6 ms·

This isn't just on Pixels, I have a 6P that will turn off early as well, and I'd hazard a guess it has more to do with the latest Android versions than the spec

This isn't just on Pixels, I have a 6P that will turn off early as well, and I'd hazard a guess it has more to do with the latest Android versions than the specific hardware.

usloth_wandows 10y ago
I'm in the same situation! It seems to be triggered by temperature change, but not sure.
Meegul 10y ago
Same here. Originally, it would get to 5% then shut down, but it's gotten progressively worse. The highest I've had it shut down at now is ~20%. My first guess was that it's an issue of battery degradation not being properly accounted for, but the news about (new) Pixels suffering from the same problem makes it seem like that's unlikely. Hopefully this issue is resolved via an update, because I'd feel somewhat guilty recommending the Pixel to people weary of Samsung phones only to have major issues arise.
masklinn 10y ago
> some Pixel devices are affected by the same infamous shutdown bug that plagued the Nexus 6P
choward 10y ago
I've been running 6.0.1 on my 6P for a while now. I hear so many people complaining about battery life after updating. Battery life and reliably is the most important feature to me. I haven't had the 30% battery issue and my battery life is great.
Twirrim 10y ago
I had this on a Moto X after just over 15 months of use. I think it was only a slightly degraded battery lifetime at that point. Likewise, I'm guessing this has something to do with battery measurement as much as anything else.
- jrs235 10y ago
  Same here. Moto X 2nd Gen. Likes to turn off around 25-30% at times. Sometimes it seems that if I keep it powered off and charge it over night then turn it on (I often will just plug it in once it turns off and then power it on while it charges) it seems to sometimes then get down closer to 5% before power down. I too suspect it has to do with battery measurement.
andrewstuart2 10y ago
My Nexus 6 did this quite often, as does my wife's HTC One M8. It definitely could be an Android issue, but I think it would have to be a particularly egregious and obvious mistake. If it is software, I'd strongly suspect something at kernel level, since quite a few times in my experience, the shutdown is too quick for a safe shutdown. Userspace seems to get a notification that battery is low because it usually gives the "shutting down" alert, but then just shuts off in a suspiciously short amount of time. I'd be more likely to think it's probably something in the battery/power stack that's not managing or reporting the power well. Discharge/voltage curves are not at all linear, [1] [2], so it's logical that issues with immediately available voltage might start to affect the device around the 30% level. Additionally, as another commenter has mentioned, the discharge curve is dependent upon temperature [3], so a sudden drop in ambient temperature will eventually have a direct effect on the reported voltage. I'm not exactly sure what kind of metrics are commonly used for reporting battery percentage, but I am about to read a few (okay, maybe half of one) Arxiv papers that came up in a search. [4] Presumably, it's strongly based on some voltage modeling and I can imagine that would have a hard time coping with external factors beyond its measurement capacity, like ambient temperature drops. I don't suppose a user would be happy to see their reported battery percentage drop like a rock immediately upon stepping outside. I really don't know where I was going with all that, except I guess to say that my gut says Battery "percentage" is a bit more an art than a science. That is to say, there are psychological reasons not to report based on voltage directly (it may go up if you step into a warmer room; "Wat?"), and I can imagine any metric is going to have its strengths and weaknesses, because you really can't account as much for user behavior that changes important physical conditions of the battery. [1] http://www.powerstream.com/AA-tests.htm http://www.powerstream.com/AA-tests.htm [2] http://www.ibt-power.com/Battery_packs/Li_Ion/Lithium_ion_tech.html http://www.ibt-power.com/Battery_packs/Li_Ion/Lithium_ion_te... [3] http://www.ibt-power.com/Battery_packs/Li_Ion/Li_Ion_DiscTGph.JPG http://www.ibt-power.com/Battery_packs/Li_Ion/Li_Ion_DiscTGp... [4] https://www.google.com/search?q=battery%20percent%20site%3Aarxiv.org https://www.google.com/search?q=battery%20percent%20site%3Aa...
joelrunyon 10y ago
This happens on my iPhone and everyone else's that I know. Literally fluctuates between 40%, 1%, 31%, off and don't get me started on how it changes when it gets cold outside.
- jonathanbull 10y ago
  If you've got a 6s, you might be eligible for a replacement: https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown/ https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown...
  - dcosson 10y ago
    I'm pretty sure my phone is affected, but according to that page: To prepare your iPhone 6s for the battery replacement process, please follow the steps below: Back up your data to iTunes or iCloud. Turn off Find my iPhone Erase data and settings in Settings > General > Reset > Erase all Content and Settings Just to replace a battery??
    - donarb 10y ago
      It's always prudent to backup your data if your device leaves your possession. What if FedEx loses the package or it's stolen off the truck?
    - toomuchtodo 10y ago
      They swap out the entire phone, and send the old one out to be refurbed and sold.
      - h1srf 10y ago
        Not anymore, at least the NYC stores don't. They take your phone in and give it back to you in a couple of hours(depending on how busy they are). That's how they did it when I had mine replaced last week. The 5th Ave store didn't have any batteries in stock so I had to either wait a few days or go to a different store that had them.
anthony_romeo 10y ago
My Galaxy Note 4 did the same thing. But this was after about a year of use. And hey, after replacing the battery it works fine again! And as an aside, I dropped my Note 4 recently and broke the glass. I was thinking about the possibility of getting a new phone. But after looking at this season's options I'm heavily leaning toward just replacing the glass. One reason is that no top-of-the-line smartphone seems to have a replaceable battery to avoid these problems. More generally, this season's phones are also cheap-looking and cheap-feeling. The Pixel feels like a $200 phone at best, with its cheap aluminum shell, fragile-feeling uncomfortable buttons, and ugly plastic/glass/whatever square on the back. I've been losing faith in Samsung's build quality (I've had some issues with my Note 4 and my previous Samsung phone, and the news about the exploding Note really turned me off the company). Even the latest iphone looks uglier than usual (that glossy bezel really doesn't do it for me, looks like a free phone you get when you sign up for a phone plan). 2016 is a really really bad year for smartphones. None of these machines seem like they're really worth their price. The next great phone is probably going to be one that doesn't feel like corners were cut.
- BookmarkSaver 10y ago
  I'm still using my Note 4 and have been putting off upgrading for no real reason. I was about to buy the Note 7 until they started blowing up, but now I'm probably going to wait until the S8 or Note 8 or some other flagship coming this Spring.
- rob 10y ago
  I'm kind of the same way. I went from a Note 4 to a Note 5, and ended up dropping my Note 5 causing the screen/LCD to break and not turn on. It looks like it costs about $300-400 to replace everything after asking a couple of local places, because the parts for this are expensive/out of stock. You might want to see if it's the same thing for the Note 4. At that price, I'd probably just want to buy a new one.. but as you said, there's not a lot of good smartphones out right now. I'm using the Note 4 again for now, which is actually a refurb/replacement because the original one's screen died randomly one day (without dropping it this time.)
- afterburner 10y ago
jasminz 10y ago
I am one of the unfortunate owners of a Nexus 6P whose device was abrutely shutting down at random occasions. The phone would shut down when battery level usually was below 60% and I was out walking. At first I though it had something to do with it being cold outside (I live in Sweden) but later I proved that was not it. Phone itself has not been tampered with (running official Android, 7.1.1 OTA) and is in near mint condition with protective case used. Anyways, I did what most people do not do and unlocked bootloader, installed TWRP and Pure Nexus Project 7.1.1 ROM and am happy to report that issue is now completely gone (I did stress-test it several times in below zero temperatures) ! So, no - it does not seem to be a hardware issue.

