Seems my pixel XL 4 continuing the trend I've had... Now the battery ? Icon. Just ugh...

[slitherjef]

Seems my track record of getting lemons is continuing. Put my XL 4 onto charge to top if off this morning and after a while still stuck at 93% and no indication in the toast it's fast charging or anything. Figured it might be cold as my XL 2 has this issue where if it got too cool it would charge very slowly. Well, warmed it up for a bit and tried again no change stuck at 93%



Thought maybe the cord. Nope. Maybe something froze and I needed a reboot. Tried that just to have the battery indicator read now 50% uh...



Tried warming it up again and same thing. The battery icon has the bolt in it but no charging info nothing that reads "Fast charging 50% 1h 30min"

What?


So I shut the phone down, plug it in and phone boots partially, plug the cord in and shortly the battery icon shows on that screen now with a question mark in the middle.

Sigh.

A quick search shows this is a known issue. My lemon tree of google devices strikes again. And even as I'm trying to type this message out on this forum with my XL 2, I'm getting strange garbled text that I'm needing to correct, finally loaded up an external note app to continue.

I'm frustrated. Very. This is on my main line. Trying to figure out what to do.

 

[AustinIllini]

Hopefully the latest line of Pixels has fixed this. Google phones in general have been substandard for the price.

 

[slitherjef]

Just maybe? Did a little digging and found a thread somewhere about adaptive along with adaptive charging. So I turned both off, rebooted the device and once booted battery indicates 81% ok.

Plugged it in, seen the battery icon in status bar with bolt in it. Turned screen off for a moment and then back on and seen "fast charging 81% 44min until full"

So fingers crossed.

 

[slitherjef]

Welp, thing just shut off randomly at 100% so not looking like the above did the trick. Needed power + up to get it back up.

Good ol reliable pixel devices for me ?

 

[slitherjef]

So the big G told me to get ahold of them and I might just do that when I get a chance. In the meantime, the shutdowns are worse, I don't really have a backup device for my main line so kind of looking at options. Might sigh, see about a pixel 5 for now since I might end up RMA the device depending on what Google says once the ball gets rolling.

The problem is not the RMA or the device itself (well it is the problem) but the fact I don't have a spare. I'd probably just chuck this device in a drawer and retire it if it did.

I'm very unsure of the 6 now.

 

[three]

Although I don't have your exact issues, I can relate. My last "full time" Pixel was the 3a. The 3a being the best and least problematic of the bunch. I was a huge fan of the Pixel phones up until that point, I had owned a Pixel XL, 2 XL, 3, and the 3a. The Pixel devices, including the 6, seems to have at least one known major (borderline show stopping) bug or hardware defect. I don't know what it is or why Google just can't seem to get it.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I had this exact bug happen on a Galaxy A01, and it ended up being the USB-C port. I swear those things wear out faster than Micro-USB ever did. Who was the numbskull who thought changing everything to type-C was necessary? I don't recall a single bit of consumer demand to change the standard yet again!

The amount of times I've had to plug things in twice or even 6 times before even hearing the charging tone is crazy. My MacBook Pro takes a few attempts before it shows it charging. It is not a setting, this is a byproduct of USB Type-C, another solution in search of a problem. Another change for change's sake.

 

[slitherjef]

Had the thing just shut off pushing over a half dozen times yesterday while I was at work. No extra charger on hand. Sometimes after 5 minutes it'd just shut off. Others maybe an hour. Was 100% when I pulled it off the charger. Seemed ok then just pulled from my pocket and black screen and needing to hold power button.

I do wonder if being in my pocket caused the phone to flex enough to finish off the noted ribbon cable...

Strange thing is, I plugged it in after I got home and while plugged in it didn't shut off. I stayed at 50% however.

Massively disappointed.

I'm leaning towards grabbing a pixel 5 or 4a (don't think it's available) for now. I don't want to pay 1200 bucks on a Samsung, not interested in an iPhone. Tired of spending big bucks on problematic devices and or needing backup devices.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I had the A01 for a little over a month. At first it charged fine, then it did the 'plug in twice before it starts charging', then it would start charging but would just up and stop but keep thinking it's charging, such as stalling at 65% and showing it's charging on the lockscreen (cable charging, 65%, 1 hour, 20 minutes remaining till full) and if you didn't catch it, it'd start draining but think it's charging.

Eventually it stopped accepting a charge entirely, showing a battery with ! inside it when plugged in (this means 'incompatible charger' but this was the one it shipped with!). I had to stop using it.

The USB-C port never had that satisfying 'click' feeling when plugged in, which probably was the issue. My Mac stopped having that 'click' early this year, now it's doing the 'plug in multiple times before it charges' bug. It's likely not long for this world either.

 

[slitherjef]

Actually pondering an iPhone...

 

[ian87w]

Hopefully the latest line of Pixels has fixed this. Google phones in general have been substandard for the price.

Google has such low numbers of phones manufactured that defects probably are too expensive to be dealt with (or even detected). Lower numbers also mean lower complaints, and Google probably thought nothing was wrong. Made worse that possibly majority of Pixel users are youtubers who only use the phones for a few weeks for "reviews."

 

[ian87w]

Had the thing just shut off pushing over a half dozen times yesterday while I was at work. No extra charger on hand. Sometimes after 5 minutes it'd just shut off. Others maybe an hour. Was 100% when I pulled it off the charger. Seemed ok then just pulled from my pocket and black screen and needing to hold power button.

