Apple has been at the receiving end even since it admitted to slowing down iPhones to compensate for the aging batteries. Taking a lesson from Apple’s plight and to avoid any problem that may occur in the future, Android phone makers now are coming forward with statements that they do not follow similar practices.
Android phone makers deny doing such thing
All major Android phone makers including Samsung, LG, HTC, and Motorola have made statements that they never throttle their phone’s processor speeds as the batteries get older.
Both HTC and Motorola, in an email to The Verge, denied doing such things. In their email, HTC spokesperson noted that slowing phone down as their battery ages “is not something we do.” While, a Motorola spokesperson said, “We do not throttle CPU performance based on older batteries.” LG also issued a small statement, condemning such things. “Never have, never will! We care what our customers think,” the company said in an email to PhoneArena.
Samsung, the biggest Android phone maker, issued a bigger statement, saying the product quality has always been their priority. Along with saying that it never lowers the CPU performance with the software updates as the phone ages, the company suggested that it uses software and built-in safety features to smartly manage the charging.
“We ensure extended battery life of Samsung mobile devices through multi-layer safety measures, which include software algorithms that govern the battery charging current and charging duration,” Samsung said in an email to PhoneArena.
Other major Android phone makers – like Google, Sony, OnePlus and Huawei are still to issue their statement.
Apple offers discount on replacement batteries
Even though the Android phone makers have admitted to not slowing down phones, reports of Android phones slowing down after they age is not a rarity. A fact is – Android phones use the same battery technology as is used by Apple.
According to DigitalTrends, Huawei is one Android phone maker that has already introduced measures to address such issues. The Chinese company in its EMUI 5.0 introduced machine learning, which studies how an owner uses the phone. Based on the analysis, the machine learning allocates the resources intelligently, so that the phone performs consistently. Huawei promises that the phones powered by EMUI 5.0 and above will remain fast even after eighteen months of usage.
Meanwhile, Apple apologized on Thursday for not coming out very clear on the older iPhones being slowed down. “We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down,” says the company. “We apologize.” Further, the company assured that going forward it will give more information to the users on their iPhones battery and how it impacts the phone’s performance. Apple also rejected the allegations that it slowed older phones to push users into buying a new phone.
In addition, to somewhat compensate for its fault, the iPhone maker is now offering a discount on battery replacements on the iPhone 6 or later. According to the company, a replacement will now cost just $29, compared to $79 earlier. The replacement cost is now more in-line with the third-party repair shops.
