How To: 3 Logical Explanations for Google's Pixel & Nexus Battery Problems
Starting in October, many Nexus 6P users have been experiencing a bug that causes their phone to completely shut down, even though there was 20% or more battery life remaining. At first, it was thought to be a direct result of the recent Android Nougat update, but a combination of factors indicate that this isn't necessarily the case—or, at least, it's not the only problem.Just this week, a handful of Pixel and Pixel XL owners have started to report the same exact problem, so it seems as though this battery issue is now affecting more than one device. Amidst all of these reports, Google has only issued one statement informing affected users to contact support, so a lot of questions still remain. While we wait on an official resolution, let's take a second to delve deeper into the problem and look for potential root causes.Don't Miss: Google's Battery Issues Seem to be Affecting Pixel Users, Too
1. Age of BatteryCurrent smartphones use lithium ion batteries, which are known to show signs of aging after as little as one year. When batteries age, their capacity for holding a charge diminishes, as does their ability to discharge electrons.In other words, an older battery doesn't hold as much charge as it once did, and it's not quite as capable of meeting your phone's demand for electricity as it once was.This could certainly be part of the problem with the Nexus 6P, which was originally released more than a year ago. The issue could simply be that the battery doesn't have quite as much charge as the phone thinks it does, so Android's software-based battery meter could be reporting, say, 15% charge, when there's really only 1% left.There's some solid evidence to back this up, too. Our research found that most Nexus 6P users who replaced their batteries are no longer experiencing the early-shutdown battery issue, regardless of other factors such as Android version or temperature (more on these below).But that doesn't explain why the same issue could be occurring on the Pixel and Pixel XL. These phones are hardly even two months old, so battery age can't be the root cause, and there must be more to the problem.
2. Weather ConditionsLithium ion batteries contain a delicate and volatile mixture of chemicals that are designed to store electrons which ultimately power our portable devices. The mixture is so delicate that it has a very narrow window of optimal operating temperatures.A battery designed to operate at full capacity in temperatures around 80°F will generally yield only 50% power at 0°F. Ever had problems getting your car to turn over on super-cold mornings? Then you've seen this issue in the real world. The same principle applies to almost all battery types, including the lithium ion cells found in Pixel and Nexus devices.So let's take a step back for a second and think about when Google's battery issue started to appear. The first reports came in during late fall, and the number of affected users seemed to only grow as we got into the winter months.It's certainly plausible that cold weather can be attributed to at least some of these faulty battery claims. Again, this could be a calibration issue where Android's software-based battery meter isn't accounting for diminished battery capacity due to suboptimal conditions, resulting in the battery icon displaying more remaining charge than the battery itself actually has.
3. Android NougatWhen these battery issues were first reported, Google had just begun rolling out their newest firmware, Android 7.0 Nougat. Logic tells you that's just too much of a coincidence for the two to not be related.On top of that, Google's staged rollout update system matches the influx of battery issue reports almost perfectly. This could explain why user reports were few and far between at first, but then started to roll in at a rapid pace once Google started sending the update to more users.However, Pixel devices shipped with Android Nougat pre-installed, yet it took two months before the first set of battery issues were reported. Another knock against the theory that Nougat caused these issues is that Nexus 6P users have reported that rolling their firmware back to Android Marshmallow does not fix the problem.We have a theory that the Android Nougat update could have contained a software bug that somehow caused physical damage to the battery in the Nexus 6P, which would explain why rolling back to Marshmallow doesn't fix the problem. However, this is just a theory, and after analyzing thermal configurations and other system files in the two software versions, we were unable to find any differences that could have led to battery damage.
