Google Is Giving A Surprise Android 14 Battery Boost To Pixel Users

The Google Pixel 8 Pro.

Janhoi McGregor

Taking inspiration from the iPhone’s battery tools, Pixel phone users are set to get a major battery boost in an upcoming Android update.

The new feature will give a more detailed breakdown of the state of a Pixel device’s battery, which will be under a new “battery health” section in the settings menu. Spotted in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2 by Android Authority, the yet-to-be released update will show users how much charge a Pixel battery can currently hold, which will be shown as a percentage.

That means Pixel users, and potentially other Android phone owners, will be able to see how much their phone’s battery has degraded. For example, before someone buys a second-hand phone they will be able to see if the battery’s capacity is significantly less than compared to when it was new.

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This follows on from Google introducing a manufacture date and cycle count feature, which tallies up how many times the phone has been fully charged, in the latest Pixel Drop. All together this gives Pixel users desperately needed information about the state of their phone’s battery and makes the phone easier to repair.

Android is late to the game because these are features iOS users have had for years. They are a vital part of the second-hand market because used iPhone buyers can purchase with some confidence. They can make sure that they’re not getting a dud that needs an expensive component replacement. Pixel users will be able to do the same when the new battery health meter is made available.

Similar but not the same

There is one potential key difference between Google’s new suite of battery measuring tools and Apple’s: parts pairing. If your iPhone 15 battery flatlines, you will have to replace it with a genuine battery, bought from the company, and have it installed by Apple or an Apple-authorized repair shop. If you don’t, you might lose the battery health feature.

This happens because of Apple’s policy of serialization, which links certain components in its devices to the logic board using unique serial numbers. If a part is swapped out and the device doesn’t recognize the serial number—even if its a genuine part from Apple—some features may be disabled. Your Apple Pencil may draw squiggly lines if the iPad display is replaced, or a white shadow might appear on your MacBook Pro display if the screen is repaired incorrectly.

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Google’s Pixel 8 doesn’t currently have any parts pairing and the company has committed to making components for seven years. But, Android Authority did discover something interesting in the Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2 code that suggests Pixel devices will be able to distinguish between genuine and non-genuine parts.

“We learned that Google is working on exposing more battery-related information to the OS, such as the part status and the serial number. The part status has three values: UNSUPPORTED (the device can’t differentiate an original battery from a replaced battery), ORIGINAL (the device has the original battery it was manufactured with), or REPLACED (the device has a replaced battery). The serial number is a string of 6 or more alphanumeric characters that uniquely identifies the battery.” The story states.

We don’t know if Google is planning to serialize parts in its Pixel phones, it could record this information solely for diagnostic purposes. But this is definitely something to keep an eye on.

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