Not all batteries age the same way. Some problems will appear quickly, but others will only be noticeable after many load / discharge cycles. A few years ago, Samsung released the Galaxy Note 7 with a slightly larger battery than the previous model. In a few weeks, the phones started to set fire, and even after exchanging a different battery, the problem persisted. It was a huge mess that led to a recall and strong financial losses.
Samsung battery faux pas may have prompted manufacturers to take possible battery defects more seriously. Thus, when Google detected problems with the aging of the 4A pixel batteries, this took no risk. He decided to degrade the experience on remaining Pixel 4A units, even if slower users and slower users. When the Pixel 6A units started to start fire, Google decided to simply limit battery performance.
The compulsory update of Android July 16 will limit the speed and load capacity of the battery on the affected phones.
Credit: Ryan Whitwam
The compulsory update of Android July 16 will limit the speed and load capacity of the battery on the affected phones.
Credit: Ryan Whitwam
The Pixel 4A units contained one of the two different batteries, and only that manufactured by a company called Lishen was demoted. For Pixel 6A, Google has declared that the battery limits will be imposed when the cells have passed 400 charging cycles. Beyond that, the risk of fire becomes too large – there have been pixel 6A phones that break out in flames.
Obviously, Google had to do something, but the remedies on which they settled seem unnecessarily hostile to customers. He had a chance to do better the second time, but the solution for the 6a pixel is more or more the same.
A Google manufacturing problem
Like other smartphones manufacturers, Google has moved away from the offer of removable batteries in the 2010s to make phones thinner and more durable. Smartphones manufacturers have largely rejected the concerns of repair defenders who stressed that lithium-ion batteries deteriorate over time, and making them difficult to withdraw was not the best idea. However, it was a time when people only kept smartphones for a year or two before upgrading, but we have since entered an era when people use phones longer. The way the phones are marketed have changed to reflect this – Google has promulgated longer support windows, exceeding seven years for its latest phones.
