Google Pixel phones’ battery cycles not a secret in Android 14 QPR1

Yes, the stable Android 14 is not here yet (there’s a slight delay), but the Android 14 QPR1 (quarterly platform release) Beta is here. It’s equipping Pixel owners with a feature that Android has been lacking and lagging behind Apple for five years straight – a built-in option to check on your device’s battery.

A quick reminder for those who are wondering what’s the difference between QPR beta releases and “regular” betas: QPR builds are safe for general use and include “the next round of bug fixes and improvements to stability and performance”, while the regular betas are often extremely unstable initially and are for the most impatient Android aficionados out there. As a general rule of thumb, it’s not a very good idea to beta test on your daily/only phone, as things could get messy.

Back to the QPR1 Beta for Android 14: folks over at 9to5Google have found that the promised battery cycles count feature (in the summer, leaksters claimed it was coming to Android 14) is actually a thing. As of now, they’ve found it on a Pixel phone, but do not specify what exact model that is. It has to be one of the supported devices, though. The Android 14 QPR1 Beta 1 – with the September 2023 security patch – is available for the following:

• Pixel 5a
• Pixel 6
• Pixel 6 Pro
• Pixel 6a
• Pixel 7
• Pixel 7 Pro
• Pixel 7a
• Pixel Tablet
• Pixel Fold

The Pixel 4a 5G and 5 are not supported and won’t be getting QPR1.

To get to the battery cycle information, one has to (be involved in the QPR1 Beta and obviously have a supported device from the list above) go to Settings, then tap About Phone. There will be a new Battery Information section in sight. The total number of charge cycles the battery has undergone won’t be the only figure in the new section. Users will be able to check the battery’s manufacturing date, too.

The QPR beta testers that have discovered the new battery section note that the battery’s birthday and the cycle counts are the only information users are seeing right now. There are no statistics or metrics on a maximum capacity percentage or a general “battery health” number like the one in Apple’s phones.

Interestingly enough, Apple has added support for showing battery cycle counts in iOS 17 on the brand-new iPhone 15 series, so even if Android rolls out the new statistics feature to all supported brands and devices (not just keep the info on the Pixel line from the Pixel 5a to the 7a), Apple would still be offering more battery information.