The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are available for purchase if you still can find your desired model, but that doesn’t mean you should hurry to buy one if you haven’t purchased yours yet. That goes double for the Pixel 2 XL, the most exciting device of the two, which has a couple of severe screen issues you should be aware of.
We already talked about the sub-par screen experience the Pixel 2 XL delivers, one that could be fixed by software updates and hardware improvements. But Google is currently investigating an even more annoying problem: screen burn-in.
OLED panels have the theoretical risk of developing screen burn-in or ghost images. That usually happens after a screen shows the same image over a prolonged period. But the Pixel 2 XL is developing screen burn-ins only a few days after its launch:
That's some pretty wild OLED burn-in on the Pixel 2 XL after maybe 7 days of full-time use pic.twitter.com/EPJTs6D0Kg
— Alex Dobie (@alexdobie) October 22, 2017
That’s worrisome, but Google is already investigating the matter, according to a statement made to The Verge:
The Pixel 2 XL screen has been designed with an advanced POLED technology, including QHD+ resolution, wide color gamut, and high contrast ratio for natural and beautiful colors and renderings. We put all of our products through extensive quality testing before launch and in the manufacturing of every unit. We are actively investigating this report.
We can only hope that Google and LG will fix this soon. Meanwhile, if you want to check if your unit is affected, simply use a grey background and look for the “ghost” of the navigation buttons on the bottom.
