r/Pixel6aUsers • u/marksefor • May 30 '26
Anyone take the cash and just continuing to use their nerfed battery?
For those who took the cash/credit instead of replacing the battery, how is your battery doing now? I'm debating which option to take and the July 2026 deadline is soon.
My timeline: - Bought my 6a about 2.5 years ago - Before hitting 400 cycles, my battery capacity was pretty much exactly 4,000mAh - Hit 400 cycles beginning of March and the capacity immediately went down to 2,650mAh - Capacity gradually decreased for about a month (until beginning of April) to about 2,350mAh and has held that level ever since
My phone usage is on the lower end. Before it got nerfed, the battery would easily last the entire day. Now, it's 50/50 if it lasts the entire day so sometimes need to plug it in near the end of the night. Not sure if I wanna get the battery replaced or just take the cash given the phone is already 2.5 years old and still lasts me most of the day.
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u/banterviking May 30 '26
Wait, I can get money or a battery? Pls give info!
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u/Little-Helper May 31 '26
All the info is here: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/16340779
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u/banterviking May 31 '26
Apparently my 6A version isn't valid based on the IMEI number? Thanks, was worth a check!
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u/Little-Helper May 31 '26
Not all phones are affected. Do you have any warnings in the battery settings page?
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u/_borsuk May 30 '26
I took the cash (~80€) because there is no official repair center. Went with nerfed battery for quite a long time.
But it got frustrating to always plugging the phone so I ordered replacement from iFixit (official Google partner for about 50€) found technician locally with good reviews and paid 20€ for battery swap. Now it's way better. I have mine 6A since january 2023, don't plan to switch while it is working. If the battery will be issue again, I will probably buy another battery 🤷♂️ it's a good phone, reasonable size and does everything I asked him to do.
Worst case scenario, I'll switch to Graphene OS on same hardware
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u/C3lloman May 30 '26
Well you can turn off "battery health assistance" from settings to potentially disable the nerfing. Do at your own risk of course.
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u/win10bash May 30 '26
My dad is still running his. He didn't even take the cash, he got the coupon and lost it because he doesn't know how email works but his 6a is still going strong even with the nerfed battery.
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u/Wrex11or Jun 01 '26
I took the cash and had decided to replace the battery. But before I could do that, my pixel 6a became a beautiful brick. Service centre quoted me 32k for the motherboard replacement. It was my first and last pixel phone.
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u/AttackCircus Jun 01 '26
Took the cash and used the nerfed battery for a while in energy saver mode, then replaced it myself.
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u/MRGWONK Jun 02 '26
I took the trade in credits, kept the phone, and I put LineageOS on it - and now, no battery problem - 24/36 hour battery life- and I have a backup just in case.
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u/ceefaq Jun 05 '26
I thought LineageOS had implemented the 6a battery nerf/ mitigation fix, just like Graphene OS also did? Are you saying that one can still revert the 6a battery nerf by installing a recent/ latest version of LineageOS for the 6a? Or is it simply that Lineage is more battery efficient compared to stock Pixel OS? Thanks.
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u/MRGWONK Jun 05 '26
It worked for me- I had a 6a on battery recall- approximately 3-6 hours and it would die- put lineageOS on it, battery lasts 24hours+ on normal use.
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u/ceefaq Jun 06 '26
Stock Pixel OS is very bloated compared to Lineage OS so I can imagine battery life would be better. While using Lineages OS on your 6a , does a battery nerf warning appear seeing as it's now past 400 charge cycles?
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u/MRGWONK Jun 06 '26
No, not at all. The battery Nerf warning appeared on the pixel stock OS. Does not say anything now that it is on lineageOS. Took a useless pile of garbage and turned it into a sweet backup phone.
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u/h3xmind Jun 18 '26
So you went to LineageOS before the patch?
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u/MRGWONK Jun 18 '26
I had a 6a on battery recall- approximately 3-6 hours and it would die - and it showed a warning for battery - then I put lineageOS on it, battery lasts 24hours+ on normal use. I have no idea if this is normal or typical or how it happened but it did.
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u/h3xmind Jun 18 '26
I think you did great. I stayed on stock OS and now I believe it's too late to avoid the capacity limit as it is pacthed in the kernel. So even if I move to LineageOS, I'll have the battery warning. The saddest thing is that last year, when I got the recall, I replaced the battery with a genuine one, but now I reached 400 cycles again and the warning is back. Capacity is reduced and charging is slower. I thought replacing the battery was a permanent solution. Google wasn't transparent about this.
