TL;DR Google has confirmed that its Battery Health Assistance feature can’t be turned off on the Pixel 10 phones.
This feature gradually reduces your phone’s charging speed and battery to “stabilize” battery performance and aging.
This also comes after a string of Pixel A series phones suffered from major battery issues.
Google introduced a Battery Health Assistance feature on the Pixel 9a earlier this year. This feature gradually drops your phone’s charging speed and battery voltage in the name of battery health. This tool is mandatory on the Pixel 9a but optional on other Pixel phones. However, there’s bad news for the Pixel 10 series.
Google confirmed to Android Authority that Battery Health Assistance is mandatory on the Pixel 10 series and can’t be disabled. That means your phone’s charging speed and effective battery life will drop over time.
“This software will adjust the battery’s maximum voltage in stages that start at 200 charge cycles and continue gradually until 1000 charge cycles to help stabilize battery performance and aging,” the company explained earlier this year during the Pixel 9a’s release. “You may notice small decreases in your battery’s runtime as your battery ages. Battery health assistance will also tune the phone’s charging speed based on adjusted capacity. You may notice a slight change in battery charging performance.”
Why is this a big deal? All smartphone batteries degrade over time, resulting in shorter and shorter endurance. Google says the Pixel 8a and newer Pixel phones can withstand 1,000 charging cycles before their batteries drop down to 80% effective capacity. However, this Battery Health Assistance feature essentially reduces the phone’s battery capacity over and above standard degradation.
Do you think Google should make battery health assistance mandatory? 35 votes Yes, absolutely 20 % No, this is completely wrong 80 %
This is particularly disappointing as users aren’t given a choice in the matter. It’s also disappointing as some rival smartphone makers address battery health concerns by offering more durable batteries. For example, Samsung’s top phones can withstand 2,000 charging cycles before dropping down to 80% effective capacity, while OnePlus and OPPO’s lithium-ion batteries offer 1,600 cycles before reaching 80% capacity. So there likely wouldn’t be a need for a Battery Health Assistance tool if Google’s batteries had similar longevity. Furthermore, many OEMs, including Google, already offer software-based battery health measures like capping the maximum charge to 80%.
The issue also comes after several older Pixel A series models suffered from major battery issues in 2025. Some Pixel 4a models received a mandatory update back in January that dramatically reduced battery life and charging speed, while a similar update landed on some Pixel 6a phones in July. Meanwhile, Google offered a free battery replacement program for some Pixel 7a units due to battery swelling issues. This does make us wonder whether Google is simply being cautious regarding long-term battery health because of these previous problems, or if the Pixel 10 range might have issues too.
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