This isn't just on Pixels, I have a 6P that will turn off early as well, and I'd hazard a guess it has more to do with the latest Android versions than the specific hardware.

usloth_wandows 10y ago

I'm in the same situation! It seems to be triggered by temperature change, but not sure.

Meegul 10y ago

Same here. Originally, it would get to 5% then shut down, but it's gotten progressively worse. The highest I've had it shut down at now is ~20%. My first guess was that it's an issue of battery degradation not being properly accounted for, but the news about (new) Pixels suffering from the same problem makes it seem like that's unlikely. Hopefully this issue is resolved via an update, because I'd feel somewhat guilty recommending the Pixel to people weary of Samsung phones only to have major issues arise.

masklinn 10y ago

> some Pixel devices are affected by the same infamous shutdown bug that plagued the Nexus 6P

choward 10y ago

I've been running 6.0.1 on my 6P for a while now. I hear so many people complaining about battery life after updating. Battery life and reliably is the most important feature to me. I haven't had the 30% battery issue and my battery life is great.

Twirrim 10y ago

I had this on a Moto X after just over 15 months of use. I think it was only a slightly degraded battery lifetime at that point. Likewise, I'm guessing this has something to do with battery measurement as much as anything else.

jrs235 10y ago
Same here. Moto X 2nd Gen. Likes to turn off around 25-30% at times. Sometimes it seems that if I keep it powered off and charge it over night then turn it on (I often will just plug it in once it turns off and then power it on while it charges) it seems to sometimes then get down closer to 5% before power down. I too suspect it has to do with battery measurement.

