Replace Battery in First Gen Pixel?

Zarathustra[H]

Extremely [H]
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Oct 29, 2000
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So,

I have a first gen 5" Pixel.

It's a great phone. I miss nothing in it that newer phones have.

Intel problem is that the battery life is slowly getting worse.

I got mine at launch in October 2016, but even so it seems a bit early for the battery to start going.

I'm debating whether or not it is worth having the battery replaced.

As mentioned, I miss nothing that newer phones have while using this device. I'd probably happily continue to use it as long as it gets regular security updates. (I don't care about feature updates)

Is it worth paying someone to replace the battery? My hands are way to big to work on the tiny detail parts of smartphones, so I'm not even going to try it myself.

If I do, will I typically actually get a decent battery, or will it be some third rate Chinese garbage brand that will die (or worse, cause a fire) within months of purchase?

Are there any things to look out for? Should I request any particular brand of battery?

Appreciate any suggestions here.

This whole thing of smartphones being viable for more than a couple of years is new to me. It used to be that you got a new phobe on a two year plan and after a year you were counting the seconds until you qualified for an upgrade discount. That is no longer the case. I guess sphone tech has slowed.
 
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UBreakFix is the authorized repair center for Google phones. You can find your nearest repair center here and it looks like battery replacement is $80, which isn't too bad assuming that's with the OEM battery. Though for my couple (HTC One M8, Nexus 6P) phones it was pretty easy to replace the battery myself after about 18 months of use. I just went to Amazon or eBay and got the one with the best reviews or most reputable brand (though I was able to get the OEM battery off of eBay for my 6P). I would also recommend installing Accubattery on your phone to give you a rough estimate on what your current battery capacity is and how much it has degraded from its original capacity. It was nice using that app to see my 6P's battery go from under 70% to 103% when I replaced it and it definitely showed that in the results I got otherwise.
 
UBreakFix is the authorized repair center for Google phones. You can find your nearest repair center here and it looks like battery replacement is $80, which isn't too bad assuming that's with the OEM battery. Though for my couple (HTC One M8, Nexus 6P) phones it was pretty easy to replace the battery myself after about 18 months of use. I just went to Amazon or eBay and got the one with the best reviews or most reputable brand (though I was able to get the OEM battery off of eBay for my 6P). I would also recommend installing Accubattery on your phone to give you a rough estimate on what your current battery capacity is and how much it has degraded from its original capacity. It was nice using that app to see my 6P's battery go from under 70% to 103% when I replaced it and it definitely showed that in the results I got otherwise.


Thank you, this is good advice.

I'm definitely a DIY type of guy, but I don't do very well with small components. Hands are too big I guess.

I guess I'll look around for some videos on how to do it. Maybe it won't be too bad.

$80 for a replacement, if it includes the battery isn't terrible. Presumably these people would have a better set of tools, and more experience putting the things back together again so they look straight and everything fits.
 
UBreakFix is the authorized repair center for Google phones. You can find your nearest repair center here and it looks like battery replacement is $80, which isn't too bad assuming that's with the OEM battery. Though for my couple (HTC One M8, Nexus 6P) phones it was pretty easy to replace the battery myself after about 18 months of use. I just went to Amazon or eBay and got the one with the best reviews or most reputable brand (though I was able to get the OEM battery off of eBay for my 6P). I would also recommend installing Accubattery on your phone to give you a rough estimate on what your current battery capacity is and how much it has degraded from its original capacity. It was nice using that app to see my 6P's battery go from under 70% to 103% when I replaced it and it definitely showed that in the results I got otherwise.
Great info! I just installed Accubattery. Like it so much I bought the Pro version.
 
I just looked at this battery replacement video for the 1st Gen 5" Pixel (Sailfish)



Looks like this is a heatgun and glue type of job.

I'm definitely leaning towards having a professional do it now. I hate prying thin glass screens from bodies of phones. I wish everything were just screwed together.
 
Depends on the price. If anything I'd wait for the Pixel 3 to come out and pick up a new, discounted Pixel 2.
 
Depends on the price. If anything I'd wait for the Pixel 3 to come out and pick up a new, discounted Pixel 2.

Well, that's the question right there.

At $80 for a new battery, that's certainly less money than for a new Pixel2, even if discounted.

But how much longer will the first gen Pixel be viable?

As of right now, it certainly feels snappy enough, so the Snapdragon 821 and 4 gigs of RAM are still sufficient.

I also don't care whether or not it gets future Android revision updates, as long as I keep getting security patches, which Google has guaranteed until October 2019.

At that time, if the pho e still feels viable hardware wise, I hope an official LineageOS build will become available.

