Your Pixel battery might be able to survive months in the snow and rain

Summary

A user’s Pixel 6a survived months in the snow, rain, and mud after dropping it while skiing.
The phone’s battery was able to charge again like nothing had happened to it.
Google vigorously tests the durability of its Pixel devices, but in this case, the phone’s IP67 rating likely saved it.

If you’re curious about the durability of your Google Pixel and don’t want to drop it from a tall building or into the snow, this tale will tell you everything you need to know.

In a recent blog post, Google shared the story of Andrew Prag, who dropped his Pixel 6a while skiing in Serre Chevalier, France, in February 2024. Prag was able to geolocate the phone and planned to retrieve it the next day, but a huge snowstorm overnight changed his plans and scuffled his efforts to find it.

.I just plugged it in and switched it on as though it had been sitting in a drawer all that time.

Six months later, Prag revisited the hill and decided to try to find his Pixel 6a. Sure enough, he was able to geolocate it once again and found the phone in the grass covered in mud — and remarkably, it still worked.

“I just plugged it in and switched it on as though it had been sitting in a drawer all that time,” Prag said, speaking to Google. Considering the Pixel 6a has an IP67 certification rating, which isn’t as high as IP68 or IP69, this story is also a testament to the Pixel’s overall build quality and battery protection.

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The tech giant shared why the Pixel 6a likely survived

In its blog post, Google also shared how it tests its Pixel phones and tablets for real-world use. One such test involves machinery that rapidly drops a Pixel to test its strength. Another involves using a motor to shake a device endlessly to see how it reacts. While Google doesn’t test dropping Pixel devices in the snow, Ajay Kamath, the lead of Google’s Product Integrity Engineering team, explains why Andrew Prag’s Pixel 6a likely survived.

“So the phones are relatively sealed from the elements, the snow cover kept them relatively protected, and the charging circuit was most likely disabled, saving the battery,” Kamath said. “Our phones aren’t designed for that scenario, but everything else they’re tested and designed for might help them survive.”

You may not always think about water and dust resistance on your phone, but in cases like this, it can save your device when it otherwise would have died. The Pixel 6a has an IP67 rating, while Google’s newest Pixel 9 has an IP68 rating.

While I don’t recommend dropping your Pixel phone in deep snow for fun, it’s nice to know the phone and its battery can survive.

The main difference between the two is that IP68 devices can still function when submerged in water at a depth of four meters, whereas IP67 devices can only survive 30 minutes at a one-meter depth. While I don’t recommend dropping your Pixel phone in deep snow for fun, it’s nice to know the phone and its battery can survive.