The Pixel 2 XL has screen burn-in, and it's a big problem

[MUSIC] What's going on? Brian Tong here, and welcome to Googlicious for everything Google you could think of. The Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL were riding a wave of momentum last week. Initial reviews were high. Two Google pop-up shops opened up over the weekend, but the Google Pixel 2 XL, their flagship phone, Is reportedly having screen burn-in issues. Now, Android Central's Alex Dobie first reported seeing faint outlines of the navigation buttons against a gray background on the bottom of his Pixel 2 XL. That's after about a week of use. And multiple outlets are now reporting the same thing with their Pixel 2XL phones. Now this could be more of an image retention issue instead of actual screen burn in, but all signs are leaning more towards burn in and it's not good either way. Now here's Google's official statement on the issue. [MUSIC] The Pixel 2 XL has been designed with an advanced P-OLED technology, including Q-HD+ 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. So they're looking into it because they better. Now, I'm kinda glad I wasn't able to get a Panda Pixel XL, because they didn't have any. And we'll just have to wait and see how this resolves itself. And there was even a little controversy before this screen burning issue about the Pixel 2 XL display with a port [UNKNOWN] that shifted colors to a slight bluish tint when you rotate the phone in your hand at a 45-degree angle. The LG V30 had the same exact thing with its PL OLED screen I've tried de Pixel 2XL in person and, come on, it's really a non-issue to me, because you'll always be looking at your screen head-on. Then people were complaining that its color were washed out and not as vibrant, because a lot of you are used to the saturated look of the Galaxy OLED screens. Now the colors look more natural to me, most people will only even see the side by side and, again, come on, it's another non-issue for me. But then most people complaining online about this are blowing it up and have never seen the phone in person. In another official statement from Google they said, we designed the Pixel display to have a more natural and accurate rendition of colors this year but we know some people prefer more vivid colors so we've added an option to boost colors by ten percent for a more saturated display. We're always looking at people's responses to Pixel. And we will look at adding more color options through a software update if we see a lot of feedback. You know, it's never a good thing when you have to make two statements in less than a week about your new phone. Now the screen burn in, that's a real issue, but these other complaints, to me, are just over exaggerations. Either way, Has been a tough first week for the Pixel 2. But they didn't make it any easier on themselves when it came to their Made by Google pop-up shop. Now, there's only two in the entire US, one in New York and the other in Los Angeles. I checked out the LA store, it looked great, and these two guys where lost day dreaming. But more than a handful of people left the store without a Pixel 2 or 2 XL phone, specifically Because they were only selling the Verizon version of the phone and not an unlocked one. But if you really wanted one, you could sign up for a three gig prepaid plan for forty bucks and then pay a $20 activation fee. And once you do that, you could then pop in your AT&T or T-Mobile chip and use the Pixel 2. But Sprint Still won't work until the network is upgraded. Come on, who wants to do that instead of just buying the phone outright? Bottom line, come on, don't let people who wanna buy a phone from you walk out of the store without one. Make it easy. I saw several people who left the line on AT&T and T-Mobile who were ready to buy one but they didn't because of this. So you combine this with the screen burning issues and I'm sorry but that deserves a Boogle, and I know it hurts. But it's been a really bad week for you especially on launch week and knowing how competitive the smartphone landscape is, you just gotta do better Google. in fact, they might have saved some people from more frustration depending on how the screen burning issue plays out. Now moving on, I'm not a big fan of these. Let's see what it takes to destroy a phone, because most of this never really happens in real life. We just wanna get some video stream views, but Jerry rigged everything. Did a little more sensible test to see how durable the pixel too was. Deliberately scratching it in different ways, and yes if you bend it really hard in your hands It will bend. Now, the other test by PhoneBufff is also a little more realistic. If you drop it on it's backside, it's survives pretty well, especially compare to a iPhone 8 with it's all glass back. If you drop the Pixel 2 on it's screen it will crack. My God! Good to know. And in another Pixel 2 XL story that is likely to make the rounds 9to5Google has found that the top speaker on the flagship phone is about 10 decibels quieter than the bottom speaker. Now, they discovered this by using a noise meter app on an iPhone and an Android app that allows you to control which speaker sound is played from for the Pixel 2 XL. 9to5Mac had earlier heard from their sources that a Pixel 2 XL hardware defect Was being fixed where the top speaker at louder volumes was causing vibrations, so they decided to turn it down with software. Now, Google also tried turning down the bottom speaker, but it made the overall max volume level too low overall for their liking. So they tested this out and their tester was right on the money The top speaker is louder than the bottom one. Now, know this is not a deal breaker but you know what, it's just another thing to add to the list of annoying little things happening around the Pixel 2 XL right now. Lesson, making phones isn't easy, you all, and I sure as hell can't do it. All right, that's it for this week. You can email me at googlicious@cnet.com or tweet me @briantong. Thanks so much for watching. We'll catch you all next time for some more of that Googlicious. [MUSIC]