41–50 of 55 posts
If only there were a way to quickly swap out defective, used batteries for new, safe batteries without needing to return a critical device to the manufacturer.
> Pixel 6a owners can get $100 in cash or $150 in store credit. Alternatively, Google offers a free battery replacement with the same limits on phone condition. This seems very fair
Reminds me of the iPhone throttling battery fiasco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batterygate What happened was: 1. Battery defects caused some of them to underperform, leading the battery management subsystem to shut down the phone due to voltage drop when too much current was drawn. 2. To work around the shutdown issue (very bad), Apple implemented throttling (IMHO less bad) in a new version of iOS, to prevent too m…
My recollection is different. The batteries were not defective. They simply got old in terms of cycle life and once they were old enough, they could not support the peak current needed by the phones causing crashes. Apple shipped an iOS update that throttled the CPU frequencies of phones with old batteries and called it a stability update without explaining anything. Phones stopped crashing, but started to become slo…
Most users seemingly responded by just buying newer iPhones that didn't have this problem, before Apple even offered the $29 fixes. I got an old iPhone 5 instead, and it was fine. So I'm pretty convinced the 6 was just bad.
So here's a fun story on how Google completely ruined my Pixel 4a and will not help resolve it over the last 7 months. In January 2025, Google pushed an emergency Android update to Pixel 4 devices which completely killed the battery's life. They offered an extended warranty to get the battery replaced at any official Google repair center for free. They claimed a new battery would resolve the issue and your battery wo…
This is why I wish it were viable to have a second, "hot spare" phone that synced everything (including secure enclave things like 2FA seeds), and to do so without having to rely on your smartphone vendor's cloud.
So here's a fun story on how Google completely ruined my Pixel 4a and will not help resolve it over the last 7 months. In January 2025, Google pushed an emergency Android update to Pixel 4 devices which completely killed the battery's life. They offered an extended warranty to get the battery replaced at any official Google repair center for free. They claimed a new battery would resolve the issue and your battery wo…
The reason I bought a 4a is because if it has any issues I'm going to get a new one. At this point you would've been better off moonlighting a minimum wage job for 30 hours and using that money to replace the phone with a much nicer model. Why would you do this to yourself?
> The new July Android update adds "battery management features" that will make the phone unusable. I didn't get from the article how the update will make the phone unsable.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
From the article comments, that only applies if your phone is pristine (I guess because opening the phone stresses the screen, so if the screen has any damage it'll exacerbate the problem). Also linked in the article, getting the cash may be unreasonably difficult even in cases when they have a credit card on file that bought the phone.
I just filled it out for store credit, and it didn't matter at all the condition of my phone (it's in horrible shape), I just put in the IMEI number and that was that. It could be different for cash, though.
First 4a, now 6a. At least they're giving 100 USD this time and 6a batteries not total dogshit like 4a and it won't turn into landline. Annoying 150 USD store credit can't go towards something like Youtube Premium. Or multiple 6a credits can't be stacked on 1 device. Cause I'm never touching a pixel again.
I got told mine doesn't qualify. I'm now worried, will this mean it's going to blow up some time down the line and Google's gonna forget about me?
Or it could mean they've assessed your next of kin are the non-litigious sort...
So here's a fun story on how Google completely ruined my Pixel 4a and will not help resolve it over the last 7 months. In January 2025, Google pushed an emergency Android update to Pixel 4 devices which completely killed the battery's life. They offered an extended warranty to get the battery replaced at any official Google repair center for free. They claimed a new battery would resolve the issue and your battery wo…
You live in NY on supposedly a NY income and waste hundreds of hours trying to get a $300 (now $150 new) phone fixed? The reason I bought a 4a is because if it has any issues I'm going to get a new one. At this point you would've been better off moonlighting a minimum wage job for 30 hours and using that money to replace the phone with a much nicer model. Why would you do this to yourself?
I picked the 4a because I liked its small size, wired headphone jack and the camera is great. It was 100% fine before all of this started and probably would have lasted until the hardware naturally died. It ran everything I wanted super smoothly.
A more modern phone that's heavier, larger and requires babysitting bluetooth earbuds is a downgrade in my book.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This might be a different program, but NEVER use Google's trade-in program. You might get lucky, but they use a third party to process the phones and they have ZERO oversight or control over them. It's extremely common to send in a perfectly working phone to get denied because it's DOA with whatever claim and google refuses to do anything about it because "it's an external partner"
Good to know. I guess I got lucky with my two trade-ins.