I just want a comeback of phones with swappable batteries.
Another Google Pixel 6a catches fire after battery-nerfing update
Submitted 18 hours ago by solrize@lemmy.ml to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
solrize@lemmy.ml 14 hours ago
Kaiserschmarrn@feddit.org 1 hour ago
As far as I know, this will be the case in the EU in 2027.
a1studmuffin@aussie.zone 8 hours ago
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
fairphone does that.
solrize@lemmy.ml 9 hours ago
600 euro, not so helpful. Thanks though.
mesamunefire@piefed.social 2 hours ago
Its 900$ where im at. I can get 3 phones for the same price. Terracube 2 apparently does too, but last time I had a fairphone, it failed pretty bad. Literally fell apart and no software updates at all.
real_squids@sopuli.xyz 13 hours ago
Didn’t HMD make a couple of those too? Obv not the same country of origin but from what I’ve seen they’re considerably cheaper
jmf@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 hours ago
Typing this on an samsung xcover 6 pro right now. Costs less than 200 used, has a removable battery, up to 1tb micro SD card support, and a headphone jack.
kalpol@lemmy.ca 6 hours ago
Does it run lineage, because that is the only way I’ll touch Samsung’s abysmal OS ever again
shaggyb@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
I have owned 3 pixels.
5a - bricked randomly 8 - screen failed within 6 months 6a - stuck in a bootloop, gave up on fixing it just before the battery issue made headlines
I gave them a fair shake. Never again.
SheeEttin@lemmy.zip 1 hour ago
The 8 had known screen issues, and they were fixed even out of warranty. After six months it would have been within warranty, so you definitely should have been able to get that fixed. I know, I had to have mine replaced too.
I’ve had a 4, 6, and 8. No issues. But I know that if I do have hardware issues, Google will address them like these screen and battery issues.
PraiseTheSoup@midwest.social 4 hours ago
Before the pixel existed I owned a Google Nexus 5 which was manufactured by LG and to date that was the worst phone I’ve ever owned. I guess my point is it doesn’t matter who is manufacturing the hardware; if Google is involved it’s gonna be junk.
MBech@feddit.dk 2 hours ago
I don’t agree. Many of the cheaper phones are pretty shit and barebones. I’ve had Samsung flagship phones for years, and they have never disappointed me. Friends and family have had the cheaper Samsung phones, and they have been pretty hit and miss. You just kinda get what you pay for. Wanna pay €200 for a phone? You get something that can barely turn on, that’s it.
ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 hour ago
I had a Nexus 5 (also LG) and it was the best I’d had for years. Ran lineageOS on it (maybe it was CyanogenMod still I can’t remember) but that thing was the shit.
I left it on top of my car once and ended up destroying it. Swapped the modem into an EU model (the modem and GPS module survived, all other components failed) and had basically a brand new phone afterwards.
mesamunefire@piefed.social 2 hours ago
I have one of these phones. Google has reached out and I applied for the $$ to get a tradein, but google has yet to give me the $$ or contact me further. Its been a while too.
Honestly, I got the 6a because it was going to be supported for a long time compared to other phones. This rubs me the wrong way.Electricd@lemmybefree.net 6 hours ago
They’re going after GrapheneOS users!
Concave1142@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
I just got rid of my Pixel 6a because it had one of the bad batteries. Tip to anyone taking advantage of the trade in rebate, DO NOT get the $150 Google Store credit and be like me thinking you can use it on the Google Fi Store to purchase a new Pixel. The $150 store credit is only towards the purchase of a Pixel phone via the Google Store. Take the $100 cash rebate option instead because it tells you once you choose either option, you cannot change it.
My hope was to get the Pixel 9a on my account for $249 (activation discount) on my account and then use the $150 store credit… nope.
bassomitron@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
My coworker has been fighting Google for months to get their cash rebate. So you’re fucked regardless which option you take.
Concave1142@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
Good to know, thanks. Now I’m not as annoyed as I was, lol.
PagPag@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Have you tried not purchasing a Google phone? I heard this works extremely well.
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
It’s all well and good being oh so principled like you’re making yourself out to be, but phones are expensive, and the above user is being completely rational for wanting a Pixel 9 for $250.
const_void@lemmy.ml 17 hours ago
Google is a horrible company. Stop buying their phones and using their services.
Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
What other hardware supports open source like Graphene?
18107@aussie.zone 16 hours ago
I want a fairphone 4 with either e/OS or Ubuntu touch. It’s still a little out of my price range though.
