Google brings battery cycle info to mainline Pixels with the Pixel 9

Update, August 21, 2024 (02:04 PM ET): Originally, this article erroneously said the Pixel 9 series is the first Pixel to bring back the Battery Information section within Android Settings. However, this feature came back to the Google Pixel 8a, meaning the Pixel 9 is the first mainline Pixel with the feature out-of-the-box. We have tweaked the article below to reflect this.

Original article, August 21, 2024 (01:00 PM ET): It’s been a long time since Google first confirmed that it would bring battery cycle information to Android. The feature temporarily went live on the Pixel 8 series earlier this year before it was pulled. It eventually landed on the Google Pixel 8a but curiously didn’t come back to the mainline series. Thankfully, the Pixel 9 series now offers this functionality out-of-the-box.

We can confirm that a battery information screen is available on Pixel 9 phones and is accessible by tapping Settings > About Phone > Battery information. The page shows the battery’s date of manufacture, the date of first use, and (yes) the number of charging cycles.

All phone batteries naturally lose some capacity over time as you charge and discharge them. However, this happens at a different pace for various phones. For example, the iPhone 15 series loses 20% of its rated capacity after 1,000 charging cycles, while the OnePlus 12 takes 1,600 charging cycles to lose 20% effective capacity. We’ve asked Google about the Pixel 9’s charging cycles and will update the article accordingly.

Either way, major battery degradation can be felt in the real world. For example, a phone that used to offer two days of juice might only offer 1.5 days of battery life. Or a phone that used to last a full day might require a charge immediately after work.

So the ability to view charging cycle information is handy as it can help you figure out whether your phone battery has significantly degraded and is in need of a replacement or if there’s another issue. A phone with only a few charging cycles won’t need a battery replacement just yet, unless there’s a defect. Either way, Google is catching up to Apple, which has offered charging cycle info for a few years now.

Google is expected to up the ante with a diagnostics tool in Android 15. In addition to the charging cycle info seen in the screenshot above, the tool will display your battery’s effective capacity to give you an even better idea of degradation over time. The diagnostics tool will also let you test various components in case you suspect other hardware issues.