Google is investigating the Pixel 5 screen problem

Google is investigating the Pixel 5 screen gap issue that has cropped up on the company’s product forums for the past two days.

A forum post appeared on Monday about a gap between the screen and the body of the Pixel 5. Over the next two days, 160 responses to the original post appeared, many of which were complaints about the same issue. A handful of Pixel 5 owners have complained about the problem on Reddit and also on the XDA forums.

Google has not yet officially responded to the complaints, but a company employee has told me that the issue is being investigated, which may take a few days. Product forums will be updated when Google has a response for affected users.

Android Police discovered the problem in their review unit as well, although my review device doesn’t have the same gap. I checked my Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 4a phones, both of which are similar in design, and found no issues. A poster on the product forum said that Samsung’s Galaxy S20 had the same problem, but I couldn’t find any screen space on the Samsung phone either.

The aperture between the screen and the body obviously raises concerns about what this means for the phone’s IP68 rating, and therefore what that means for the phone’s warranty in the event of water damage. Although it is not clear if the Pixel 5 has more protection against water and dust within the device. We will know more when Google publishes an official statement.

For some users, the volume of complaints has been enough to discourage them from grabbing Google’s new flagship phone. One poster said they canceled their Pixel 5 order and opted for the OnePlus 8 instead, because “they don’t want to gamble … with replacement units.” Another who was planning to cancel his pre-order said this was “shocking QC [quality control] of Google”.

This isn’t the first time Google’s hardware has come under scrutiny for flaws. The company’s Pixel Buds wireless earbuds suffered from audio connectivity issues, resulting in frequent drops in streaming music and content. The buttons were finally fixed for most, but not all, users after a series of updates. Previous Pixel phones have struggled too. The Pixel 3 struggled with memory management, which meant slow and erratic performance, and the Pixel 4 had poor battery life, a problem that was recognized internally according to The Information.

Have you noticed a gap between the body and the screen of your Pixel 5? Or any other problem? Get in touch.