In summary
- Reddit user reports Pixel phone fire
- Fire occurred while phone was plugged in
- Follows officially confirmed battery issues
Google’s legacy smartphone battery woes seem to be continuing as reports emerge of a Pixel 6a handset catching fire.
Reddit user Footymanageraddict posted a report claiming that they recently awoke to “a horrible smell and a loud noise”, caused by their plugged-in Google Pixel 6a catching on fire.
It seems the fire started just 40cm from the user’s head before spreading to the their bedsheets, damaging their freestanding air conditioning unit, and leaving them with throat complaints from inhaled fumes.
The user also posted photographic evidence of the damage caused to the Google Pixel 6a itself. From this picture we can see that the phone appeared to be in a case at the time.
Google’s smoking phone
We’re not in the habit of posting anecdotal reports on individual malfunctioning smartphones, but the Pixel 6a has a history.
As the poster points out, this marks the third such reported incident of a Pixel 6a catching fire this month.
More importantly, these reports follow Google itself taking major action on its classic phone.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Back in early July, we reported on the news that Google had issued a firmware update that actively diminished the battery capacity of certain Pixel 6a handsets as a safety precaution “to reduce the risk of potential battery overheating”.
Google has also reached out with a range of repair, credit, and refund options for affected Pixel 6a options. However, if handsets are catching fire, it might have a bigger problem on its hands.
What’s concerning about this latest case is that the user claims their Pixel 6a was running on the latest version of Android 16.
Hot Pixels
This isn’t the first time Google has had issues with malfunctioning Pixel batteries.
Certain models of the Google Pixel 4a have experienced a similar issue in recent times. It seems any Pixel 4a containing a battery supplied by vendor Lishen was deemed faulty, and received a firmware downgrade that dropped the output from 4.45V to 3.95V in order to prevent overheating.
This resulted in massive drop to battery capcity, by as much as 56%. It also prompted the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to recall Google’s 2020 mid-range champ.
