At the beginning of 2025, Google released their final update to the Pixel 4a 4G (Sunfish). The update is notorious for resulting in some pixels suddenly having absurd issues with the battery’s life. This update deliberately downgrades the battery’s performance in some of these phones since they have a battery recalled for potentially overheating.
Thankfully, this update only downgrades batteries with the serial number 8230020501, which is allocated to ones made by LSN. If you buy a replacement battery for any of these phones, make sure the part number is 8230015901, which indicates one made by ATL [Source]. You can find these batteries on eBay for a good price, but make sure you confirm with the seller that they have the correct P/N before you waste your time.
Once you acquire a -901 S/N battery, you can follow this tutorial for replacing the battery on your own (the trickiest part is applying the tesa tape: it is difficult to apply in a way that is aesthetically pleasing, but the phone’s going to be in a case that covers this imperfection up anyway–at least it should be in a case).
SUMMARY:
- LSN = 8230020501 = BAD
- ATL = 8230015901 = GOOD
If you need any help with your Pixel 4a Sunfish, please feel free to shoot me an email (see the home page for my email).