This story was originally published
2021/07/19 3:13pm PDT
on Jul 19, 2021
and last updated
2021/07/20 3:43pm PDT
on Jul 20, 2021
.
Update
More info from Google and uBreakiFix
Google is extending the warranty for the Pixel 4 XL by an extra year. Before you get too excited, the extension only covers a handful of specific power-related issues, including charging, faster-than-expected drain, random restarts, and being unable to power on the phone. It's only valid for Pixel 4 XL's purchased in available markets previously limited to a single year of warranty support — specifically, in the US, Singapore, Canada, Japan, and Taiwan. Warranty eligibility for these issues as part of the extension can be verified online or in person at uBreakiFix.
This change is curious — usually, these sorts of targeted warranty extensions result from lawsuit settlements or known issues. However,
Google opts customers into a forced arbitration agreement by default now
which may have made a dent in that. (Related: be sure to
opt yourself right on out of that
if you ever buy a Pixel and value legal recourse.)
Though we're typically on the pulse of Pixel-related hardware problems, we haven't heard too many reports from our readers targeting the sort of issues Google lists as causes for this extension. However, according to tipster Bobby at uBreakiFix, the listed problems are actually pretty common and quite widespread. According to them, Google has had this policy in place for a while, and repairs associated with these issues and this device account for a possible majority of Pixel-related repairs at at least one venue.
Issues covered by the warranty extension, according to the support document, must be associated with:
Other repairs aren't covered by the warranty, and may even supersede the extended coverage and require separate repair before any warranty-covered repairs for the listed issues can occur. A uBreakiFix technician tells us that the chain of repair shops are intimately aware of the issue and can handle it quickly and easily if you'd rather skip Google's sometimes tedious remote support.
Pixel 4 XLs bought in the US, Singapore, Canada, Japan, and Taiwan are covered. If your Pixel 4 XL is from Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, or the UK, it isn't covered by this extension.
We originally thought the markets might be an indicator of an SKU-specific issue, as there is a global variant that's separate from the US/Taiwan and Japanese versions of the phone, and that overlap correlated strongly. However, Google tells us the reason is actually much simpler: It's just formally extending warranties related to these power problems in markets where you're usually just limited to a single year of warranty support.
The full details of the extension are available on
Google's support page here
, and Pixel 4 XL owners in the US and elsewhere should take note that they now have an extra year of coverage if their phone can't turn on or has problems charging.
Update
1
: 2021/07/20 3:44pm PDT by Ryne Hager
More info from Google and uBreakiFix
Google has explained a few more details regarding the extension, and a tipster from uBreakiFix has also reached out with more information regarding the issue itself. Our coverage has been updated.
End of Update
