The Pixel 9a and older Pixel models will have their charging power reduced to preserve battery health. This feature cannot be disabled on the mid-range smartphone.
Google recently announced its new Pixel 9a, which arrives on April 14 in France. This model will be the brand's first to introduce the Battery Health Assist feature. "Pixel software will manage battery performance to help maintain battery health as it ages," the company explains.
In concrete terms, the smartphone's charging power will be limited over time to preserve battery health. “Lithium-ion batteries are degrading components that eventually need to be replaced. Your Pixel 9a will receive a software update that will automatically manage the long-term health and performance of its battery over time. This software will adjust the maximum battery voltage in increments, starting at 200 charge cycles and gradually increasing to 1,000 cycles, to stabilize battery performance and aging,” according to a manufacturer’s support page.
The Pixel 9a will charge more and more slowly
“You may notice a slight decrease in battery life as your battery ages. Support also adjusts the phone’s charging speed based on the adjusted actual capacity. You may see a slight variation in charging performance,” Google says. In short, your smartphone will become a little slower to charge over time to avoid putting too much strain on the battery and increase its lifespan.
The media 9to5Google has received confirmation from the manufacturer that this new feature will not be reserved for the Pixel 9a alone. “Battery Health Assist is a software feature that will be rolled out to select Pixel devices later this year,” it is specified. It is not yet known exactly which models are affected.
“Battery Health Assist settings are not customizable by the user” on the Pixel 9a, we also learned. The user will therefore not have the choice of limiting or not the charging power as the battery cycles and will be constrained by this restriction.
The option can, however, be deactivated on devices already on the market. If you already own a Pixel, you'll have the option to opt out of Battery Health Assist (but we imagine it will be operational by default after installing the update that integrates it). It's likely that all future Pixels will require this function in the future.
Google wants to increase Pixel battery life
Google's goal is to improve the battery life of its smartphones in the long term. The brand promises software support for seven years, but the hardware must also keep up for the phones to last that long. We know that up until the Pixel 8 generation, battery capacity drops to around 80% of its original capacity after 800 full charge cycles. Google is now aiming for 1,000 charge cycles with its latest smartphones before dropping below the 80% threshold.
Remember that, probably not by chance, Android 16 will display the battery capacity percentage, as well as the number of charge cycles for smartphones. We also expect a feature that limits the device's recharge to 80%, again with the aim of reducing the rate of battery degradation, and which is already present on some Android skins, as well as on iPhones.
Some manufacturers already offer users the option of reducing charging speeds to preserve battery life. This option is particularly common among brands offering very high charging power, such as OnePlus or Oppo. However, this feature is optional: it's up to the user to decide whether to use it. If they plan to upgrade their phone in two or three years, for example, they may not be that concerned about their battery's long-term health. Forcing slower charging may displease some people.
Source: 9To5Google
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