Urgent update over smartphone ‘fire risk'
Product Safety Australia said incidents involving Google Pixel 6a devices have resulted in 'serious burn injuries'.
A mandatory update has been pushed to a number of phones to reduce the risk, and devices only need to be updated rather than returned.
The firmware update was released on 8 July, which included battery management features which mitigate the risk.
Not all Pixel 6a devices are affected by the issue, and the new battery management system will be activated once affected devices reach 400 battery cycles.
People whose phones are affected may be eligible for compensation from Google, and can check online to see if they can get a repair, cash payment or discount credit.
The phones have been sold at major retailers across the country, including Telstra, Optus, JB Hi-Fi, Officeworks and Harvey Norman.
The affected devices were sold between 16 June 2022 and 10 April 2025.
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