Google Pixel, Pixel XL Users Complain of Microphone Failure; Google Recommends Replacement Under Warranty

The Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL smartphones are no strangers to issues by now, and the product forum is filled with many customers nagging about several issues from Bluetooth pairing to LTE connectivity issues in the past. Now, a new issue related to the microphone has cropped up for some users, rendering it useless with no audio input at all. Some users also claim audio input failure, with it only working through the camera app while recording video.

The complaint made on Google's product forum has received many comments from other users reiterating the same issue. Google for its part is aware of the issue and employee Brian Rakowski confirms that it is a hardware issue and that a software fix will not rectify it. The issue is with one of three microphones - the phone audio input, and the ambient mics - and it may be caused due to a hairline crack in the solder of the microphone component.

Google Pixel and Pixel XL: All the Problems and Their Current Status

Rakowski further notes, "We have been taking additional steps to reinforce the connection at time of manufacture on phones built since January. Phones manufactured in the last month should not have this problem. For phones manufactured before then, the incidence of the problem is <<1 percent. I know this thread makes it seem much more prevalent, but there is a selection bias at work here."

He suggests that a replacement is the fastest way to solve the issue. "If you purchased the phone from another retailer, your best bet is to go back to that retailer as they can replace the phone more quickly. Our partner reps should also be trained on this issue. If you don't want to return to the retailer you purchased from, Google can also process the return, but because the phone was not purchased from us, we must receive the phone (and verify that it's actually a legit return of a Pixel phone) before shipping the replacement. That normally takes a couple of weeks, which is obviously really tough if you don't have a backup phone you can use in the interim," Rakowski says on the forum.

As all Pixel phones are well under warranty still, replacing them should not be an issue, however the Google representative does note that there is no guarantee that the replaced unit won't have the same issue.