Google's Pixel phones might have a serious audio problem
Dull design aside, the Google Pixel and Pixel XL are two of the best premium Android phones (if not the best) you can buy right now. But there might be an issue with their speakers, especially at high volumes.
Reddit user Mark "badmark" Buckman brought to attention the problem after posting a video of his Pixel and Pixel XL exhibiting audio distortion when the volume is turned to their highest levels.
With the volumed cranked all the way up, the Perfect Piano app is virtually unusable. As you drag your fingers along the keys, the keys sound more like static with lots of audio popping.
The issue also only rears itself when the volume set to its loudest with the Perfect Piano app and the audio is played through the speaker; headphones seem to work fine.
Mashable was able to replicate the same audio problem on a Pixel and two separate Pixel XLs. The issue remained even when we updated the phones from Android 7.1 to 7.1.1. The same tests on a OnePlus 3T running Android 6.1 Marshmallow, and an iPhone 7 running iOS 10.2, however, had no such audio distortions.
Pixel owners have been reporting on audio popping and clicking issues since late October.
A post from a Pixel XL owner, Ryan Lestage, on Google's official Pixel user community forum, from back on Oct. 24, suggests the audio issues extend to all audio including "talk radio or music played in Chrome, Facebook, TuneIn Radio, YouTube, etc."
Mashable wasn't able to reproduce the issues in other commonly used music apps such as YouTube, Chrome, Spotify or Pandora.
Given the different user reports, it's unclear exactly what's causing the speaker problems.
Mashable reached out to Google and received this statement from a company spokesperson: "We're aware of an issue affecting audio quality for some apps on Pixel and we're actively working on a fix."
Does your Pixel or Pixel XL have audio issues? Let us know on Twitter at @MashableTech.
UPDATE: Dec. 20, 2016, 12:28 p.m. EST with the above statement from Google.
Raymond Wong is Mashable's Senior Tech Correspondent. He reviews gadgets and tech toys and analyzes the tech industry. Raymond's also a bit of a camera geek, gamer, and fine chocolate lover. Before arriving at Mashable, he was the Deputy Editor of NBC Universal's tech publication DVICE. His writing has appeared on G4TV, BGR, Yahoo and Ubergizmo, to name a few. You can follow Raymond on Twitter @raywongy or Instagram @sourlemons.
