Some Google Pixel Fold users report dead displays merely a day after release

Google Pixel Fold users share their horror stories of dead displays and pink lines on a device that only launched a couple of days back.

(Image: Google)

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The Google Pixel Fold has barely hit the US market and it’s already facing some serious quality issues. Some unlucky buyers have reported seeing pink lines, OLED death and even punctured displays on their brand-new foldable phones.

An Ars Technica report talked about how a tiny bit of debris got into a space in the inner screen – that is the “gutter” between the screen protector and the bezels. When the Pixel Fold was snapped shut, that piece punctured the display and caused it to stop working.

Another user, @marcusr_uk on Reddit, shared their horror story of seeing a bright pink line appear across the screen after just a few hours of use. They tried resetting the software, but the line refused to go away. “I saw a brief flash of a bright pink line once or twice, but hoped for the best, but then as I was sat browsing the web, this bright neon pink line appeared from edge to edge and has survived a software reset,” they wrote.

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These reports have made some Pixel Fold buyers nervous. User @cptultor on Reddit says they have noticed “very small dents and surface imperfections between the bezel and the screen protector” and wonders if others have similar issues.

While foldable phones have been around for a while now, they continue to be delicate devices thanks to their plastic inner screens. Their nature requires that screen protectors come pre-applied on them and these protectors can sometimes come loose. Display woes are common on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series and Galaxy Z Flip series – and it appears that the Pixel Fold isn’t spared either.

The good news is that Indian users don’t have to worry about these problems because the Google Pixel Fold will probably never launch in India.

The bad news is that Google’s Pixel phones may have a bigger quality control problem that needs to be fixed. Remember the infamous display gap issue on the Google Pixel 5 where many users reported gaps between the phone’s aluminium frame and the screen’s plastic bumper? Thankfully, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 did not have any major problems… but the Pixel Fold still appears to retain some of the vulnerability.