback.setStream(stream);
     BidirectionalStream.Builder getBuilder =
         mock(BidirectionalStream.Builder.class);
@@ -723,7 +727,8 @@ public void idempotentMethod_usesHttpPut() {
             CallOptions.DEFAULT,
             transportTracer,
             true,
-            true);
+            true,
+            4 * 1024);
     callback.setStream(stream);
     BidirectionalStream.Builder builder =
         mock(BidirectionalStream.Builder.class);
@@ -755,7 +760,8 @@ public void alwaysUsePutOption_usesHttpPut() {
             CallOptions.DEFAULT,
             transportTracer,
             true,
-            true);
+            true,
+            4 * 1024);
     callback.setStream(stream);
     BidirectionalStream.Builder builder =
         mock(BidirectionalStream.Builder.class);
@@ -795,7 +801,8 @@ public void reservedHeadersStripped() {
             CallOptions.DEFAULT,
             transportTracer,
             false,
-            false);
+            false,
+            4 * 1024);
     callback.setStream(stream);
     BidirectionalStream.Builder builder =
         mock(BidirectionalStream.Builder.class);
diff --git a/cronet/src/test/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientTransportTest.java b/cronet/src/test/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientTransportTest.java
index 03c31f93329..cffda6361db 100644
--- a/cronet/src/test/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientTransportTest.java
+++ b/cronet/src/test/java/io/grpc/cronet/CronetClientTransportTest.java
@@ -89,7 +89,8 @@ public void setUp() {
             false,
             TransportTracer.getDefaultFactory().create(),
             false,
-            false);
+            false,
+            4 * 1024);
     Runnable callback = transport.start(clientTransportListener);
     assertNotNull(callback);
     callback.run();