It was a corporate nightmare in the making for Google when, several days after the official release of their latest OEM Android smartphones, the Pixel 2 and the 2XL phablet, new owners began reporting some grave issues. Perhaps the more serious problem is with the Pixel 2 XL screen, which appears to be prone to suffering burn-in with its display. Google has already clarified that the more muted color scheme in the camera imaging was intentional to show a more natural shade. Meanwhile, the standard Pixel 2 was afflicted with high-pitched or clicking sounds.
But Google has a solution.
Noisy earpiece
Last week, the first stories about hearing clicking or high-pitched noises in the Pixel 2 smartphone began appearing in Pixel User Community Forum. As the accounts being related increased in volume, along with complaints, Google announced that it would investigate the issue. On the afternoon of Thursday, October 26, a Google community manager posted a notice on the Community Forum. It stated that the company was developing a software patch to eliminate the annoying clicks or high-pitched whines. The update will be ready in a few weeks. It should be recalled that the Apple iPhone 8 had similar earpiece noise problems that were also resolved by a later software patch.
In the meantime, Google is proposing a temporary fix to the noise problem for Pixel 2 users. Apparently, the issue is connected to the smartphone’s NFC setting. To alleviate the clicking sounds, Pixel 2 owners could deactivate NFC in the Connected Devices menu under Settings. The company has already stated that while the unwanted noise is bothersome, it is not actually causing any actual performance issues with the device.
The community manager’s post, however, did not give any explanation as to why the clicks and high-pitched sounds were even happening.
The other unit's problem
While the Pixel 2 noise issue has been addressed somewhat in the User Community, there is still the matter of what to do with the Pixel 2XL phablet and its display burn-in.
To this, Google has also assured users that despite the screen getting very messy at times, the hardware has not been irreparably damaged. A software patch to fix the graphical bleeding has been promised as well, although, in the 2 XL’s case, the repair work might be spread out over a series of consecutive updates. Google is looking to nip these problems in the bud before they cause the strong sales of the Pixel 2s to plummet.
The Pixel 2 phone was manufactured for Google by Taiwanese electronics company HTC. Korean manufacturer LG Electronics made the Pixel 2XL phablet.
