Google Pixel 2 XL, Round Three (Premium)

I’ve experienced a steady stream of issues with my Google Pixel 2 XL, and I had the phone replaced under warranty in April. Now I’m having its replacement replaced too.

So this is not a good time to ask me how I feel about this particular device. As we might say on Facebook, it’s complicated.

I purchased my original Pixel 2 XL in November 2017, as soon as was possible, paying the lofty sum of $1026.97 for the privilege of owning Google’s latest and greatest.

My problems began immediately. I first noticed that the Pixel 2 XL’s display was incredibly washed out. More so, in fact, than that of its predecessor. Its build quality was unimpessive, with prominent “forehead” and “chin” bezels despite its seemingly modern 18:9 aspect ratio.

But the biggest issue I had was with the USB-C port.

Google, in its mad desire to prove that it could be just like Apple, didn’t just price the Pixel 2 XL into the stratosphere. It also removed the headphone jack, ensuring that most customers would need to use dongles for the duration of their ownership of this device.

So I stocked up. I purchased two sets of USB-C headphone adapters from Google to augment the one that came with the phone. And I put them where I’d find them: In the little bag for my Bose noise-canceling headphones, in my carry-on bag, and in my gadget bag.

I also purchased third-party USB-C dongles. And I experimented with USB-C headphones over the ensuing months, like the Libratone Q Adapt headphones that I found to be lackluster.

In other words, I feel like I did everything I could to overcome this weird and unnecessary limitation. And my Pixel 2 XL rewarded this effort, and this expense, by not working.

As I noted in Google Pixel 2 XL, Round Two, I routinely had problems getting audio to actually route through the USB-C port, and it got worse over time. Indeed, it just stopped working: With any headphones attached, the sound would only come out of the device’s speakers. I reset the handset multiple times. Hoped that subsequent firmware updates would fix it. Nothing worked.

So in April, I finally did what I should have done months earlier: I contacted Google support, went through some rote troubleshooting steps, and they agreed to send me a replacement device. No, not a new Pixel 2 XL. But a refurbished unit. Fine, I thought. I just want it to work.

That refurb replacement arrived a few days later. I tested audio over USB and it worked … technically. I still got an annoying audible “pop” through any USB-C- dongle-based headphones, another issue I had had with the original phone, whenever I manually changed songs (or other audio content). See, I’m getting really good at settling.

Sometime in the last month or so, however, a new problem emerged. A new problem with the USB port.

Yes, really.

I recall plugging in a USB cable and it not making a firm connection, as if there might be some gunk in one corner of the port in the bottom of the phone. I checked with another cable and experienced the same issue: The cable end was sort of tilted in the port, and you could wiggle it such that it wouldn’t charge.

So I tested those cables with another phone and they worked fine. It was the Pixel 2 XL, not the cables.

Next, I pulled out that computer toolkit that everyone reading this site should own in order to access the thin and finely-tipped razor blade. And I used a wonderful magnifying glass, with built-in lighting, to see what was in the port. Probably a dust ball like the type that seems to grow in Jeans pockets.

There was nothing there.

Working carefully, I traced the interior of the port with the tip of the razor, expecting it to hitch on some detritus that I couldn’t see. But it was clean. Completely clean.

At first, this wasn’t too worrisome. If I just plugged in the phone for charging, it would work normally, even though the connection wasn’t quite straight or particularly solid.

But out in the world walking, where I listen to audiobooks or podcasts and use Google’s USB-C dongle to connect the phone to my BOSE headphones, the audio kept stopping. As the phone jiggled around in my pocket, the dongle would wiggle loose, dropping the connection.

Grr.

For the last couple of weeks before the home swap, then, I would hold my phone in such a way that I could ensure, as much as possible, that the dongle would remain seated. I also configured the OnePlus 6—which, incidentally, does have a headphone jack, score one for common sense—with all the audiobook and podcast content I want, and I used that device will traveling to Sweden so I didn’t have to babysit the Pixel.

Again, I’ve really learned to settle.

Here in Europe, however, the problem has gotten worse. One night, the phone didn’t charge at all, probably because it was moved a bit inadvertently; its ability to charge is literally that sensitive. And on the few days in which we were out in the world long enough for this to be an issue—I often enabled the phone’s hotspot so that my kids could get online on their own phones—recharging with a portable battery was laborious as well.

Even before the trip, I had resolved to contact Google Support yet again and get another replacement phone. But with the days winding down, it occurred to me that I could start the process now and have the replacement waiting for me when I got home.

So I contacted Google Support again.

(Side-note: I’ve mentioned twice, most recently in What I Use: Home Swap 2018 (Premium), that I had paid for a month of ExpressVPN and then never really needed to use it. Contacted Google Support was the exception: The web browser had to believe I was in the U.S. for this to work properly.)

Once again, I went through the rote troubleshooting steps that are required by the customer service gods. The support then asked me for the IMEI number of my phone. And then told me that this phone was not eligible for replacement.

It is fortunate, both for this support rep and for me, that this interaction did not occur in person.

I explained the history of the phone(s) and that I had spent over $1000 for a phone in November and that that phone was backed by a two-year replacement warranty. And that Google had now sent me two phones in which the same component had failed.

She explained to me that refurbished phones only have a 90-day warranty.

Again, fortunate.

Allow me to quote from your own support documentation, I wrote. Which reads, “your replacement device is typically covered under your manufacturer’s warranty either for as long as the original warranty lasts or for 90 days, whichever is longer.” Regardless, I think honoring the original warranty on a $1000 device is appropriate. After all, it is you (Google) that decided that sending me a refurbished device was OK. I didn’t buy a refurbished device. I bought a new one. Which did not work.

Hold, please. I will talk to a supervisor.

Good news, I was told several minutes later after an interminable wait during which I browsed Apple’s website, wondering anew about my life choices. Google has decided to honor its warranty.

All praise Google.

She sent me a few emails. One of them will allow me to order a refurbished replacement, at the same $1000 cost as the original new phone. I have 72 hours in which to complete this transaction. And when I return my existing phone, that charge will come off my credit card.

We fly home Friday. I cannot wait to put this episode behind me. And yet, please forgive me if I’m not worried that this second replacement device will have new (or maybe familiar) problems of its own.

No matter: When the Pixel 3 XL comes out in October, I’ll replace this piece of crap and trade it in as part of the purchase. The Pixel 3 XL is going to have problems of its own, I know. But I’m hoping that this new unit, which was designed by a team from HTC, and not LG, like the Pixel 2 XL, will be better. Will not require a year of angst. Will not require me to settle yet again.

Hope springs eternal.