Pixel 6 Pro flickering display bug fix coming in December

Google can’t make enough Pixel 6 phones to meet demand, and that’s a great problem to have for a flagship. The $599 Pixel 6 is a very exciting proposition, and the Pixel 6 Pro delivers the best possible phone that Google can make. However, Google has yet to fix all of its Pixel issues. One of Pixel’s annoying “traditions” is for early buyers to discover hardware and/or software issues that need to be fixed. And the Pixel 6 Pro is the latest model with a notable problem. Some people have noticed that the display on their Pixel 6 Pro is flickering. The good news is that Google is already aware of the problem, and the company said a fix is coming in December.

The Pixel 6 Pro flickering display issue

Google shipped the Pixel 6 phones to buyers last week, and some Pixel 6 Pro owners have observed a strange issue with the screen. As this video on Reddit shows, the screen flickers when you press the start button while the phone is off. That’s o say that it doesn’t happen all the time, only in that particular instance.

Google has already acknowledged the Pixel 6 Pro display issue, which it refers to as display residual light. There’s a support document that addresses the matter. Here’s how Google describes the problem.

Pixel 6 Pro users may notice slight, transient display artifacts when the device is turned off, and when they press on the power button with slight pressure but not enough to turn it on.

Google says this doesn’t represent an issue with the hardware, and a software rollout in December should fix it. For the time being, you should ensure that, well, you’re not holding it wrong:

To avoid seeing this, when the power is off, do not cycle the power button. When you want to use the phone, hold the power button down long enough to turn it on.

Google is already correcting its Pixel strategy

I mentioned earlier the Pixel has a tradition where buyers find flaws soon after the phone’s release. The Pixel 5 came with a screen gap that Google said was normal. Older models had even more significant issues, some of which could not be fixed via software. Loyal fans of the brand will remember the sound issues of the first-gen Pixel or the Pixel 2’s OLED screen quality problems. Similarly, the Pixel 3 shipped with RAM management issues. Then Google had to fix 3D face recognition and display refresh rate issues with the Pixel 4. Battery problems followed.

Hopefully, the Pixel 6 Pro’s flickering display issue is an isolated problem that will go away with a software update.

After all, the Pixel 6 phones prove that Google is taking a different approach with the Pixel series. You might say that Google has started correcting its entire Pixel strategy. The new handsets are the closest thing we get to a perfect iPhone rival made by Google.

The company designed its own processor for the Pixel 6 and gave the phone a bold design and an actual identity. Also, Google ran ample marketing campaigns for the Pixel 6 series even before the phone was officially official, showing it means serious business. If only Google could make enough Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro units.