So, the question is, how much money is it worth putting into a two year old phone?

A few years ago I would have said "absolutely none", but these days they seem to remain viable longer.

Another downside of going to a discounted Pixel 2 is the loss of the analog audio out jack, which I do use regularly.
 
I just looked at this battery replacement video for the 1st Gen 5" Pixel (Sailfish)



Looks like this is a heatgun and glue type of job.

I'm definitely leaning towards having a professional do it now. I hate prying thin glass screens from bodies of phones. I wish everything were just screwed together.


Yeah, that's the hardest part of opening up any of these newer sealed phones, but the batteries usually come with all the tools you need to open it up like a thin pry tool and guitar type pick to run along the sides and open it up after applying heat by a hair dryer or heat gun. It looks harder than it is IMO. But I definitely don't blame you for being put off by it and think the $80 is a relatively small price to pay over replacing a phone that can definitely still work fine for you for another 18 months or so.
 
Sheesh.

I knew the battery was getting tired, but this is worse than I was expecting.

Screenshot_20180912-195722~2.png
 
Sheesh.

I knew the battery was getting tired, but this is worse than I was expecting.

View attachment 103618

Eh, it takes several long charge sessions for it to get an accurate estimate. I see you only have 1 charge session logged there, so I would nearly deplete the battery and then fully charge it at least a couple times and give it a few more longer charge sessions as well before I believed that number. But regardless, that's probably a bad sign still if it's that low right out of the gate, heh.
 
I have a google pixel that shuts off at around 20% battery life every day. It's as if the battery reading shown is not accurate. E.g. 20% being more like 0%. Unfortunately it's out of warranty. I may try to just replace the battery following one of those videos.
 
I have a google pixel that shuts off at around 20% battery life every day. It's as if the battery reading shown is not accurate. E.g. 20% being more like 0%. Unfortunately it's out of warranty. I may try to just replace the battery following one of those videos.

My 6P has the same problem, only slightly worse. I started to notice it would shutdown randomly around 50% battery, conveniently right outside the 2 year extended warranty period I had with Google.

The issue itself is a motherboard defect (possibly needs a reflow), so replacing the battery might not fix the problem. I called Google and they at least confirmed the defect. They would do nothing to help me fix the defective product they put their name on. So Google passed me on to UBREAKIFIX, their authorized repair establishment. I tried to get UBREAKIFIX to replace the motherboard, but they won't do that either. I guess everyone in Google's circle expects you to buy a new phone when things go south. Sad times...

But...

If your battery has degraded quite a bit, replacing it might give you longer stretches before it decides to shutdown. If my 6P's behavior was predictable around 20%, I'd call it "usable" if a bit annoying.
 
My 6P has the same problem, only slightly worse. I started to notice it would shutdown randomly around 50% battery, conveniently right outside the 2 year extended warranty period I had with Google.

The issue itself is a motherboard defect (possibly needs a reflow), so replacing the battery might not fix the problem. I called Google and they at least confirmed the defect. They would do nothing to help me fix the defective product they put their name on. So Google passed me on to UBREAKIFIX, their authorized repair establishment. I tried to get UBREAKIFIX to replace the motherboard, but they won't do that either. I guess everyone in Google's circle expects you to buy a new phone when things go south. Sad times...

But...

If your battery has degraded quite a bit, replacing it might give you longer stretches before it decides to shutdown. If my 6P's behavior was predictable around 20%, I'd call it "usable" if a bit annoying.


I agree that this is frustrating, but to be fair, it's only very recently that continuing to use a year old phone has even been a feasible option. Not too long ago when all the cellphone carriers were on the 22 month upgrade eligibility cycle, your smartphone would feel great for the first 6 months, passable for th enext 6, and after that you were counting the seconds to your next upgrade availability, as the thing was a dog.

I'm sure, to them, walking in with a 2+ year old phone and asking for service on a defect, is like bringing a 30 year old car to the dealership asking for remedies. They've moved on a long time ago, and are kind of puzzled why you haven't as well.

Phones do last longer these days though, but it is a relatively recent phenomenon. I'd imagine they will come around eventually, when they notice that people are using their phones much longer.
 
My 6P has the same problem, only slightly worse. I started to notice it would shutdown randomly around 50% battery, conveniently right outside the 2 year extended warranty period I had with Google.

The issue itself is a motherboard defect (possibly needs a reflow), so replacing the battery might not fix the problem. I called Google and they at least confirmed the defect. They would do nothing to help me fix the defective product they put their name on. So Google passed me on to UBREAKIFIX, their authorized repair establishment. I tried to get UBREAKIFIX to replace the motherboard, but they won't do that either. I guess everyone in Google's circle expects you to buy a new phone when things go south. Sad times...

