Google Pixel 4a’s painful “update” was due to battery overheating risk
Google did not clarify precisely why it shipped a mandatory software update to the Pixel 4a, an Android telephone from 2020, earlier this 12 months. The character of that replace, which gave some fashions all but unusable battery life, offered some clues, as did later software program evaluation. However now, Australian authorities have offered a extra concrete reply: battery overheating and fireplace threat.
The Australian Competitors and Shopper Fee’s (ACCC) Product Security arm issued a recall for the Pixel 4a late final week. The explanation, the fee stated, is that Google’s firmware replace and battery modifications served to “mitigate the danger of overheating” as a result of “an overheating battery may pose a threat of fireplace and/or burns to a consumer.”
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ACCC Product Security
Within the US and elsewhere, Google’s messaging didn’t use the time period “recall.” Google said on its “Pixel 4a Battery Performance Program” web page that “sure” Pixel 4a fashions “require a software program replace to enhance the steadiness of their battery’s efficiency,” which additionally “reduces obtainable battery capability and impacts charging efficiency.” Google stated it’s nonetheless protected to cost a Pixel 4a.
