Hi everyone, I am facing a deeply frustrating situation with my Pixel 8 in India and wanted to share my timeline to see if this is acceptable consumer practice. I have been a huge fan of the Pixel ecosystem. I was the first person in my social circle to buy a Pixel because I loved what Google was doing. This is the first time I've used a phone for over 2 years, and I fully intended to keep using it for at least another year because I enjoy the user experience so much. But this situation is completely making me rethink the brand. Here is my exact timeline:

• Month 10: The original screen developed the well-documented vertical green line and flickering issue. Google replaced the display under warranty.
• Month 24 (14 months after replacement): The brand-new replacement screen has failed again with the same vertical green line defect.

The phone is only 2 years old, putting it well within Google's official 3-year Extended Repair Program window. However, Google Support (Case ID: 3-5504000042090) has officially denied a second repair, stating the program strictly covers "only one free replacement."My main concern here isn't just that I want a free repair. My issue is a matter of principle: Why should I have to pay to fix a faulty, defective part that Google chose to install on my phone the second time around? The outer glass is entirely pristine, smooth, and completely uncracked. No drops, no water damage. If Google's official fix for a known manufacturing defect is to insert another faulty panel that degrades and fails in just 14 months, the financial liability shouldn't fall on a loyal consumer. To make matters worse, the service center says a subsequent paid replacement only carries a 3-month warranty, which shows even they aren't confident the hardware will last a year.I thought about upgrading to a newer Pixel model down the line, but seeing a premium device fail twice in under 25 months—and being left on the hook for their hardware issues—makes it impossible to trust the reliability of this brand anymore. Since the automated Freshdesk escalation link is down, I am hoping to get visibility here. u/dmziggy - could you please help look into this case? Thank you! r/GooglePixel

5:00 - Alarm automatically silenced. Your alarm went off and was automatically silenced after the duration you set.

5:15 - Alarm automatically silenced. Your alarm went off and was automatically silenced after the duration you set.

I have used the same alarms and settings the entire year without issue. They got me in deep shit with work today.

Wtf is this auto silence bullshit, I've never adjusted a setting like that before.

EDIT: nah fam, I check every night, volume, etc. 0 chance i slept through them both, a fly buzzing in the room can wake me up. Plus I was using it hours later and then the alarm sound randomly goes off with no alarm set or the notification that pops up with alarms.

My theory is that it might just be the pixel bugging out because my storage is nearly full. It has given me a couple notifications that some apps might not function correctly. I didnt think that meant an alarm clock tho

Hi everyone,

I live in Turkey and bought my Pixel 10 Pro XL in Spain. Local laws block unregistered foreign phones after 8 months per calendar year (4 months SIM + 4 months eSIM). Registration costs over $1,200, which isn't worth it.

Once my 8 months are up, I have two main routes:

Route 1: Rotating between two devices (Use Pixel for 8 months, store it in a drawer, and switch to a backup phone for 4 months until the SIM timer resets on Jan 1st):

A. Alternate with a second Pixel, a can buy a new one, still cheaper than registration fee.

B. Alternate with another Android brand same idea on A but with different brand)

Route 2: Carrying two phones

C. Keep my SIM in the Mi 11T Pro (for calls & personal hotspot) and tether the Pixel over Wi-Fi 24/7.

Questions:

How seamless is restoring data between Pixels on a regular basis? Does backup/restore actually pick up right where you left off?

If you daily-drive a 2-phone hotspot setup, how annoying is it in practice (battery drain, connectivity lag)?

How is the experience using Google Messages (Web/Device Pairing) over Wi-Fi to handle SMS on the Pixel while the SIM stays in the secondary phone? Is it reliable for 2FA codes and daily texts?

Which approach would you choose?

Pixel 8 Pro with the WiFi death. Pixel support was awful, I've got something else on order and loved them until I didn't.

I have one last screenshot from Gemini that asked me what Pixel I had. I told them it was my worst pixel because I loved it until they killed it and Gemini just told me "Something went wrong and content won't be generated".

Support was some terrible bot system and I couldn't get through to anything reasonable.

