An internet user narrowly escaped tragedy when their Pixel 6a caught fire in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Similar incidents have already occurred recently with smartphones in this range.
The fear of many smartphone owners is dropping it and then finding when they pick it up that the screen is broken. But there's another one that we more or less consciously keep in the back of our minds: that of seeing our device catch fire. It's already happened many times, for example during an Air France flight where a mobile phone while charging started to burn without us knowing why.
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Here, the person concerned was at home. More precisely in their bed, sleeping. User zaliver tells his story on Reddit: “My Pixel 6a caught fire in the middle of the night. It was charging on my nightstand. Luckily, I'm a pretty light sleeper and woke up when I heard the battery start to release hot gases. About 2 seconds later, there was a fireball on my nightstand.”
This user's Pixel 6a bursts into flames during the night
More scare than harm, thankfully. The man was able to smother the flames before flushing the phone down the toilet to prevent the fire from reigniting. This isn't the first time Google's Pixel A lineup has been subject to this kind of incident. A few months ago, several people noticed that their Pixel 6a batteries were swelling, which greatly increases the risk of fire. Except that here, zaliver says he hasn't seen anything like that.
The only thing we know so far is that the smartphone was plugged into a third-party charger, without specifying the brand. Zaliver, however, points out that he had been using it for a year or two without any problems, and that only the phone caught fire, not the charger, which remained intact. The user is currently in discussions with Google to understand what happened.
Do Google's Pixel A phones have a battery problem?
Beyond zaliver's mishap, a more general question arises: is one Pixel A more likely to catch fire than another? It's important to remember that other models in the range have experienced issues that suggested the worst. Google recently implemented a battery replacement program for the Pixel 7a after several reports that it was swelling.
We also remember the Pixel 4a update in early 2025, which significantly reduced battery capacity and charging speed. Google never explained the reason for this decision, but many saw it as a sign that the Mountain View company wanted to avoid problems with swelling, and therefore, with the smartphone catching fire.
And don't think that all this only affects older models. The Pixel 9a could also be affected. Remember that pre-orders for the phone were delayed due to a "component issue." According to some, this is because the Pixel 9a would have overheating problems. A hypothesis reinforced by the fact that it introduced a system that gradually reduces the battery's autonomy and charging speed over time.
Google sees this as a way to extend the component's lifespan, while others see it as a half-hearted admission that the risks of swelling and/or catching fire are known. It's of course impossible to know the truth at this stage. Barring an exceptional situation like that of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 in 2016, it's unthinkable that the company would publicly acknowledge a large-scale problem. For your part, don't forget to regularly monitor for warning signs, such as smartphone deformation caused by battery swelling.
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