After the Pixel 2 XL just started rolling out, numerous owners have been reporting that its pOLED display has a serious burn-in issue, prompting Google to "actively investigate" it.
The thing is, that's not the only problem at hand. There's also dead pixels, black smear, and green lines — and the list goes on.
The Burn-in Issue
First and foremost, screen burn-in is typical of OLED screens, but what's unusual in the Pixel 2 XL's case is that it turned up just after a few days.
Other notables that sport the same screen technology include the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8's Super AMOLED and the LG V30's pOLED, which is just like the kind the Pixel 2 XL uses. In other words, they're susceptible to burn-ins too.
To check if your phone has it, Android Central suggests to use either a red or black background to see it clearly, but a gray backdrop will work wonders too.
Dead Pixels
Dead pixels on a phone never look good, and unfortunately, some Pixel 2 XL have it right from the get-go.
This is frustrating to see because no one would expect to see them in a brand-new device, especially if it's from the likes of Google.
Green Lines
YouTuber Kelly McWilliams shared his woes concerning the Pixel 2 XL. He admits that it's a great phone and all, but whenever he presses on it near the bottom of the screen, an odd green line pops up out of nowhere.
It's still unclear how widespread this issue is and what's exactly causing this, but it's likely a loose ribbon cable.
Black Smear
Another inherent flaw of sorts of OLED displays is black smear. That means the Pixel 2 XL is no exception, but the problem is, it's worse than usual on the phone by Google.
Android Police's Artem Russakovskii has tweeted a video that clearly shows how bad it is on the Pixel 2 XL.
Left: Pixel 2 XL. Right: Pixel XL.
Look at the top of the picture in @iamkellex's tweet and let the smear flow through you. pic.twitter.com/6FqBNWH90Y
— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) October 23, 2017
Blue Shift
Blue shift is the least deal-breaking issue on the Pixel 2 XL, but it's worth pointing out anyway.
Whenever you view the screen at a tilted angle, you'll see a blue tint or, put differently, cooler colors. That's pretty much it, and when you look at the display head-on, you won't notice it that much.
Grains
This doesn't need much of an explanation, but the Pixel 2 XL's screen is grainy at times, kind of like the noise you'd see on a photo that's taken in a low-light environment.
It's not easy to see, which is a good thing, but at any rate, it's believed that the pixels under the screen aren't evenly lit, causing some of them to stand out from the rest and create that grainy effect.
Muted Colors
This might come across as a bit nitpicky for some, but when you put the Pixel 2 XL side by side with the likes of the Galaxy S8 and V30, its screen just isn't as vibrant, even when Vivid mode is turned on. That's despite sharing similar screen technologies and all.
To boil things down, things aren't looking good for Google. First, the Google Home Mini had to have its long tap feature disabled because of "phantom touches," and now the Pixel 2 XL is having a lot of major display issues, some of which are enough to push early adopters to send back their phones to Google.