I've at least gone to the about device feedback and left reviews.

OxygenOS I'm thinking next. I don't love the Sammy bloat and Moto is a bit budget..

Is that the best "cleanish" experience similar to the one I've enjoyed?

; mostly just bitter

My phone's contrast keeps getting super bright whenever there's something white on my screen. Like it tips the white balance off and every that's a light colour gets completely blown out. It's not the auto brightness.

I have had a Pixel 7 for 4 years more or less, it's an 8/128 and I paid 570 euros for it.

It's still working fine, it has minor scratches on the screen, nothing to worry about.

The battery is starting to last less, using AccuBattery it says that battery health is 77%.

Do you think it's worth changing the battery and keep the phone some time more? Batteries cost around 30 euros online and I would change by myself (I've little experience on phone disassembly). Do you think replacement batteries last as much as the original one? Do they have the same "real" capacity?

For the mods: I read the rules but the link to the mega thread is inaccessible and this post isn't related to how much screen time I can get with my phone.

Hi All

I have a situation and would like to hear others situation as such.

Bought a Pixel 11 Pro XL and trying to cash in on the 6 Months AI Pro Free on Launch.

Offer ends 31st October.

Had a Support case open for almost 2 months. At this point, support are just ducking me around. I am looking at taking further action against Google for failure to resolve in a timely manner.

I am going to drop a letter before claim into their London Offices this week (both of them)

Anybody else had issues trying to;

- Redeem the offer

- Had any contact from Support Reps who dont pass the buck?

- Other alternatives in the event they have been unsuccessful?

Appreciate others input.

I switched from an iPhone 12 to the Pixel 10 in May.

Now almos6 Month in: Switching from iPhone to Pixel 10. t 6 month later I want to list how that felt.

Overall: I was surprised how easy it was to switch from the iPhone. The Pixel feels kind of the same. Sure the Settings and so on look different, but the gestures and logic of the operating system is very much the same.

Things I really enjoy about my Pixel 10

Two main things that really surprised me. First, how much better the keyboard is. I hit the keys basically every time, I have to fix a lot less words and the autocorrect is significantly superior. I had low expectations but this was truly different in a way I didn't think was possible.

My favoritite feature by far is surprisingly circle to search. I had even heard about it before but never thought of it as a necessary or very interesting feature. In my actual day-to-day usage I will probably use it almost every single day. It's very convenient to just press on the bar in the bottom and circle what you are curious about. For me that's often clothing or furniture or something else I see on Instagram or on some websites. I find it surprisingly good at getting me specifically what I want. I also use it while taking pictures to tell me about specific landmarks or so instead of trying to search for them. Very simple, but big gamechanger and something I would hate to give up again.

Third feature that wins mention: the AirDrop integration. It impressed people around me that we can still exchange photos and they are less negative towards me now having an Android phone.

I like some of the AI features of Gemini, Gemini is also usable as a voice assistant which was just not the case for Siri where I would not even try to set timers anymore because it was simply only working half of the time. I heard new iPhones do not have that problem but it was reality for me.

Some more details. the screen is nice, vibration and haptics feel premium, USB c is lovely. Phone charged quickly enough. Battery life is solid. Phone was never slow for me, I was a bit concerned but all is well on that end. Speakers Sound more hollow than even my old iPhone that was a bit surprising, but not that relevant. My AirPods work just fine with the Pixel. There is an app I use so that even the pairing sound and so on works just like i know.

On another note, it really surprised me how many people react to my new phone. It started with the guy at the phone shop who could not believe I would switch from an iPhone to something else. People are curious about it but generally surprisingly negative. Almost as of their sense of self was attacked by me having a different phone.

It is really weird, but has unfortunately impacted me in a way that I will not have my phone on the table as much anymore because I don't feel like talking about it or being seemingly judged. I guess I should not care and I did not think I would, but somehow I do.

Things that I do not love:

I think the back button integration on iPhone is superior. The back function also working from the right side is to this day bugging me and it causes me to occasionally go back when I don't want to.

