Pixel 4a battery update was due to overheating, per recall notice

In announcing the Pixel 4a Battery Performance Program in January, Google was vague about why it was releasing the update, but an Australian “Project Safety Recall” has now confirmed it’s to “mitigate the risk of overheating.”

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s Product Safety regulator shared a “Project Safety Recall’ notice on March 7 that the “firmware update provides new battery management features to mitigate the risk of overheating.” In general, an “overheating battery could pose a risk of fire and/or burns to a user.”

Google previously said the update was to “improve the stability of their battery’s performance,” and that the “software update reduces available battery capacity and impacts charging performance.” 

With the Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 Battery Performance Program, Google was more explicit about the “risk of their batteries overheating, which poses a potential risk for users and requires an immediate firmware update.” Both the phone and smartwatches were released in 2020.

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The Australian regulator reiterates that the “issue does not affect all Pixel 4a devices.”

What consumers should do

1. Check that your device has received this firmware update.
2. Consumers can submit a request to find out if their device is impacted here.
3. This issue does not affect all Pixel 4a devices; if a consumer’s device is not impacted by the issue, the firmware update will have no impact on battery management and the device will perform the same as before.
4. Consumers may be eligible for an appeasement from Google. You can check your appeasement eligibility here.

G025N is the model number and that the Pixel 4a was for sale from August 1, 2020 to September 30, 2022.

Impacted devices can get a “$100 USD (converted to your local currency)” Google Store discount code, or “$50 USD (converted to your local currency) payment.” You can check if your Pixel 4a is impacted by using this tool.

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