Certification revealing battery rating for unknown Pixel model could be good news or bad news

MySmartPrice has discovered a UL Demko certification for an upcoming unknown Pixel model. The certification shows that the device meets the safety standards in Denmark and could be good news or bad news depending on which upcoming Pixel model was certified. While the exact Pixel variant is unknown, it does have a model number of GH2MB. The certification reveals that the device will be equipped with a battery rated at 4942mAh.

If this certification is for the upcoming mid-ranger Pixel 8a, it is very good news because it would mean that the battery is getting a 12.7% hike in capacity compared to the 4385mAh cell used to power last year's Pixel 7a. Since the latter would be the next Pixel handset to expect from Google, most likely getting introduced to the public in May during the Google I/O 2024 developer conference, the Pixel 8a can't be counted out as the recipient of the larger battery.

On the other hand, the Pixel Fold was released last June after being unveiled at Google I/O and it certainly fits in the category of an upcoming Pixel handset. A 4942mAh battery also makes sense for the device since last year's first-gen model came with a battery capacity of 4821mAh. If the certification is for the Pixel Fold 2, it would be a more reasonable 2.5% increase in battery capacity which makes more sense than a 12.7% hike for the Pixel 8a's battery capacity.

The Pixel 9 series isn't expected until October. Compared to the 4575mAh battery in the Pixel 8, if the new cell is earmarked for the Pixel 9, it would have 8% more capacity. The Pixel 8 Pro featured a 5050mAh battery which means that if the certification is for the Pixel 9 Pro, the battery capacity will have declined 2.1% and that makes it unlikely that the certification is for that model.

Google did improve the battery life on the Pixel 8 series, but it needs to do more in this area. The rather poor battery on the Pixel 6 Pro was one of the main reasons I dumped the Pixel last year, returned to my iPhone 11 Pro Max, and eventually purchased the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Yes, battery life matters. 

If the certification is for the Pixel 8a, we would have to look forward to a nice increase in battery life for the latest mid-range Pixel release and hope that Google follows through with the batteries employed on the Pixel 9 series. But most likely, the unknown device is the Pixel Fold 2. We've just seen a leaked photo claiming to show the device, and the release timeline is similar to that of the Pixel 8a.