I would love to run grapheneOS on my phone, but I’m not willing to pay Google to not use Android.
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 9 hours ago
Check out /e/ and iode. If you’re looking for a phone with at least 5 years of support the only options are Pixel or Fairphone. Fairphone costs about 2x as much as Pixel for a phone with worst specs.
kepix@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
supported device list in front of your face when you go to the calyx site
ramenshaman@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
I’m enjoying Graphene quite a bit and I really like the cameras on the Pixels. Also I’m restricted because only certain phones are compatible with my Dexcom glucose monitor and Omnipod insulin pump. I really wish I had more options, lots of other great phones out there.
paper_moon@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Yo, from one type 1 to another, get yourself some xdrip to replace the dexcom app, its miles ahead and more configurable.
github.com/NightscoutFoundation/xDrip
And depending on which omnipod you got, and how technical you are, check out AndroidAPS if you want an open source closed-loop solution.
androidaps.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
If you got the omnipod dash you can use it directly with AndroidAPS via Bluetooth.
I use both of these with dexcom G6 and an accu-chek Bluetooth insulin pump, and its amazing vs the commercial solutions.
daw@feddit.org 1 hour ago
Oh shit I didn’t hear about the 6a also being fucked.
I lost my 4a to their shenanigans, couldn’t get it repaired and have now a Xcover 6 pro which I bought refurbished. Best modern phone: swappable battery, headphone jack, long software support, micro sd
SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 hours ago
Look, Google, I know you’re trying to compete with Samsung but this is a little too hot.
Zarxrax@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
I was going to opt for a battery replacement, but I called the local store that does the replacement, and they told me that it’s common for the screen to break during the battery swap process. And if they break the screen, I would be on the hook for the cost to replace it, around $160. I don’t know how that is even legal in the first place, but it certainly turned me off from wanting to let them change my battery. And mailing the phone in for a battery swap would leave me without a phone for weeks…
Taiatari@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
At least they were upfront about that issue.
timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works 7 hours ago
I too don’t understand why you would be responsible for THEM breaking the screen.
Imagine your mechanic breaks a part while changing your oil then says you’re responsible for the cost of it.
Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 7 hours ago
You’ve got a better mechanic than me I guess. If you bring in an old shitty car for repairs you can expect more than one thing is in bad shape.
onlyhalfminotaur@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
Even if you mail it to Google, they will make you pay for the screen before they will do the swap. That’s what happened with my 4a. I had them ship it back instead and took the cash.
Zarxrax@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
What do you mean? Did your phone already have damage to the screen, or they were making you preemptively pay in case the screen broke?
zephiriz@lemmy.ml 7 hours ago
Just a reminder if you have a 6a you can get ~100$ or battery replacement. Its a bit of a hassle but not to hard to fill our claim. I for my 100$ ordered a 7 and installed Graphene OS.
SuperCub@sh.itjust.works 42 minutes ago
I submitted for $100 dollars, but haven’t gotten any instructions on what to do. I read you’re supposed to register for some payment system, but the Google instructions don’t tell me how and what to do after.
pHr34kY@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
In Australia, one option is a cash refund for more than what I paid for the phone when new.
Armand1@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Dude. I just bought a used 6A last week.
D_C@sh.itjust.works 7 hours ago
I think, but 100% on this, that not all 6a’s were affected.
Patch it to the latest update. If you get a notification about your battery then it’s probably fucked.
forrgott@lemmy.sdf.org 5 hours ago
All 6s users hey a warning you might be affected. They give you a link you have to follow to check. Load the page, you’re in your IMEI and it will confirm if you’re affected
Raiderkev@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
Uh, big oof, that’s my phone model.
LemmyThinkAboutIt@lemmy.zip 8 hours ago
You might want to check if they’ve recalled it, I believe I saw an article today that said Google was recalling the pixel 6a because of this.
spookedintownsville@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
Put my IMEI into the link and it says I’m not eligible. Does this mean I’m in the clear? Should I still do something about my battery? I’d really rather not get another phone right now…
SheeEttin@lemmy.zip 1 hour ago
Your battery is not one of the defective ones, then.
ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
I put my IMEI in and it said I was eligible. But then it gets stuck in an infinite loop of support links with no option out (at least when I selected to get a replacement battery).
I think I’m just going to get a new phone and move on. Not a Pixel though. Fuck this noise. My wife had a Pixel 5a and the motherboard fried itself after a couple of years. Google sent her a Pixel 6a replacement about 2 months later (long after we’d found her a non-Pixel replacement). So I upgraded to that replacement for in a 4a. But now this battery/fire bullshit? I’m done with their shitty products and their shitty support!
sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 17 hours ago
Why would they make it worse
Kolanaki@pawb.social 17 hours ago
Becsuse that’s what Google does now. They make things worse.