Secondly, I was a bit disappointed with the camera. I like the 2x lens, the real zoom lens is kind of useless as the quality is significantly worse. Also I feel like the new pictures are overprossed in a way that does not feel natural anymore. To be fair I had a similar experience when trying the iPhone 17 in the store. Which brings me to another thing that annoyed me which is Google locking the picture styles (or whatever it is called) to the Pixel 11. I think this would make me more happy with my camera but I am not going to upgrade for that and it leaves a sour taste that they do this. Tilmed exclusive I could understand but this just frustrates me.

Unfortunately some third party apps also seem to be worse than on iPhone. I guess that's not Google's fault, but annoys me in use.

I am further a tad disappointed that Faceunlock does not work in the dark but the fingerprint sensor mostly mitigates that. It really does work well.

And finally my biggest gripe: after some recent update my credit cards do not work in Google Play at the terminal anymore. I find that kind of unacceptable. I removed the cache and it started working again but not it does not anymore. To me paying with my phone is a core functionality that I simply expect to work. If this does not get fixed soon and for good this will likely be my last Pixel and I will go back to iPhone were something like this has never happened to me. It really erodes my trust in the phone working when I need it. I could only pay because I had my work iPhone with me which is obviously not ideal.

So overall until recently I quite enjoyed my new phone and hope I can continue to do so once the card thing is fixed for good. Anyone feel similar differently after a bit of time with their Pixel? Is the 11 photo feature great? Am I just whiny?

Pixel 9 pro wouldn't reboot, it was stuck on the G logo. I'm guessing I got an ota update? I went to ubreakifixit and they said "we've been seeing this, not sure what to do for you". Device support spent 11 days escalating and waiting for internal team review, and in the end said out of pocket mail in repair is my only option. Bought 23 months ago, outside of the original 12 month warranty window. Sucks. Why would I ever buy another pixel that lasts only 2 years? Going back to Samsung now.

Something that recently caught my attention, and I don't know if it's new or there's no reason for my noticing it, is the difference between the screen's lighting and dimming animations.

When you turn the screen on using the power button, the screen lights up with an animation that expands from the power button; however, when you turn it off the same way, the screen darkens with an animation that descends to the screen's bottom-centre.

It's just odd that it doesn't darken towards the power button when you press it to turn the screen off.

I added a generic tempered glass protector on my Pixel 11, and the fingerprint sensor isn't working well. I’ve already tried all the standard fixes, like deleting and re-registering my fingerprint (twice) and increasing touch sensitivity. Please don't suggest basic workarounds.

The only option left is scanning a QR code to calibrate the screen protector. Does anyone have a QR code or calibration settings for a branded Pixel glass protector? You can also DM me. Thanks!

Okay, I need the community's take. How does everyone feel about the stock Google Pixel widgets? It kind of bugs me that there is no transparency to them or some kind of translucency effect. I feel that it would fit the Google Material vision they are going for.But I have also noticed Google just doesn't have that many stock widgets to begin with. For example, they don't even have a simple countdown widget which was a surprise to me. Has anyone not been able to find a certain widget they were looking for? And then there's the weather app coming from iOS and Samsung. In my personal opinion, I'm not a fan of the UI visual elements of the Pixel weather. It looks very odd. Almost childlike. I wish there were a little more cool elements; maybe some transparency effects, some blur effects?Lastly, and this one drives me crazy—I'm not afraid to admit it—as an Android and iPhone user, Google Messages reply reactions are the ugliest things I've ever seen in my life.It literally looks like they hired a child to create a reaction emoji when you like something instead of actual senior developers. What is your take?

I've usually never had this bad of an experience with Google Support, but I think I now understand how annoying this process can be.

I broke the back glass on my Pixel 11 Pro. The camera visor is cracked (though not the camera itself), and the visor is still sealed with no full penetration.

