I have a Pixel 5, and it’s almost perfect. It’s certainly the best phone I’ve ever had. But the battery isn’t holding a charge as well as it used to, and, while, honestly, it still stays charged as long as lots of phones I’ve owned, it ALSO has gotten really difficult to charge. It works fine with the wireless charging via the stand by my bed. But it doesn’t charge at all with most UBS C cords, and is flaky with the cords it recognizes at all. So it’s hard to just give it a boost late in the day.
I don’t think they sell it any more. The new one is larger (which is to say, much worse from my perspective – the biggest problem I had with my prior phone is that it was too big, and I’ve loved that this one is smaller.)
So, what are my options?
hang on to this as long as I can
see if I can replace the battery and/or repair the USB C port
Well, this won’t be very helpful, but back when I had an iphone 6, I was able to successfully replace the battery using https://scandi.tech/. They sold through amazon at the time. It looks like their latest product is for the iphone 7 & that they’re having a bit of a kerfuffle with amazon to boot.
They had very easy to use instructions…well, not very easy but easy enough that even I could do it.
So, I guess my point is, maybe there’s something similar out there for your Pixel 5. I would think that something so non-apple would be more likely to be user-fix-it-friendly.
Have you tried cleaning the charging port with a needle or paper clip? It is surprisingly easy for it to get some lint/fuzz stuck in it and that can result in the charging issues you are describing.
I looked, there’s no lint in it. (I’ve “repaired” my husband’s phone by removing lint a couple of times.) I suspect there’s a little corrosion on the port, though.
And hey, Google says that local "UbreakIfix places can repair it. That might be a good option.
Hmm, it’s slightly wider and thicker, but significantly taller. The fingerprint reader is weirdly on the front, instead of the back, where the Pixel 5 conveniently has it. It’s not quite as highly rated for environmental sealing, but probably good enough (and probably better than a repaired phone…) Looking okay. Taller is a nuisance, but not a deal breaker…
But no wireless charging. I LOVE wireless charging. Wireless charging is why my phone is still useable, too.
I dunno, I’d really prefer to stick with the 5. It seems better.
And I was wrong. I decided to go in with a needle anyway, and see if I could just scrape the edges of the port and maybe remove some corrosion, and what looked like corrosion was extremely tightly-packed lint. After removing the lint, it seems to be happy with most of the USB C charging cables lying around. It still doesn’t like the high-powered one that came with a recent laptop, but that’s probably software incompatibility.
So now it’s just a battery that is no longer good for a full day of heavy use. But is good for heavy use through 8PM, or moderate use all day, and can be recharged.
Yay!
I may still look into getting a new battery, though.
Also, for anyone reading along – I highly recommend a needle over a paperclip. It’s much thinner at the end, and the point is good for snagging bits of fluff.
As I mentioned above, this is a “repair” I’ve done several times, and I’m pretty good at it.
I realize I am a month late to the discussion, but I would have just invested in a couple of extra wireless chargers (work/home/school/bedroom) to make life more convenient, and VIOLA, phone’s life is extended another year.
I’ve enjoyed my current phone, a Pixel 4a 5G, but one flaw in this model that I didn’t experience even once in my previous Pixel phones bugs me: overheating. When the temp is over 85ish, and particularly in the sun, it tends to overheat. The phone shuts down some features to prevent damage when it overheats. If I put it in my pocket for a few minutes it’s good to go again, but it’s annoying. There are lots of days here in the summer where it’s that hot, so I’m not dealing with that again next summer. I think it’s a good phone otherwise, but that’s a dealbreaker for me here.
Debating on whether to get a Samsung Galaxy S22Ultra now, or wait a few months to check out the upcoming Pixel 7 models. I thought that particular Samsung seemed too pricey when it was released compared to other flagships, but the price has dropped a lot now. Another potential factor is that my current phone has a $100 trade in value now, which will certainly continue to decrease over time.
Slightly annoyed by this, but perhaps my discovery might help one of you:
Right now it appears you can get the Samsung s22 Ultra with 256GB storage for $299 with an eligible trade in direct from Samsung. This includes unlocked models. Your eligible trade in will further knock the price down. That’s a steal, as the phone lists for $1200 and will cost you at least several hundred dollars elsewhere.
Link: Galaxy S Series Phones | S24, S23 Series | Samsung US?
Why am I annoyed: because my phone isn’t eligible yet. I was told my Pixel 4a 5G was too new of a model (it was released 11/5/20). The Pixel 5 is eligible, which was released 10/15/20. I understand a Samsung website update is planned for 8/10 for a new program update, so maybe I’ll get lucky and my model will be added then.
My phone is still not eligible for the trade in program after the update yesterday. :(. Not going to pull the trigger there as it’s too pricey for me.
Some of the new fold types are eligible for the trade in program if your phone qualifies. Those are normally very expensive, and the trade in can bring them down a lot. I’m not looking for those, but if you are you might check it out.
The folding phones are very tempting. I joked that i wanted a silly-putty phone, so i could squish it into a ball to stow in my pockets, or stretch it out to watch a video. The folding phones are going for that.
But they seem fragile and fussy. And new. I’m not quite ready to climb on that bandwagon.