Two-week-old Pixel 2 XL displays are already showing burn-in

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are the best Android phones you can buy, but boy does the 2 XL have a lot of display issues. In addition to graininess and a weird blue shift at certain viewing angles, the 2 XL is now experiencing burn-in on units that are just a week or two old.

Android Central was the first to report the issue, showing a picture of a Pixel 2 XL with some nasty image retention around the navigation bar. Shortly after, several other reports of burn-in started popping up, and you can add Ars' review unit to the list of affected devices. You can see the permanent navigation bar burn-in below on our two-week-old device.

In response to the complaints, Google has sent out a statement saying that it's investigating the issue:

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.

Further Reading Pixel 2 and 2 XL review—The best Android phone you can buy Samsung is the undisputed leader in smartphone OLED panels, and the Samsung panels used on the Pixel 1, Pixel 1 XL, and Pixel 2 have mostly been issue-free. The Pixel 2 XL, however, uses an LG-made POLED display, which has proven to not be up to the standard set by Samsung. The LG V30 uses a similar panel and has lots of display issues, too.

It has been a rough few weeks for Google's hardware division. In addition to the display issues with the Pixel 2 XL, the Google Home Mini apparently shipped with a top touch surface so defective that Google had to permanently disable it. We've got to wonder: what is the quality control like over there?