Google Pixel 2 XL display issues to be fixed by software updates, phone to get one year extra warranty
Recently, Google Pixel 2 XL is getting a lot of negative reviews due to some really bad looking issues with its POLED display. These issues vary from screen burn in to washed out colours. On Google’s official product forum, Mario Queiroz, VP of Product Management at Google has added a post that explains how they are going to fix Google Pixel 2 XL. The icing on the cake here is that Google will offer a two-year warranty for Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Last year, Samsung went ahead and refunded all those who purchased Note 7 that had battery issues, issued a public apology and allowed those users to buy other flagship phones at a discounted priced. Things like these differentiate a genuine company with ‘me too’ like companies that come and go out of China.
Coming to differential ageing, the burn in that is noticed is usual for OLED display but this happens after a while, not within days. All OLED screens exhibit a degree of image retention (short-term) or burn-in (permanent) over their lifetime, starting the moment they are first powered on. This is also sometimes referred to as “differential ageing” in the display industry. It appears as a faint outline of content on the screen from a previously displayed graphics. Google is currently testing a s/w update that fades navigation bar buttons after a short period of inactivity. Also, Google is working with more app developers to use a light navigation bar to match the application’s colour scheme. Google will reduce the maximum brightness of Pixel 2 XL by 50cd/m2 (nits) and this should be an undetectable change for end users.
Google is also going to introduce a new colour scheme that can generate even more saturated colours to make the display look vibrant. According to Google, the current modes available are designed with accurate colour reproduction in mind. But since many complained that the display is not as vibrant as that in other AMOLED phones, Google will make the new mode available via software update.
Full Statement
We’re very confident that the Pixel 2 delivers an exceptional smartphone experience, and to give users peace of mind, every Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will now come with a 2-year warranty worldwide.
On October 4, we announced Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, our new 5” and 6” smartphones with beautiful, high-resolution OLED displays; all-day battery that charges super fast; easy access to an even more capable Google Assistant; and, the world’s highest rated smartphone camera, along with free, unlimited storage for all of your photos and videos. We’ve been excited by the positive response from many of you and reviewers who have praised the new Pixel 2 phones.
Since launch, we’ve also received reports of suspected issues related to the Pixel 2 XL display. We take these reports very seriously and wanted to provide an update. First, there’s been some feedback about the Pixel 2 XL displays not appearing as vibrant as other phones, and in the past few days, there have been a small number of reports of differential aging (also referred to as “burn-in”) on the Pixel 2 XL’s pOLED screen.
On the topic of color saturation, we designed the Pixel 2 XL to take advantage of multiple facets of the innovative new pOLED technology, including QHD+ resolution with 538 pixels per inch and a wide color gamut. One of our design intents was to achieve a more natural and accurate rendition of colors. We know that some people prefer more saturated colors, so both Pixel 2 phones already include an option to boost colors by 10% for a more vivid look. And based on the recent feedback, we’re adding a new mode for more saturated colors, which will be made available via a software update to both Pixel 2 phones in the next few weeks.
Regarding differential aging, we put all of our products through extensive quality assurance before launch and in the manufacturing of every unit. Thorough testing of the Pixel 2 XL display shows that its decay characteristics are similar to OLED panels used in comparable products. Our current investigation of burn-in, which started as soon as we received the first user report on October 22, confirms that the differential aging is in line with that of other premium smartphones and should not affect the normal, day-to-day user experience of the Pixel 2 XL. Regardless, we use software to safeguard the user experience and maximize the life of the OLED display, and we’ll make ongoing software updates to optimize further.
We’re very confident that the Pixel 2 delivers an exceptional smartphone experience, and to give users peace of mind, every Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will now come with a 2-year warranty worldwide.
If you’re interested in digging into more of the technology, more details are available here. We provide detail about the engineering of the Pixel 2 XL’s pOLED display, in tight coupling with Android 8.0 Oreo, for natural and accurate colors; we describe differential aging artifacts in OLED technology; and, we share our UI design efforts for optimizing user experience and performance of the display.
