Google Is Reducing Your Pixel 4a’s Battery Life and Rewarding You for the Trouble

Tech companies love to push us to build their latest products by discontinuing models or ending support for older hardware. The latest victim is the Pixel 4a, which will soon see reduced battery life due to a new update from Google. It may seem unfair, but Google says you and your phone can actually benefit from it.

The Pixel 4a’s battery is taking a beating – for its own good

If your phone, tablet, or computer has ever been discontinued by Google or discarded Apple’s “outdated” listThen you know the feeling: although you may not have planned to buy a new phone, that purchase is already looming. This appears to be the new reality for Google Pixel 4a owners, who will receive an automatic update this week that will reduce the phone’s battery life.

If you have (or previously owned) a Pixel 4a, you’ll receive an email from Google this week about the upcoming changes. This may take you by surprise since the phone was discontinued in 2022 and the last update came out in November 2023.

How reported to Ars TechnicaGoogle’s email claims that the update will add important “battery management features” to your Pixel 4a, which will subsequently “reduce battery life and charging performance.”

You may be asking yourself why, after more than a year, Google has come to take a swipe at your Pixel’s battery. According to Google supportThe update aims to “improve the stability” of the Pixel 4a’s battery.

This makes sense given the age of the equipment. Over time, batteries wear out and it is better to require fewer of them. Simply put, if an old battery tries to do too much, it can behave unpredictably. This can be ineffective at best and dangerous at worst.

It can be assumed that by distributing the software update, Google is trying to get ahead of any unstable behavior of the Pixel 4a. Its transparency is a sign that Google has learned from Apple’s mistakes in 2017, when Apple secretly slowed down the processors on older iPhones to keep the battery working, and paid the (legally required) price.

Google won’t leave you empty-handed

Google is willing to pay the price up front. If you have a Pixel 4a that is affected by this update, you have up to one year from January 8, 2025 to choose Google’s “appeasement option.” These options:

1. Send your phone to Google for a free battery replacement.

2. Receive a payout of $50.

3. Get $100 off a new Pixel phone.

It may seem like Google is trying to kick your Pixel 4a when it’s dead, but battery degradation is inevitable, and it’s possible that Google’s update is meant to make your old phone last longer. Or Google wants to push you towards its new and improved Pixel 9and this passes it off as altruism. We may never have that clarity, but one thing we do know is that it’s better to have a slower phone than an exploding one.