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 4 hours ago
I love how they just make things worse indiscriminately now. Like you’d expect that if a company turns evil, they make things worse for profit, but google often doesn’t even care about that and makes everything worse randomly.
The clearest example I have is the maps app, which used to let you tap once to clear the search and directions bars off the screen. They removed that in one update for absolutely no fucking reason, so now a third+ of the screen is blocked at all times. If that space displayed ads or something at least I’d get that they were making an app shittier for profit, but nowadays more often than not everything just seems to be shitty because they don’t give a fuck anymore.
cabbage@piefed.social 17 hours ago
Due to the risk of battery fires, Google said that devices with more than 400 charge cycles could see their capacity and charging speed drastically reduced.
Apparently they design phones that'll last just over a year before self-igniting.
AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
More then 400 charge cycles? So like… All of them
MurrayL@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
Does 400 charge cycles really amount to just over a year of use for most people? I’m assuming one cycle means a full power cycle, not just a top up.
For reference (and I understand it’s a bit apples to oranges) I’ve had my iPhone 15 since Dec 2023 and charge it every night and it’s currently showing 125 charge cycles.
dinckelman@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
Because they would gaslight half the 6a owners into upgrading their phone this way
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 14 hours ago
and then gaslight them into own 7, 8, and 9.
SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 9 hours ago
To force you to change your battery (which is free), otherwise you will blame Google when it explodes after you ignored the warnings.
SheeEttin@lemmy.zip 5 hours ago
More accurately, to attempt to avoid a battery fire for people who can’t or won’t replace the defective batteries.
Jarix@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Oh well they were forced to acknowledge a problem that needed a fix and what they did was they asked Gemini how do we fix this which Gemini had zero problems at all, not even an inconvenience, in giving them it’s fix so that’s what they went with without a single further thought employed in the matter
They really liked it when the response started with it’s super easy
itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml 17 hours ago
My battery sucks after this update. Once I get down to 30% it free falls.
MisshapenDeviate@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 hours ago
And no licensed repair places near me have batteries in stock
LuigiMaoFrance@lemmy.ml 14 hours ago
I switched my 6a to GrapheneOS a few weeks ago and the battery lasts like twice as long, its unreal.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 14 hours ago
i originally wanted to get pixel, after the 5A died from a fall, but i went with OP instead better battery life, dont really care about the photos that much.
BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.zip 13 hours ago
I replaced my battery in my pixel 6 late last year and I noticed my battery life took a shit recently. I thought I got a bad battery or something and was considering replacing it again
kameecoding@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
I think when your battery takes a shit, you should probably replace it.
BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.zip 4 hours ago
Unless a “battery takes a shit” update comes out around the same time your battery takes a shit
alsu2launda@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
Or if it took shit recently you should check when was last software update.
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 8 hours ago
I was thinking about going with a pixel for my next device so that I could use graphene because I’ve used pixels in the past and they were fine but with all these battery issues I’m having serious second thoughts.
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
They are doing free battery replacements. So at least they’re doing the right thing.
SpaceCadet@feddit.nl 3 hours ago
The battery of my Pixel 6 started to bloat and leak last week. I contacted support. After a bit of back and forth where they asked me to provide proof of purchase and pictures of the phone, they sent me a brand new Pixel 6 and told me to just recycle the old one.
I reported the issue on Tuesday, received the new phone on Friday. That’s not bad support for a 4 year old device that’s long out of warranty. I fully expected them to tell me to go F my self.
rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
Well that’s just great.
Here’s the website to see if your PIxel6a is an “impacted device”. Mine isn’t, not sure why… zero transparency on this.
SheeEttin@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
Because yours doesn’t have one of the batteries from the batch that catches fire.
rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 16 hours ago
… yet
Zaphod@discuss.tchncs.de 8 hours ago
I still have an old Pixel 7 Pro lying around, which I had recently used to setup a second SIM. Every time I turned it on it immediately overheated for no fucking reason. Wasn’t even connected to a charger.
KiloGex@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Glad I ended up ruining my 6A attempting to replace the battery and had to upgrade.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 14 hours ago
people still uses the 6A? it was hasty replacement for the defective 5A.
ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 1 hour ago
Maybe they should do a recall.
Xatolos@reddthat.com 51 minutes ago
They already have. support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/16340779?hl=…