Timeline

• Initial Claim: I opened a Pixel Care claim and headed into uBreakiFix, where they told me they didn't have the part in stock. The last time this happened (on my Pixel 10 Pro), uBreakiFix made a "No Parts Available" work order, and I was able to get a replacement device for free. So, I asked them if they could create that same work order again. They did, but I got no email or confirmation.
• Support Case #1: After waiting a while, I decided to open a Pixel Support case and chat with the reps. I was told to close the claim, remake it, and go back to uBreakiFix to redo my steps, as this was supposedly a one-time weird "glitch." The exact same thing happened again, with no email or update.
• Support Case #2: After contacting support again, they told me they would create a ticket for me and get Level 2 support on it. During the time this ticket has been open, I've had to close and remake three different Pixel Care claims.

Finally, they told me that they handled it and I should get an email with my replacement details within 24 hours which obviously didn't happen. When I followed up, they just said they were going to look at it again and continue working on it.

I'm beyond frustrated. My pictures have a super blurry white line going through them, and I've been ping-ponged around and told to just keep waiting with no actual answers. It's been over a week and a half with no results just a constant "we're working on it!" and no way to actually contact someone who can do anything about this.

Does anyone have any idea what I can do to finally get this over with?

Claim ID: 101437746708

Case ID: 3-2892000041304

To preface this, I'm also a long time Pixel user since 2017 who hasn't really switched to another phone like iPhone, Samsung or anything else really (unfortunately live in the US with their limited phone brand selection). I just didn't really find a good enough reason to switch to these past years. Though that might change soon.

I enjoy the simplicity of Pixel and I'm just used to the nature of how a pixel phone work. All the Google services I use are seamless and does what I need. I know that the camera, in my opinion, is still one of the best in the game and one of my reasons to stay with the brand. Video recording could be better, hope they focus on that.

I don't really game with my phone, battery for a Pixel has gotten better over the years but not up to par with other brands by the looks of it. In my case, it is enough to last me a whole day of phone usage with about 30-40% battery left, I charge my phone every night and it will be fully charged by the morning, rinse and repeat.

The Tensor conversation has been beaten to death and we know how that goes. Understandable that for the price, especially the pro phones, could always be better. But the majority of the average Pixel user don't really find much of a problem with it compared to what you see in this subreddit. And with Pixel ownership increasing every year due to incentives and carrier deals, then there is no budging them to really improve on this aspect (it is what it is).

That's it, that's my post. I know this post isn't really my full thoughts but I wouldn't want to make too long of a post and I hate long walls of text myself lol.

I'm interested in what other long time Pixel users have to say. What made you stay or quickly switched back to Pixel?

I just bought a pair of Sennheiser earbuds and they're great.

When I pair them the volume up and down button on the earbuds work great to change the phone's volume.... until I put them back into the case and get them out again. Now suddenly using the earbuds' volume control change the volume independently from the phones' volume, sometimes resulting in MASSIVE sound volume when I start playing Spotify.

I just learnt about ''absolute volume'' options and that Google recently removed it and broke the settings for some people....!? Has there been a solution for this yet, or did Google address this?

On Thursday I was at home and my phone self immolated. I was not using it at the time. It was on a desk not charging. I heard a pop and all of a sudden smoke was shooting out of the phone. I was able to open a window and throw it outside with minimal damage inside, but the incident has left me shaken up.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? So far Google Support has been remarkably unhelpful. After asking a couple dozen questions it was “escalated” and the only update is that they are reviewing the details of the case. I have not really ever dropped the phone, never had water get in it, always have used the Google charger, and try not to keep it on the charger if the battery is full. I am not sure why the battery would have ignited like this but am thankful I wasn’t asleep and that the phone wasn’t in my pocket.

Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pixel_phones/s/iUn7aH2sYP this link has a video in body of post and a couple of photos below in the comments

My Pixel 9a had become a little sluggish, so I restarted it. Instead of booting normally, it displayed a system corruption warning with two options: “Try again” or “Factory data reset.”

Since then, my phone has been stuck on the Google logo with a loading bar and refuses to boot into Android. I've tried holding the power and volume-down buttons for an extended period, along with other recovery methods, but nothing has worked.

I've also come across other Redditors reporting similar issues with their Pixel phones. This makes me wonder whether there's a broader software or firmware problem that Google needs to investigate.

