Smartphone batteries don’t last forever and need to be replaced every few years. While modern smartphone batteries are designed to retain most of their charge even after 500 charge cycles, many other factors like heat contribute to this rapid degradation, and the same thing happened with my Pixel 6. Waking up to a swollen device with its screen lifted is a big blow, especially if you’ve taken great care of your device to keep it in near-new condition. In this article, I’ll walk you through how I replaced my Pixel 6 battery and help you decide if you should do the same.
The main problem: finding a battery
While it’s usually easy to get a battery, unfortunately, the Pixel 6 never launched in India. I bought it from a seller who imported it from Japan. After walking the busy streets of Hyderabad and visiting countless phone repair shops, I got lucky with a spare parts seller.
The store had recently refurbished a battery from what they claimed was a new but now broken Pixel 6. At this point, I didn’t care if the battery was new or old, because Android 15 beta testing was underway and I needed to test all the features.
If anything, it served as a lesson that it is best to Avoid devices that are not officially released in your country (which is true for some Google Pixels). Google had done free Pixel 6 replacements for units with swollen batteries in the US and Canada, but I had no way to claim this out-of-warranty service in India.
The battery cost about $15, which was surprisingly cheap, too good to be true, in fact, so I had reservations about its authenticity. The lack of official part sellers like iFixit In India it is a disappointment. Americas and Europe are really blessed in this regard. Now let’s move on to the battery replacement part.
Battery replacement was a breeze
This happened a few weeks after I replaced the battery in my sister’s old iPhone XS Max, so I was pretty confident about smartphone repairs. A spicy pillow was new to me, but I’ve seen enough videos from Hugh Jefferey, PhoneRepairGuru, and Salem Techspert on YouTube that nothing could stop me from replacing it myself.
Unlike Samsung and OnePlus phones which open from the back first, Pixels open from the front. With the battery already forcing the screen up, I quickly removed the adhesive using a few drops of isopropyl alcohol and a spudger, albeit carefully, so as not to touch the battery and trigger a reaction.
Once inside the device, I unclipped and removed the bracket above the display connector. I then removed the heat shield along with a lot of graphene tape to finally access the battery connector and disconnect it. I then turned my attention to the battery release tabs which make removing the battery easier.
I was hesitant to touch any part of the battery at this point, but the bulge wasn’t that bad, so I mustered up the strength to cut through the adhesive using the pull tabs. As for the battery pull tabs, Google’s implementation is better than Apple’s. That’s because you don’t have to remove things like the Taptic Engine and speaker to get to the pull tabs, which aren’t even that strong and break off halfway.
Left: Replacement battery | Right: Swollen battery
I tried to slowly cut through the adhesive, but it was a little too strong at one point. Nothing a few drops of isopropyl alcohol couldn’t melt, though, and it was finally out. It was clear that the battery had just started to swell. I safely tossed it away and connected the new battery. It was time for me to replace the Pixel 6’s battery.
Another commendable thing about the internal components of Pixel phones or most Android phones is that the screws used to secure the components in one place are all Torx or Philips headsiPhones, on the other hand, use multiple types of screws, making it extremely difficult to know which one goes where.
The final result was satisfactory
As cliché as it may sound, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as fixing a broken product and making it work again. The moment the Pixel 6 launched was a joy, a small achievement, but certainly something to be happy about. A new battery means the phone is good to go for at least two years. More importantly, it’s the sense of pride that comes from saving a device from the landfill, polluting the Earth. 
To my surprise, thanks to the new diagnostic features added to the Pixels last year, I was able to see that the battery had just over 200 charge cycles and was at 100% health. AccuBattery showed 94% after two full cycles, which is fantastic considering I got the battery for a pittance. I realize that AccuBattery typically requires more charges to calculate the average battery health, but it’s still a huge win.
My Pixel 6 now feels much more responsive, which makes sense given that the old battery wasn’t able to provide as much power due to losing its ability to hold a full charge. This could be a placebo effect, though. But overall battery life has increased significantly, and standby power consumption is now negligible.
Should you replace the battery yourself?
Pixels are pretty good in terms of repairability. But the process of replacing a battery differs from manufacturer to manufacturer. The most difficult part will always be removing the back panel or the display without damaging it. So you need to take extra precautions because the display is the most expensive part of a smartphone. Also, companies are known for gluing batteries, and a lot can go wrong while removing them.
Unless you’ve ever been inside a smartphoneWe do not recommend replacing a battery yourself. Batteries, especially when swollen, pose a fire hazard. It is therefore always recommended to go to a professional to get your phone repaired. However, if you want to replace parts yourself, iFixit should be your one-stop destination for parts and complete repair guides.
With repairability being relegated to the background these days, we can’t go back to the days of swappable batteries. But I’d like things to at least stay as they are now. Of course, any effort to improve overall repairability would be great. Fairphone and Framework are good examples.
And that’s how I replaced the Pixel 6 battery. It’s now easily usable for the next two years. So I’ll be tinkering with custom ROMs once official support ends after Android 15.
What do you think about smartphone repairability in general? Do you think manufacturers should make their phones more repairable? Let us know in the comments below.
