Google Pixel 4a’s painful “update” was due to battery overheating risk

Australia made explicit risks of "fire and/or burns" for non-updated 4a models.

Google didn't explain exactly why it shipped a mandatory software update to the Pixel 4a, an Android phone from 2020, earlier this year. The nature of that update, which gave some models all but unusable battery life, provided some clues, as did later software analysis. But now, Australian authorities have provided a more concrete answer: battery overheating and fire risk.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) Product Safety arm issued a recall for the Pixel 4a late last week. The reason, the commission said, is that Google's firmware update and battery changes served to "mitigate the risk of overheating" because "an overheating battery could pose a risk of fire and/or burns to a user."

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Credit: ACCC Product Safety

In the US and elsewhere, Google's messaging did not use the term "recall." Google stated on its "Pixel 4a Battery Performance Program" page that "certain" Pixel 4a models "require a software update to improve the stability of their battery’s performance," which also "reduces available battery capacity and impacts charging performance." Google said it is still safe to charge a Pixel 4a.

A Google spokesperson provided a statement to Ars regarding the ACCC notice. Of note is the point that Pixel 4a devices with hampered batteries are still, technically, usable; the ACCC does not make a point of suggesting owners stop using the device:

Recently, the ACCC published a voluntary recall notice to Australian consumers regarding a battery performance issue that affected a limited subset of Pixel 4a devices. In January, Google announced and rolled out an automatic firmware update to address the issue. Owners should ensure that their device firmware is up to date, and they can continue using their devices. In addition, customers can check here to see if they are eligible for an appeasement from Google.

Australia's notice does not offer any remedies beyond what Google has offered and functionally serves as notice that it's important to update the devices. The notice includes links to Google's device checker and appeasement options—a $50 USD payment, a battery replacement, or Google Store credit. Google's support page states that its update and remedy options are separate from statutory rights provided in various countries.

Google's update to affected Pixel 4a devices drastically reduced their charging potential, essentially by half. One Ars staffer saw their Pixel 4a battery life drop to less than two hours on a full charge. Code in the updated Pixel 4a kernel, examined by noted hardware analyst Hector Martin, suggested that batteries had either "ATL" or "LSN" profiles. Those with the LSN tag—potentially the battery cell maker Lishen—had their charging capacities capped.

This post was updated at 1:30 pm ET with a response from Google.

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