But...

If your battery has degraded quite a bit, replacing it might give you longer stretches before it decides to shutdown. If my 6P's behavior was predictable around 20%, I'd call it "usable" if a bit annoying.

I had the same (well known/documented) issue on my 6P as well, but fortunately replacing the battery fixed it and I was able to do it myself for only $10 and maybe 45 mins of my time replacing the battery.

The mobo/SoC defect issue from what I read on the 6P and 5X (seemed more common on the 5X though) caused an issue where the phone would bootloop, not degraded battery life. The "fix" for that was to unlock the bootloader so you could load a custom kernel to disable the affected SoC cores (can't remember if it was the high or low power cores) which would of course impact battery or UI performance. So I would bet if you all just replace your battery, that it should fix your early shutdown issue as it did for me. I got my 6P battery here and along with fixing my early shutdown issue my battery life went from about 71% of its original capacity with early shutdowns to 103% capacity and back to 4-6 hours SoT (like new).

Before new battery:

6P bad.png

After new battery:

6P good.png
 
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Bump...thanks for this thread. I have the same issue. I am usually a DIYer but it looked a lot more complicated than I was comfortable with. Turns out there's a UBreakFix store right up the road from my house, and for $80, it definitely might be worth the trip. Thanks again!
 
Well, I figured out that I also have a defective charge port/microphone issue (which is pretty common). The UBreakFix store wants $80 to fix the charge port and $80 for a battery. Doesn't seem like the phone is worth spending $160 to fix. Ideally, they could charge me less as they only have to take the phone apart once, but I'm still looking at $130-150. Pricing the parts on ebay (battery, charge port, and tools) it looks like I can get everything for less than $40. Might be worth trying to fix on my own.
 
Ok...I got all the parts and attempted to make repairs. Full disclosure, I have taken apart notebook computers and never had any issues getting them working again.

1). I cracked the screen getting it off. I had an electronics heatgun. It seemed like it was coming off nicely until you get to the corners. Mine snapped when I got to the corner. I was ready to throw the phone through the wall.
2). There is so much adhesive in the top and bottom chins that after I broke the screen, I had to pry off broken glass and adhesive off of the phone. So if you're taking it apart, make sure you exercise extreme caution on the top and bottom. The sides came up pretty easily.
3). The mid-frame clips wouldn't release easily. You can easily warp the case.
4). The connectors are TINY. Some of them make notebook computer connectors seem like ATX desktop connections.

But I did get it back together with new daugherboard and battery. I'm just waiting on a new screen to see if it will actually work.
 
Ok...I got all the parts and attempted to make repairs. Full disclosure, I have taken apart notebook computers and never had any issues getting them working again.

1). I cracked the screen getting it off. I had an electronics heatgun. It seemed like it was coming off nicely until you get to the corners. Mine snapped when I got to the corner. I was ready to throw the phone through the wall.
2). There is so much adhesive in the top and bottom chins that after I broke the screen, I had to pry off broken glass and adhesive off of the phone. So if you're taking it apart, make sure you exercise extreme caution on the top and bottom. The sides came up pretty easily.
3). The mid-frame clips wouldn't release easily. You can easily warp the case.
4). The connectors are TINY. Some of them make notebook computer connectors seem like ATX desktop connections.

But I did get it back together with new daugherboard and battery. I'm just waiting on a new screen to see if it will actually work.


This is why I want to pay someone. The shit is just too small and too fragile for me, even though I am experienced in working with computers.
 
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Looks like my phone after about 130 charging cycles has settled in at about 40% health.

I plan to have the battery replaced, but just havent gotten around to it yet.

I called my ubreakifix and they quoted me the same $79.99 plus tax as on the website. They also informed me that to do the job right they need about 2 hours, so it's probably not something you want to wait for.

I'm wondering about security, and if it would make sense to wipe it before and after letting someone else work on it...

Are these ubreakifix people generally pretty legitimate?
 
Looks like my phone after about 130 charging cycles has settled in at about 40% health.

I plan to have the battery replaced, but just havent gotten around to it yet.

I called my ubreakifix and they quoted me the same $79.99 plus tax as on the website. They also informed me that to do the job right they need about 2 hours, so it's probably not something you want to wait for.

I'm wondering about security, and if it would make sense to wipe it before and after letting someone else work on it...

Are these ubreakifix people generally pretty legitimate?
If you have your phone passcode/fingerprint protected, there't really not much risk. They are pretty well known, so I wouldn't worry about it personally.
 
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