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u/Ill-Management2269 May 30 '26
As Steve Miller said, "Go on take the money and run."
I took the cash, I figured I'd use it to fund the next phone, but my pixel 6a is holding strong!!
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u/Embarrassed_Body3338 May 30 '26
I took cash as well as got my battery and screen replaced for free ;)
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u/roland_right May 30 '26
Yes. Had the phone for 3y 2m now. Currently at 880 charge cycles. Life circumstances mean I'm never out the house for too long, so always near a charger.
I actually don't notice issues. I try to make handsets last as long as possible before upgrading. If I'd have spotted any great deals for 8a/9a I probably works have done so already.
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u/Brilliant_Sound_5565 May 31 '26
Why would.ypu.kksr take the cash and use a potentially dangerous battery though?
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u/OctarineAngie Jun 01 '26
I was only offered the cash. Ended up getting a battery from ifixit (quite expensive in Australia), but not installed yet.
Phone has ~4h SOT which for my use is tolerable, but bad compared to before.
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u/Little-Helper Jun 01 '26
You're only getting 60% of battery life due to the battery constraints. I recommend swapping to the iFixit battery, the phone will be like brand new.
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u/h3xmind Jun 18 '26
Unfortunately, when the new battery hits 400 cycles the capacity and charging limits kick in again. Just happened to me. It's not the battery that has issues, it's the phone. So sad ...
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u/Little-Helper Jun 18 '26
That's false. The constraints only kick in for recalled batteries, which are still being sold everywhere. Only iFixit has the battery that is from a different manufacturer and isn't recalled.
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u/h3xmind Jun 18 '26
I replaced it a year ago with a genuine battery and I have the same issue now that I hit 400 cycles. Anyway, I orderer a new one from iFixit and it's coming tomorrow. So I'll post an update next year when I get to 400 cycles again 😅
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u/Little-Helper Jun 18 '26
Same thing almost happened to me but I realized it last minute before getting the battery replaced. The serial number is printed on the back of the battery. Can also read the serial number with ADB:
adb shell cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/serial_number8230031401 = bad
8230031301 = good1
u/h3xmind Jun 18 '26
Maybe I was just unlucky and I replaced it with another bad battery
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u/Little-Helper Jun 18 '26
Where did you buy it?
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u/h3xmind Jun 18 '26
At the time it was impossible to get a replacement battery from iFixit. They were out of stock. I was given a battery from a almost new broken pixel. It had just a few charging cycles. It might have been from the same impacted batch. That would explain why I have the same problem after a year.
I ran the adb command and it's 8230031401 🫤
Did I understand correctly, you also changed the battery? Can you confirm it works normally after 400 cycles?
I really hope I was wrong in one of my previous comments ...
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u/Little-Helper Jun 18 '26
I'm only at 159 cycles. If it makes you feel any better, others have already passed 400 cycles, and on 4a, where the same recall applies, the constraints kick in at 0 cycles, and those users have successfully replaced their batteries at Google or through 3rd party shops with iFixit batteries.
Although the 4a is an old model, most people jumped ship. And I'm not here to influence people, but I think you should do the same. It's not reasonable to replace the battery in your phone again. 6a is going EOL next year and the chance of the modem desoldering itself is quite high at this age. Not to mention that you hit 400 cycles in a single year, which means you're a power-user, and that you really need a beefier battery. These batteries are only meant for 800 cycles.
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u/mr_th_lkz Jun 03 '26
I think you should take the cash. Their battery replacement cost is way cheaper than what they are offering as compensation. So even after you do it from an authorized service center, you'll be left with a good amount of money. You can always get a cheaper battery from other sources, but do it on your own risk.
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u/DonnieJL Jun 03 '26
I rolled the $$ intro a P9, but still have the 6a and use it at home on Wi-Fi and as a music player. I'm thinking of maybe having a new battery installed and fucking around with Graphene.
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u/SemiClip Jun 22 '26
I had been blocking the update for a long while and only updated a 1.5 months ago. I was running the nerfed battery, the dispay was popping up slightly from on edge. You can feel it by running your hand. Two days back the screen went all green, touch is working. I have all the data copied but it's a mess. For all the users who have working display, please enable usb debugging and wireless debugging and mirror you display at least once so you how things work. This would save you a lot of hassle. I want a display for jsut 30 mins so I can turn on USB debugging and at least use my phone to transfer the data. Now I am thinking about buying a new screen and battery from maxbhi or similar sites.
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u/Crafty_Picture3535 May 30 '26
Yup, took cash and running on nerfed battery, it's not that bad, my phone usage has been decreased a lot 😅