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Google’s Battery Health Assistance, which was introduced for the Pixel 9a earlier this year, reduces the smartphone’s charging speed and voltage to purportedly preserve the battery’s health. Now, this feature has been extended to the Pixel 10 series, where it will activate after 200 charge cycles. However, there is no option to disable it.
The battery charge limit has been implemented to prevent life-threatening incidents, such as those reported with the Pixel 6a, which caught fire
It is well-known that all batteries degrade after a certain number of charge cycles. However, this degradation occurs naturally rather than due to forced software changes. According to Google’s statement in an interview with Android Authority, the feature will reduce the battery’s voltage after 200 charge cycles and gradually until 1,000 cycles have been reached.
“This software will adjust the battery’s maximum voltage in stages that start at 200 charge cycles and continue gradually until 1,000 charge cycles to help stabilize battery performance and aging. You may notice small decreases in your battery’s runtime as it ages. Battery health assistance will also tune the phone’s charging speed based on adjusted capacity.”
Google has not specified why this feature is accelerating the Pixel 10’s battery degradation, but it implies that within less than a year of daily use, the total charge might be significantly reduced if the device is charged once per day. If you frequently drain your phone’s battery more than twice a day, the degradation could happen faster.
For comparison, Samsung’s flagship smartphones allow around 2,000 charge cycles before their batteries reach 80 percent of their original capacity. Why can’t Google aim for a similar target? The Mountain View company’s decision might be due to recent incidents with the Pixel 6a, which caught fire and damaged users’ property, potentially putting lives at risk. Google’s Battery Health Assistance might be intentionally set at 200 charge cycles to prevent such accidents from tarnishing the brand image.
Alternatively, if Google adheres to a stringent battery testing regime, future Pixel devices could have batteries that hold their charge for much longer while minimizing the risk of explosion or fire. Until then, Battery Health Assistance will continue to degrade these batteries faster, and users cannot do anything about it.