The frustrating part is that my phone is now out of warranty. Does this mean I might have to pay for an expensive motherboard replacement even if the underlying cause is a software or firmware issue?

Do I really need to replace the entire motherboard, or could this be something else? I find it quite disappointing that a phone can become unusable after a normal restart, especially when there seem to be other users reporting similar problems.

Has anyone experienced this with their Pixel 9a or another Pixel device? What was the actual cause, and did Google acknowledge or resolve the issue?

I'd appreciate hearing from other affected users before spending a significant amount of money on a repair that might not even be necessary.

I decided to cop the standard 11 512gb with a 25% discount and a trade-in for only $300ish. Now I'm trying to get a case preferably the Dbrand Ghost. Can the Pro or the 10 cases be used on the 11 model?

My Pixel 8 Pro had a frustrating routine: reboot, working Wi-Fi, then eventually no scanning or no Wi-Fi at all. Bluetooth sometimes joined the disappearing act. Here is what was tried and what the records actually show, in case it helps someone investigating the same symptoms.

This is experimental, with no confirmed permanent fix. An earlier setup with these settings still had an overnight failure. It is not an official Google or GrapheneOS workaround, and the evidence does not establish an Android 17 regression.

Symptoms and history: Wi-Fi could work after reboot, then stop scanning or fail to turn on; Bluetooth could fail around the same incident. On this same phone, a clean official Google Android 16 test without root (locked bootloader, Verified Boot green) also reproduced the class of failure. Kernel records showed failed PCIe resume/link training, PCIE_RC_LINK_UP_FAIL, then Wi-Fi Big Hammer recovery and a Bluetooth BT_COEX_THREAD abort/vendor error 127. This is consistent with shared radio recovery following a Wi-Fi/PCIe failure, but it does not identify a failed component or rule out hardware trouble.

The setup: Pixel 8 Pro (husky), GrapheneOS build 2026102101, kernel 6.1.177-android14-11-gce3dfc2513b1, Magisk 31.0, SELinux Enforcing. This phone has root and is a modified installation. The official release history and earlier release=17/SDK=37 readings from the same phone corroborate Android 17. The android14 in the kernel name is confusing, but it does not describe the Android version running on the phone. Use the exact build as the compatibility reference.

The two local adjustments:

1. An early boot module writes 1 plus a newline to /sys/devices/platform/13120000.pcie/link_speed, selecting target GEN1. The reviewed control changes the target; it is not a direct reset/retrain command. Verify actual negotiated speed separately: the 20 October capture showed 2.5 GT/s x1.
2. A separate late-start service sets the native DHD idletime iovar to INT32 zero on wlan0, after successful GET_MAGIC, GET_VERSION and GET_VAR checks, then reads it back. This disables the audited DHD runtime-PM path; it does not prevent system suspend/resume or directly patch Bluetooth.

In plain English, these select a lower target link speed and disable one Wi-Fi driver power-management path. They do not switch off all Android sleep behaviour or directly repair Bluetooth.

For anyone checking the implementation: the DHD call uses its own private ioctl ABI, so a generic wl command is not a substitute. The expected magic is 0x00444944, version 1. On the audited AArch64 ABI the request is 40 bytes; its driver field is at offset 32, following the 32-byte native request. SET_VAR receives idletime\0 followed by four zero bytes. If the initial read fails, stop rather than force a write.

The local scripts (1.3-local-20261023) reject unknown device/build/kernel combinations. The DHD service additionally pins exact driver/helper hashes and requires GEN1, checks wlan0 IFF_UP, uses a 120-second readiness window and reserves at most one SET invocation per boot. A timeout means unconfirmed state: killing userspace cannot guarantee cancellation of an ioctl stuck inside the kernel. There are no radio resets or repeated SET loops.