andrewstuart2 10y ago

My Nexus 6 did this quite often, as does my wife's HTC One M8. It definitely could be an Android issue, but I think it would have to be a particularly egregious and obvious mistake. If it is software, I'd strongly suspect something at kernel level, since quite a few times in my experience, the shutdown is too quick for a safe shutdown. Userspace seems to get a notification that battery is low because it usually gives the "shutting down" alert, but then just shuts off in a suspiciously short amount of time. I'd be more likely to think it's probably something in the battery/power stack that's not managing or reporting the power well. Discharge/voltage curves are not at all linear, [1] [2], so it's logical that issues with immediately available voltage might start to affect the device around the 30% level. Additionally, as another commenter has mentioned, the discharge curve is dependent upon temperature [3], so a sudden drop in ambient temperature will eventually have a direct effect on the reported voltage. I'm not exactly sure what kind of metrics are commonly used for reporting battery percentage, but I am about to read a few (okay, maybe half of one) Arxiv papers that came up in a search. [4] Presumably, it's strongly based on some voltage modeling and I can imagine that would have a hard time coping with external factors beyond its measurement capacity, like ambient temperature drops. I don't suppose a user would be happy to see their reported battery percentage drop like a rock immediately upon stepping outside. I really don't know where I was going with all that, except I guess to say that my gut says Battery "percentage" is a bit more an art than a science. That is to say, there are psychological reasons not to report based on voltage directly (it may go up if you step into a warmer room; "Wat?"), and I can imagine any metric is going to have its strengths and weaknesses, because you really can't account as much for user behavior that changes important physical conditions of the battery. [1] http://www.powerstream.com/AA-tests.htm http://www.powerstream.com/AA-tests.htm [2] http://www.ibt-power.com/Battery_packs/Li_Ion/Lithium_ion_tech.html http://www.ibt-power.com/Battery_packs/Li_Ion/Lithium_ion_te... [3] http://www.ibt-power.com/Battery_packs/Li_Ion/Li_Ion_DiscTGph.JPG http://www.ibt-power.com/Battery_packs/Li_Ion/Li_Ion_DiscTGp... [4] https://www.google.com/search?q=battery%20percent%20site%3Aarxiv.org https://www.google.com/search?q=battery%20percent%20site%3Aa...

joelrunyon 10y ago

This happens on my iPhone and everyone else's that I know. Literally fluctuates between 40%, 1%, 31%, off and don't get me started on how it changes when it gets cold outside.

jonathanbull 10y ago
If you've got a 6s, you might be eligible for a replacement: https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown/ https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown...
- dcosson 10y ago
  I'm pretty sure my phone is affected, but according to that page: To prepare your iPhone 6s for the battery replacement process, please follow the steps below: Back up your data to iTunes or iCloud. Turn off Find my iPhone Erase data and settings in Settings > General > Reset > Erase all Content and Settings Just to replace a battery??
  - donarb 10y ago
    It's always prudent to backup your data if your device leaves your possession. What if FedEx loses the package or it's stolen off the truck?
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    They swap out the entire phone, and send the old one out to be refurbed and sold.
    - h1srf 10y ago
      Not anymore, at least the NYC stores don't. They take your phone in and give it back to you in a couple of hours(depending on how busy they are). That's how they did it when I had mine replaced last week. The 5th Ave store didn't have any batteries in stock so I had to either wait a few days or go to a different store that had them.

anthony_romeo 10y ago

My Galaxy Note 4 did the same thing. But this was after about a year of use. And hey, after replacing the battery it works fine again! And as an aside, I dropped my Note 4 recently and broke the glass. I was thinking about the possibility of getting a new phone. But after looking at this season's options I'm heavily leaning toward just replacing the glass. One reason is that no top-of-the-line smartphone seems to have a replaceable battery to avoid these problems. More generally, this season's phones are also cheap-looking and cheap-feeling. The Pixel feels like a $200 phone at best, with its cheap aluminum shell, fragile-feeling uncomfortable buttons, and ugly plastic/glass/whatever square on the back. I've been losing faith in Samsung's build quality (I've had some issues with my Note 4 and my previous Samsung phone, and the news about the exploding Note really turned me off the company). Even the latest iphone looks uglier than usual (that glossy bezel really doesn't do it for me, looks like a free phone you get when you sign up for a phone plan). 2016 is a really really bad year for smartphones. None of these machines seem like they're really worth their price. The next great phone is probably going to be one that doesn't feel like corners were cut.

BookmarkSaver 10y ago
I'm still using my Note 4 and have been putting off upgrading for no real reason. I was about to buy the Note 7 until they started blowing up, but now I'm probably going to wait until the S8 or Note 8 or some other flagship coming this Spring.
rob 10y ago
I'm kind of the same way. I went from a Note 4 to a Note 5, and ended up dropping my Note 5 causing the screen/LCD to break and not turn on. It looks like it costs about $300-400 to replace everything after asking a couple of local places, because the parts for this are expensive/out of stock. You might want to see if it's the same thing for the Note 4. At that price, I'd probably just want to buy a new one.. but as you said, there's not a lot of good smartphones out right now. I'm using the Note 4 again for now, which is actually a refurb/replacement because the original one's screen died randomly one day (without dropping it this time.)
afterburner 10y ago

jasminz 10y ago

I am one of the unfortunate owners of a Nexus 6P whose device was abrutely shutting down at random occasions. The phone would shut down when battery level usually was below 60% and I was out walking. At first I though it had something to do with it being cold outside (I live in Sweden) but later I proved that was not it. Phone itself has not been tampered with (running official Android, 7.1.1 OTA) and is in near mint condition with protective case used. Anyways, I did what most people do not do and unlocked bootloader, installed TWRP and Pure Nexus Project 7.1.1 ROM and am happy to report that issue is now completely gone (I did stress-test it several times in below zero temperatures) ! So, no - it does not seem to be a hardware issue.