I do wonder if being in my pocket caused the phone to flex enough to finish off the noted ribbon cable...

Strange thing is, I plugged it in after I got home and while plugged in it didn't shut off. I stayed at 50% however.

Massively disappointed.

I'm leaning towards grabbing a pixel 5 or 4a (don't think it's available) for now. I don't want to pay 1200 bucks on a Samsung, not interested in an iPhone. Tired of spending big bucks on problematic devices and or needing backup devices.

You don't have to pay $1200 for a Samsung. Samsung has so many phones at various price points that you'll find a Samsung phone at any price you think of. The S21 is a fantastic phone, and the A52s is also a good value if you're on a budget.

 

[AustinIllini]

Google has such low numbers of phones manufactured that defects probably are too expensive to be dealt with (or even detected). Lower numbers also mean lower complaints, and Google probably thought nothing was wrong. Made worse that possibly majority of Pixel users are youtubers who only use the phones for a few weeks for "reviews."

You're probably right ton this

 

[slitherjef]

Ended up grabbing the 5a. Decided I didn't need a "flagship" for this line just more or less something for basic phone use. Can't wait to get it! I'm unsure if I'll contact the big G about the 4xl or just toss it along side the other pixels ?

 

[slitherjef]

Slight change of plan I guess. My XL 4 seems basically dead shows dead battery icon even when plugged in. After taking it off the charger lasted a little bit before just shutting off, seemed to stay on when plugged in but even then after being off the charger guess the battery finally depleted and wouldn't even boot plugged in so...

I got the 5a on order and for some reason I didn't opt for the 3a I had laying around so once the XL 4 gave out, I switched to the 3a and now I'm thinking of passing the 5a off to a family member as an upgrade from their 2 XL (ugh so many pixels!)

Since I can't get the XL 4 to boot and stay up long enough to trust it for a factory reset, guess it's just going in the drawer since it's got some stuff signed in and so on.

Probably done buying 1k paperweights. Wonder how long the 5a will hold out for. Or my now 3a I used to replace the 4 XL.. ?

 

[slitherjef]

My 5a just showed up a little early. Actually not sure what I want to do with it now...

 

[ian87w]

Considering the issues you’re having with your Pixel, I’m surprised you’re sticking with the brand…

 

[slitherjef]

Considering the issues you’re having with your Pixel, I’m surprised you’re sticking with the brand…

Same here but right now there is not much else out there especially that offers a cleaner experience. $1200 iPhone switch? Has crossed my mind but really find their OS backwards and unintuitive.

Samsung? Well they do seem fairly durable but these things are bloated down advertising systems. Heard they are big on pushing ads (which probably explains why they opted to "side with the carriers" and lock their bootloader's) will admit Samsung does seem pretty innovative however.

So, went cheap err... Lower cost for now. I miss HTC and LG and while there are others most come elsewhere.

I wish I did think a little bit more before I ordered the 5a since my 3a was within arms reach and hadn't been powered up for a few months.

I really didn't use the 4 XL until sprint told me to either upgrade my S7 edge or lose my phone number, so I moved to another network and tried my 4 XL as a daily driver. I do wonder if the flex from being in my pocket pushed the device over the edge.

I seem to have pretty bad luck with Nexus and pixels ?

Guess I give up root and enjoy the buffet of ads I didn't ask for being shoved down my bandwidth (why I root) but perhaps I'm old school with this stuff and there are other methods of blocking this garbage.

 

[ian87w]

Same here but right now there is not much else out there especially that offers a cleaner experience. $1200 iPhone switch? Has crossed my mind but really find their OS backwards and unintuitive.

Samsung? Well they do seem fairly durable but these things are bloated down advertising systems. Heard they are big on pushing ads (which probably explains why they opted to "side with the carriers" and lock their bootloader's) will admit Samsung does seem pretty innovative however.

So, went cheap err... Lower cost for now. I miss HTC and LG and while there are others most come elsewhere.

I wish I did think a little bit more before I ordered the 5a since my 3a was within arms reach and hadn't been powered up for a few months.

I really didn't use the 4 XL until sprint told me to either upgrade my S7 edge or lose my phone number, so I moved to another network and tried my 4 XL as a daily driver. I do wonder if the flex from being in my pocket pushed the device over the edge.

I seem to have pretty bad luck with Nexus and pixels ?

Guess I give up root and enjoy the buffet of ads I didn't ask for being shoved down my bandwidth (why I root) but perhaps I'm old school with this stuff and there are other methods of blocking this garbage.

I beg to differ on your points.

1. iPhone 13 starts at $800, not $1200. Plus there’s still the excellent iPhone 11 at $500.

2. Samsung and ads. Is this truly your experience in 2021? Not mine. Bloatware, yes, but that’s just the nature of the platform. Buy a Windows laptop and you’ll find bloatware as well. You just have to do some work in cleaning those things. Samsung is not Xiaomi, and even with a Xiaomi phone, you can stop all the ads if you actually do your homework.

I don’t think the Pixel phone is a wrong choice, but it’s just interesting that you’re sticking to it despite your qualms about the brand, and you are rejecting the alternatives with seemingly inaccurate assumptions.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Samsung started toning down their 'ads' in their apps. The only exception is that you get notification ads but you can turn those off easily.