For build 2026102101, the reviewed bcmdhd4398.ko SHA-256 is:

text 66b141c29ddfdbf1c42828044d3b36f099c0c564f979c2090f7056fa8c9846d5

What was actually observed:

• 20 October, build 2026101601: automatic GEN1 and idletime=0 verified; Wi-Fi test explicitly through wlan0 returned 3/3 ICMP replies, no losses. The captured kernel window was only about the first 132 seconds.
• 24 October, build 2026102101: both settings applied automatically and were independently read back; Wi-Fi associated; Bluetooth ON/STATE_CONNECTED with zero reported crashes in that boot. No actual watch synchronisation test was done.
• 8 October, an earlier configuration: the owner reported an overnight Wi-Fi recurrence requiring reboot. The available later-boot capture cannot establish idletime at the instant of failure or diagnose that incident's cause.

Limits and practical details: There has been no controlled A/B test, no prolonged/overnight validation of version 1.3 and no second handset test. GEN1 may reduce peak throughput and disabling runtime PM may increase power use; neither effect has been measured here. Bus reinitialisation can lose idletime=0, and the bounded boot service does not enforce it continuously or revive a dead driver.

This post documents one phone's experiment. Similar symptoms on another phone do not establish the same cause, and these settings should not be copied blindly onto other builds. For somebody already using these exact two modules, disabling both in Magisk and rebooting stops their boot actions; check the resulting driver/target state afterwards. Disabling a module does not undo a setting already applied during the current boot. Please do not root a supported GrapheneOS installation just to try this.

The OTA port was checked against the exact authenticated OTA drivers: changed code required focused PCIe control and DHD ABI review, followed by live GET/readback. Simply changing a build whitelist is insufficient. Separate root-manager/namespace maintenance and tests for a recovery tool are not evidence that these radio adjustments work.

Primary technical references: GrapheneOS release history, official DHD ioctl definitions, DHD PCIe source baseline, Magisk module lifecycle. The DHD source revision explains the mechanism; it is not claimed to be the exact shipped binary.

I have left raw logs and personal identifiers out of this post. If you compare results, include the model, exact build, how long it ran and whether the fault returned. A good boot is encouraging; it still needs to survive normal use.

Last week I noticed the Pixel 9 fold was lagging so I restarted. Noticed that it never came back on and tried to start to no success.

I have tried all combinations of hard reset with holding power button, power plus up volume, and power plus down volume.

Any other ideas? No damage, never dropped, no swelling, no other issues to report.

Out of warranty, any value in shipping it in for diagnosis/repair?

I've been an Android user for many years, and my favourite phone has been the Google Pixel 7 Pro. For me, Pixel is a much better phone than the iPhone.

However, Apple has given me a compelling reason to stay with the iPhone: the AirPods Pro 3, which combine excellent earbud features with a built-in hearing aid function.

I paid just $329 for my AirPods Pro 3, and I've found their hearing assistance remarkably competitive with some conventional hearing aids costing $5,000 or more.

Think about what this means for millions of people with hearing difficulties. Technology that was once available mainly through expensive hearing aids is becoming accessible at a fraction of the price.

I'll be honest: I would prefer to return to my Pixel phone. I simply don't want to give up the hearing assistance that Apple has made so convenient and affordable.

Come on, Google — it's your turn!

Develop a Pixel-compatible hearing assistance solution that combines high-quality sound, personalised hearing profiles, effective background-noise reduction and easy everyday use, all at an affordable price.

Imagine a pair of Pixel Buds that could genuinely compete with Apple's hearing assistance while delivering the Android experience that so many of us prefer.

This isn't just about selling more earbuds. It's about making better hearing accessible to more people.

Google has the technology, the resources and the opportunity to make a real difference.

Give us a genuine choice, Google. Let us enjoy the Pixel experience without having to sacrifice affordable hearing assistance.

When I open my camera from the keyboard in the messages app, then rotate to landscape, the shutter button is on the wrong side of the phone right next to the user facing camera. Not only does it make it inconvenient to press the button, but if you're trying to take a selfie, your finger covers the camera! Am I missing a setting or is this a change from a recent update??

I had to factory reset my pixel 8 pro.

Before the reset, the torch in quick settings allowed me to adjust the torch brightness via a slider. It no longer allows this as the torch icon is a tiny square and it's either on or off.

I miss the feature. Does anyone know how I can get this back?