Google Pixel 2 XL Laggy Performance May Get Owners A Free Replacement

Google's Pixel 2 smartphones have had issues since they launched last year. Owners complained that the displays of the Pixel 2 XL were suffering from screen burn-in within a short time of launch. Google said that was normal, but extended the warranty of the smartphones to two years. Late last year, owners of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were both having issues with LTE-related reboots. Some Pixel 2 XL owners are now complaining that their devices are suffering from excessive lag.

The bright side for normal users who are having this issue is that a few well-known Pixel 2 XL owners were having the lag issue meaning that Google reacted faster to the problem than it might have if only random normal users were seeing the issue. The duo of well-known users seeing the Pixel 2 XL lag problem are Artem Russakovskii and Marquees Brownlee.

With the confirmed complaints from these two individuals, Google has stated that it is aware of the issue and is investigating. Russakovskii tweeted that a Google engineer and a PR person from the search giant both came out to his home earlier this month to check out the laggy device in person. He later stated that the engineer and PR worker spent about two hours analyzing to the point that both Google employees were surprised by the lagging issue.

Update on my Pixel 2 XL lag situation.

1. I have a new Pixel 2 XL which I'm setting up now.
2. A Google engineer accompanied by a PR person are coming to my house on Monday to analyze the laggy device in person.

I'm hoping they'll be able to determine the root cause.

— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) August 11, 2018

Reports have surfaced that claim that Google has identified three possible causes for the lagginess and one of the causes would mean that the Pixel 2 XL devices would need to be replaced. While it's not stated, it would appear that the other two causes of lag could be fixed via updates. Word of the possible hardware replacement came via a tweet from Stephen Hall citing an anonymous source. With the launch of the Pixel 3 expected to happen soon, we wonder if customers will receive a refurbished Pixel 2 XL or a brand new Pixel 3 XL as a replacement. The latter is probably unlikely, but it's a possibility.