Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 heating and battery issues reportedly fixed after Android 14 update

Published On: October 9, 2023

Highlights

Android 14 stable rolled out alongside the Pixel 8 series launch on October 4th.
Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 owners say the phones are slightly cooler than before and are running a lot smoother.
The battery life also seems to have improved.

Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 customers have often complained about how their phones get too warm even under normal use. The phones are powered by the in-house Tensor chipsets (Tensor G1 in Pixel 6 and G2 in Pixel 7). With the Android 14 stable update (which was released for Pixel phones earlier this month), Google appears to have made some low-level optimisations to address the issue.

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Android 14 reportedly fixes heating issues on Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 phones

Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 owners on Reddit (1,2,3), who have updated to Android 14, say the phones are slightly cooler than before and are running a lot smoother.
The battery life also seems to have improved, courtesy of the CPU not getting worked up much.
Google’s Tensor G1 and Tensor G2 are fabricated on Samsung’s 5nm node, which is less efficient than TSMC-based chips.

In comparison, Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 and Gen 2 chipsets are based on TSMC’s 4nm node and run a lot cooler.
Both the Tensor G1 and G2 chipsets use older CPU cores, which consume much more power.
Besides the chipsets, the underlying bugs in Android and not-so-great optimisation on Google’s part could have caused the overheating issues on Pixel phones.

Google hasn’t mentioned anything about fixing overheating and battery issues on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 in the Android 14 changelog. It is possible that the brand may have tweaked the CPU scheduler to reduce the usage of the big CPU cores. This may have led to an impact on battery life and the amount of heat the chip generates.

Whatever may be the case, this is a welcome change for Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 customers. It is a good sign that Google is working on improving user experience even after it just introduced the Pixel 8 series. The Android 14 enhancements should also bring noticeable improvements to the Pixel Fold as well but we need more user reports to tell for certain.

Do note that Android 14 will not magically take away all the shortcomings of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 as Tensor chipsets are usually power-hungry and the phones might still get warm on heavy usage or while gaming. However, the issues should be optimised to a certain level.