Reddit user buys Pixel 2…but discovers it has no software

Upon booting up a brand new Pixel 2 received in the mail, a dismayed Reddit user says the phone arrived with no operating system installed.

Google confirmed with Mashable that this event did, in fact, occur, and a solution has been reached.

As shown in the image below, upon unboxing the device, the brand new Pixel 2 informed Reddit user MAKES_PEOPLE_MAD that it couldn't "find valid operating system." Under normal circumstances, every Pixel is installed with Google's globally pervasive Android mobile operating system.

Mashable was able to reach the Reddit user by e-mail, who said pressing a "Reboot" option on the phone just led him back to the screen below.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

With no operating system to be found, MAKES_PEOPLE_MAD called Google, and they asked him to mail the Pixel back while agreeing to ship him a new Pixel — presumably with Android software installed.

"Now my big hope is that it ships today like it says it's supposed too," he told Mashable.

Initially, he says Google told him it would not expedite shipping, but then apparently relented, along with giving him $25 Google Play Store credit.

This inconvenience apparently didn't discourage him from abandoning the Pixel 2 altogether. In an emailed statement sent to Mashable, the phone owner said:

"I decided to go with a Pixel 2 because I generally don't buy flagship phones, but my work is very demanding, and I need to be able to do things like maps, calls, location research and texting all at once. I also thought the Assistant might be helpful [while] driving."  

He will almost certainly update the Reddit community if his next Pixel 2 is also missing its software. This sounds like a rare mishap, although Google declined to comment further on the event.