Pixel 4a Battery Update - Good news for whom?

[Brian Dean]

I have a Pixel 4a - a hitherto excellent phone. I very rarely make or receive 'phone calls and my usage is almost entirely through Wifi and Bluetooth. From a full battery charge I could get three days usage, but normally I recharged every other day when the battery level dropped below 50%.

A couple of weeks ago I received this email from Google :

We wanted to let you know about an upcoming software update for your Pixel 4a that will affect the overall performance and stability of its battery. Pixel phones, like other smartphones, use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that, over time, may experience performance, capacity or runtime degradation.

In the coming days, your Pixel 4a will receive an automatic software update to Android 13 that introduces new battery management features to improve the stability of your device. This update will reduce your battery's runtime and charging performance.

Sure enough the update arrived and now my 'phone consumes battery power at around twice the previous rate. Not a show-stopper - I can still get a full day's use from a full charge - but it leads me to two questions :

1. What might Google have done that causes this increase in power consumption yet has improved the stability of my device?

2. Who has benefitted? Not me, I think, but I assume that some users gain from this. I don't see how this action will win Google more customers.

 

[Sagenut]

If you go in Settings > Battery you should get even a list of consumption app by app.
So you will realize what is draining the battery more that others.

 

[AHilton]

The rate of battery usage hasn't gone up. The OS is simply adjusting the scale because the battery isn't being charged as fully as it had been. This is because the battery is getting old and it's unwise to charge it as much as it had been when newer. Other phone manufacturers have done this and more will continue to do this. It's nothing new; indeed, this has been standard practice for many devices over the years in order to prolong the life of non-replaceable (or hard-to-replace, as in remote sensors) batteries.

"Stability" = your phone isn't *as likely* to go up in flames or crash randomly because of power problems.

"Benefitted" = You. You can have a little extra use of your old device.

One of my programming phones is a Pixel 5a and it's, eventually, going to get the same treatment.

 

[Brian Dean]

Thank you @AHilton for that explanation. I had not come across this practice before. I have a couple of very old HTC phones that I still use as MP3 players and seem to hold their charge almost indefinitely, as well as many other rechargeable devices that maybe no longer hold their charge so well but don't go up in flames either.

So I am not impressed by Google's concern for my safety, and I am dubious about their motives. I would certainly have preferred to be given a choice, backed up with some statistical data, maybe.

 

[agraham]

Have you checked if your device is eligible for a battery replacement. There are several links in this document which will take you to an eligibility checking page

Pixel 4a Battery Performance Program - Pixel Phone Help

January 6, 2025 Summary of program Google has determined that certain Pixel 4a phones require a software update to improve the stability of their battery’s performance. An automatic update to Androi

support.google.com

 

[Brian Dean]

Have you checked if your device is eligible for a battery replacement.

Yes - I have and it is, and I must say that this seems a pretty fair offer on Google's part. But it means sending the device away for I am not sure how long. Instead I have taken their offer of a $50 sweetener payment. And if I am really being honest the idea of moving to a Pixel 7a, which I think looks a sensibly priced option, had crossed my mind. I suppose that I just find the phrase "to improve the stability of your battery performance" a bit devious.

 

[agraham]

Mine got the update, is not eligible and displays no difference that I can see in battery charging or lifetimes. As you have seen a difference and are eligible for replacement it looks like they had a batch of batteries that have degraded in a way not expected by the software so they have changed the software for the impacted devices to compensate for the degradation in affected devices and are rather sportingly offering a new battery.