Pixel, Pixel XL Owners Are Reporting Major Microphone Issues; Google Recommends Getting Unit Replacements

Some owners of the Google Pixel and Pixel XL are reporting a complete failure of one or more of their microphones, in some cases, only working when recording video. Google has been made aware of the issue and has already provided support to customers.

“Received my pixel today and after a few hours of use and set up the microphone stopped working entirely, except when recording video upon which it'll record audio fine as if nothing were wrong,” a user said on the Google Support page. “I factory reset the phone and the issue still persists everywhere but the camera app.” The same user also shared a link to a Reddit thread where people are complaining that their microphones on their Pixel devices aren’t working for phone calls.

Google has already acknowledged the issue and declared that the problem is on the hardware side of things rather than software. This means that Google won’t be releasing a software patch or update to resolve the issue, and users will be able to return and exchange their Pixel handsets.

“We are taking additional steps to qualify refurbished phones to make sure they don't have this mic problem. It's possible that some replacement phones were not properly qualified before we understood this issue, but that's no longer the case,” Google employee Brian Rakowski said.

The problem is also said to be affecting only “less than one percent” of the units, according to Android Police. Although Google is already recommending users to get their Pixel or Pixel XL units replaced, some users have managed to come up with a DIY fix.

Apparently, the issue is being caused by a physical default in one of the three microphones on the Pixel/Pixel XL devices. The problem could also be due to a hairline crack in the solder of the microphone component on the device’s main board.

Some users have managed to fix the issue by getting the microphone component un-stuck by applying heat onto the phone. Some users were able to do this using a hairdryer. Users can also crack open their Pixel devices to fix the soldering on the microphone component but that will void the warranty.