The pill shaped glass covering the two Cameras on the back of the Pixel 7 explodes after motor from main camera causes the lens to collide with glass cover
I’ve been using the Pixel 7 since October of last year, playing around with the device and using it as a daily driver to publish a long term review after using the device for six months. But an unexpected hardware malfunction and the run around from Google’s support (and official Twitter account) has caused a delay in our Pixel 7 review and shined light on Google’s lack of hardware support infrastructure akin to Apple’s genius bar in their retail stores.
The motor which controls the lens for different camera modes, caused the glass to expload from the inside.
Due to the nature of the damage caused, and the fact that the camera glass cover was broken form the inside by the main cameras zooming and stabilization motors pushing the Lens’s against the smartphones glass – I expected Google to resolve the issue the same way the Genius Bar would at an Apple Store. Instead they they left me to fend for myself after throwing me to the wolves of Asurion…
We’ve reached out to Google on Twitter, and while given a support link to contact repair – in our instance it was an Ubreakifix by Asurion store – located in Houston, Texas
The Google authorized repair center claimed the damage wasn’t covered under warranty, and offered to replace the camera cover glass for $240 (!!!) – although the damage was clearly caused by the motor from the internal lens which would technically qualify as a defect. The Pixel 7 was released Oct. 13th, 2022 globally, we tweeted Google on Dec. 5th 2022 – which means I couldn’t have owned the Pixel 7 for more than 48 days before the glass “popped”. Had this been an iPhone, I would have been able to take this to an Apple store and either gotten this repaired or replaced free of charge.
We’ve reached out to Google support for clarity on their Pixel hardware support policy, and are still waiting for a reply.
Looks like this is a win for #teamapple…
Update: There are now other reports of Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro devices shattering, according to site plunikaweb.com – where there are now several reports of the Pixel 7 lineup camera glass shattering without the phones being dropped.