ConclusionAll of these potential explanations have inherent flaws. Age of battery can't be the only issue if people with brand new Pixel phones are having the problem. Cold weather can't be the only problem, otherwise we'd see similar reports about devices from other manufacturers. And the Android Nougat update is unlikely to be the sole reason, because if that were the case, users should have been able to fix the problem by rolling back to Android Marshmallow.The truth, like always, probably lies somewhere in between. If I had to guess, I'd say that some folks are suffering from aging batteries, others are being hamstrung by cold temperatures, Android Nougat might indeed have some sort of battery bug, and confirmation bias is to blame for the recent influx of reports.Ultimately, only Google has the resources to find the true root of the problem, but we contacted their PR team, and were told that they've just begun investigating the issue, so we don't expect an official resolution soon.Follow Gadget Hacks on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube Follow Android Hacks on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest Follow WonderHowTo on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+
Cover image by Dallas Thomas/Gadget Hacks
How To Hack An iPhone Free Without Jailbreak 2019 [iPhone hacks & tricks] If you are reading this, you maybe an owner of Apple iPhone and you are tired of the annoying restrictions the phone has. We will guide you through best cool iPhone hacks & tricks, secrets codes, for all different iPhone 6, 6s, 7, 8, X!
How-to Get Free Ringtones (No Jailbreaking Required)
Careful not to get glue anywhere it could get caught in a gear or mechanism or matted into Furby's sensative fur. While the glue is still hot place the face back onto the Furby and align it. Make sure the optical sensor lens (above Furby's eyes) is flush in the faceplate and there is no fur caught in between.
How to Copy and Paste on Your iPhone or iPad. This wikiHow teaches you how to duplicate text or images in one location and insert them elsewhere on your iPhone or iPad. Tap and hold on a word. This activates a window that magnifies the
The Scoop on How to Copy and Paste on an iPhone - Lifewire
How to Customize a Gmail Signature. Gmail allows you to customize your signatures with the same set of tools you use for email. In order to utilize the feature of Gmail signatures, such as uploading images or customizing the text design,
How To Add an Image to Your Gmail Signature - ccm.net
With this DIY parabolic microphone from the folks over at GBPPR, you can listen in from a distance and do your sleuthing without ever leaving the couch. Image via sourcedns.com A parabolic microphone uses a parabolic reflector to focus sound waves onto a receiver.
Custom Live Wallpaper Creator. Cool Collections of Custom Live Wallpaper Creator For Desktop, Laptop and Mobiles. We've gathered more than 3 Million Images uploaded by our users and sorted them by the most popular ones.
How to Speed Up Transitions & Animations on Your Galaxy S9
Accessing the internet on your mobile phone has never been cheaper or easier. Connecting to the internet on your mobile is actually very straightforward. However if you're not sure how it works or
How to Connect to the Internet On Your Laptop - wikiHow
This shows how to get a video as a wallpaper on your iPod touch or iPhone. This has no bugs, so feel free to change your background. How To: Use the newly free Find My iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch service with iOS 4.2 How To: Unlock your iPod Touch or iPhone and remove the passcode How To: Remove an
How to Get Wallpapers on Your iPhone or iPod Touch (with
But since it's a modular software, it can be extended via plugins to add extra functionality. This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple. I will show you through the step by step installation Moodle on
Moodle open source learning management platform stack - Intuz
If you lose your Android device, it's not likely you'll get it back. However, there are some kind souls out there who will try to return it, but if the device is locked, they won't know how to reach you. You can easily display your contact information on the lock screen, someone who finds your device can contact you to return it.
Samsung Galaxy S8 / S8+ - Set Lock Screen Notifications
But Instagram is growing much more quickly than Facebook, as new users like you join everyday to connect not only with their friends, but with a global community of users who share photos and
How to Find Out When Someone Unfollows You on Facebook
It's not really that much of a secret, but ever since OS X Mavericks, the Mac OS installers have contained a command hidden inside the installer package that takes what used to be a complex process for creating a bootable copy of the installer, and turns it into a single command you enter into Terminal.
How to Create a Bootable Install USB Drive of Mac OS X 10.9
0 comments:
Post a Comment