Robert Triggs / Android Authority
I love a good Pixel. I’ve owned several, defended them in heated group chats, and even converted a few friends to the cause. But lately? I’m hesitating — hard. The elephant in the room, if you haven’t noticed, is batteries. Not in the “oh, it doesn’t last a full day” sense — we’re talking swelling, melting, and potentially exploding. The kind of hardware horror that once tanked a Samsung generation is now infesting Google’s own backyard.
If you’ve missed the story, earlier this year, some Pixel 4a owners discovered their battery life went from fine to rubbish over the course of a single update. Google hastily rolled out the Pixel 4a Battery Performance Program to swap out problematic cells, but kept unnervingly quiet about exactly why all this was suddenly happening. Eventually, a local recall revealed the truth: the batteries could overheat and potentially cause burns or injuries. The issue is bad enough, but the lack of forthcoming explanation made it worse.
Are battery concerns putting you off the Pixel? 30 votes Yes, I'm concerned. 20 % No, Pixels are still fine. 70 % I'm undecided. 10 %
Now, just as that fire gets put out, here comes the Pixel 6a. Google appears poised to once again force an update to prevent some models from overheating. We’ve even seen photos of a melted Pixel 6a to hammer home that this isn’t just a minor software patch — it’s a very real issue. Even if only a small number of handsets are potentially at risk, exploding batteries are not a joke — they’re a hazard to you and your home.
If that wasn’t enough cause for concern, in April, Google acknowledged that some Pixel 7a units are impacted by “unexpected” battery swelling. Again, the solution is to offer replacement batteries or financial compensation and move on. That’s all well and good, but only a small consolation to users who endured the inconvenience, not to mention danger, of a swollen battery, and yet another reason for the rest of us to think twice about picking up a Pixel.
Suppose it were just one model — a fluke, perhaps. Two? Concerning. But three Pixel smartphones with battery issues, all identified within a few months of each other? That’s a trend, and not the good kind.
Once is bad luck, but three models is a pattern I can't ignore.
The common denominator is that these issues affect Google’s affordable Pixel A models — the very models I used to confidently recommend to friends and family for their balance of cost, convenience, and supposed longevity. But what good are years of updates when the batteries can’t last? I don’t know if Google is sourcing bargain-bin batteries to save costs, but this will undoubtedly cost the company considerable time and money to put right, and even worse, its reputation as well.
Hard to trust, harder to recommend
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