Google seems to have acknowledged that the audio distortion issue, which was being experienced by several Pixel and Pixel XL smartphone users, is a hardware issue as the company is reportedly offering warranty replacements for the devices. Instead of coming out with a firmware update to resolve the problem, the company has opted to offer warranty replacements.
Mark Buckman, who goes by the username 'badmark', was earlier issued a refund by the search giant after he reported the issue earlier on company's product forum last month. However, as per a new mail spotted by PhoneArena, dated January 13, Google has stopped issuing refunds and is now offering warranty replacements for its Pixel smartphones that are experiencing audio distortion issues.
(Also see: Opinion - Hardware Issues Make Google Pixel Phones Feel Like Expensive Beta Products)
In the mail, the Google Store representative from the company has clearly said that the issue mentioned is a hardware issue and not a software one.
Last month, several Google Pixel and Pixel XL users reported that they were experiencing audio distortion issues on their smartphones. One of the users even said that the issue was not source dependent. "At first I thought it was my headphones, so I put on my noise cancellation headphones and the same issue. Then I thought, ok maybe it's a bad headphone jack so I paired my Jabra Sport headphones, same issue. Then I just played the music out of the speaker itself and it still happened," the user posted on the community forum.
In a response to the complaint posts, Pixel community manager Orrin earlier said that the company was aware of the issue and was investigating the matter. It seems like the issues plaguing Google's first self-branded smartphone are piling up as the phones were also reported to have an early shutdown issue last month.
Other Google Pixel, Pixel XL issues reported include a freezing camera and audio distortion on the phone as well. Other issues reported by users include Bluetooth pairing problems and spotty LTE connectivity.
Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.