JerryRigEverything Says ‘do Not Buy’ The Pixel 9a Despite It Passing A Stress Test
Contents
Summary
- Famed YouTuber JerryRigEverything slams Google Pixel 9a’s adhesive-heavy battery.
- A large amount of seeming impenetrable glue prevents the battery’s safe removal by an experienced technician.
- Zack, the channel’s creator, emphasizes the negative impacts on device lifespan and recycling from near-permanent battery implementations like the Pixel 9a’s.
Zack, the brains behind the renowned JerryRigEverything YouTube channel, has a heck of a job. He goes to work, razor blade and screwdriver in hand, to inflict as much damage as possible on the latest, most expensive smartphones. When a device stands up to a gauntlet of tests sufficiently, it usually gets the channel’s approval.
The Google Pixel 9a just withstood JRE’s torture testing, but the explanatory video — entitled “DO NOT BUY THE GOOGLE PIXEL 9a” — certainly doesn’t reflect that. That’s because, in a move that harms consumer choice in the long term and undermines Google’s apparent recycling efforts, the 9a uses so much glue the battery is borderline impossible to remove.
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Strong anti-Pixel wording from a well-respected voice
Hell hath no fury like a reviewer scorned
Source: JerryRigEverything / YouTube
If an experienced teardown artist can’t confidently remove the battery, you definitely don’t want to try it at home.
Much of JerryRigEverything’s Pixel 9a teardown went as expected, with above-average glass hardness, an easily gouged plastic back panel, and an almost complete lack of flex in the body. Zack waited until the end of the video to unleash the fury, explaining how the Pixel 9a “has the world’s most garbage battery removal system on the planet.” He continued the disparagement, “I cannot say enough bad things about this battery removal procedure.”
Honestly, I hope whoever greenlit this battery attachment style steps in a puddle of water while wearing socks. — Zack from JerryRigEverything
Chiefly, the problem is glue. Most phones use it to secure their batteries these days. They don’t typically use it to the extent the Pixel 9a does, and they don’t typically use such an impressively resilient formulation. Prying, spudging, pulling, pleading, and praying did little but shred the battery’s outer protective layer.
Some viewers did note Google’s repair manual instructing technicians to heat the phone to 80 degrees Celsius or use isopropyl alcohol along with an approved battery removal card. The unit wasn’t that warm during the recorded removal attempt, but the creator did point out, “Not even isopropyl alcohol can dissolve the glue under this battery.” The glue was so resistant to tampering that Zack eventually gave up, deciding to “leave the battery where it is, since I don’t feel like exploding today.”
Source: JerryRigEverything / YouTube
JerryRigEverything teaches drawing. Medium: razor knife and $500 smartphone back panel.
Plenty of commenters were quick to chime in on how little replaceable batteries matter because they don’t plan to replace their phones’ batteries. Logical flaws aside, the battery has to separate from the body at some point if it’s ever to be recycled effectively. As Zack points out, smartphone batteries are roughly 95% recyclable, and it isn’t safe or environmentally friendly to send lithium-ion cells to the landfill or incinerator.
Permanent glue is a giant metal finger to recycling and the planet. Google says their aluminum frame is made from 100% recycled materials, but the only way they got that recycled aluminum in the first place is because other manufacturers didn’t contaminate the raw material by permanently adhering other elements to it.
JerryRigEverything sums up the video by encouraging viewers to “vote with your wallet.” Otherwise, Zack cautions, “Seven years from now, when all your updates are over, Google’s lithium battery juice is going to be leaking out of the landfill into your drinking water.”
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