Google further explains Pixel and Pixel XL microphone issues

There’s a lot to love about the Google Pixel from its high-end feel to its clean, sleek UI. Of course, it’s also a first generation product, and so at least some growing pains are to be expected. While the Pixel and Pixel XL are reliable phones overall, its not surprising to hear that a small subset of phones are running into hardware issues — specifically centered around the microphone.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about microphone problems for the Pixel family, as the Google Support Forum has been lighting up with such complaints for a while now. More recently though, it seems that Google has confirmed that for some of these users, the issue may be deeper than just software.

Google employee Brian Rakowski indicates that both phones may have a failure-causing physical default in one of the three microphones on the devices. It’s also possible for some that the problem could be a hairline crack in the solder of the microphone component going into the Pixel’s mainframe. In other words, if you are having mic issues and recent software updates have done nothing to help — you might have a unit with a defective microphone setup.

Unfortunately in these cases the only thing you can do is contact Google for a replacement. Good news is all devices are still within warranty, so this shouldn’t be a problem for most folks.

As for how prevalent these hardware issues are? While we don’t have any hard evidence as to how many units are affected, Google seems to suggest it is a relatively small subset but enough that Google is taking the problem seriously. Anecdotal as it is, I will say that my own Pixel XL has had no issues whatsoever. What about you, Pixel or Pixel XL affected or not? Let us know down in the comments!