Man, I bet this is just some people complaining about a weird feeling of the device being a little worse…
phones with the Lishen battery have the following changes applied:
Max charge voltage drops from 4.44V before the update to 3.95V after.
Batter capacity drops from 3,080 mAh to 1,539 mAh.
…
They just literally cut the capacity in half? What the fuck?
Google does provide a few other options for affected users :
Have the battery replaced for free at a walk-in center in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Singapore, or India or take advantage of a mail-in repair program (US-only).
Request a $100 Google Store credit that you can put toward the purchase of another Pixel phone or other hardware.
Request a $50 cash payment.
So… They made their device useless and instead of fixing it, they just tell them to buy something else? How is that even legal?
So… They made their device useless and instead of fixing it
Have the battery replaced for free
how is this not fixing it?
Users with a phone sporting the Amperex battery probably won’t see any difference after installing the update. But phones with the Lishen battery have the following changes applied:
Looks to be a manufacturing fault with the Lishen batteries
at a walk-in center
or […] a mail-in repair program (US-only).
I couldn’t find a walk in center in Germany, but I’ll just assume that there isn’t one in my village, just because the biggest thing we have is a small café near an old water mill, so I’m sure people would have discussed a Google walk in repair center if there was one. Which would leave me with, let me check, ah, no options to get that repaired according to that list.
Disabling half a battery remotely and then telling any non-US-citizen to either drive a few hundred kilometres or suck it isn’t really “fixing it”.
How do I obtain a battery replacement?
If you choose to request one free battery replacement, eligible Pixel 4a devices can be taken to walk-in repair centers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore and India. Visit our registration page and after selecting the Repair option, you can find a service location near you.
Man, I bet this is just some people complaining about a weird feeling of the device being a little worse…
…
They just literally cut the capacity in half? What the fuck?
So… They made their device useless and instead of fixing it, they just tell them to buy something else? How is that even legal?
Should be a class action in a place like North Carolina where they would owe like 3× the total price of the phone to each user
how is this not fixing it?
Looks to be a manufacturing fault with the Lishen batteries
I couldn’t find a walk in center in Germany, but I’ll just assume that there isn’t one in my village, just because the biggest thing we have is a small café near an old water mill, so I’m sure people would have discussed a Google walk in repair center if there was one. Which would leave me with, let me check, ah, no options to get that repaired according to that list.
Disabling half a battery remotely and then telling any non-US-citizen to either drive a few hundred kilometres or suck it isn’t really “fixing it”.
How do I obtain a battery replacement? If you choose to request one free battery replacement, eligible Pixel 4a devices can be taken to walk-in repair centers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore and India. Visit our registration page and after selecting the Repair option, you can find a service location near you.
https://support.google.com/pixelphone?p=pixel4a_battery_help&sjid=1353298532614703439-NC
That should tell you where your nearest repair centre is
drive a few hundred kilometres or:
Request a $100 Google Store credit that you can put toward the purchase of another Pixel phone or other hardware.
or
Request a $50 cash payment.
Maybe just take the $50 cash payment and get a local mobile phone shop to replace the battery?
I duno because to me:
The support period is so short, this is why I ended up going to Apple
Were phones with Lishen batteries only sold in those countries? If not then I guess I’ll just fly to Germany for a free battery replacement.
Depends, let me know if your battery life is suddenly cut in half ;)
I don’t have a pixel but if I did the only viable option is the cash payout. Apparently Google Store isn’t available in my country either :)