Google is investigating the issue causing Pixel 2 XL users to suffer from horrendous lag

Google’s Pixel 2 XL launched with a plethora of issues in 2017, from reports of screen burn-in to distinct cracking in its speakers. While Google fortunately managed to mitigate a lot of these problems in subsequent updates, it seems that users continuing to use the handset one year on are seeing the device slow down considerably.

Smartphones slowing down isn’t a new thing by any means, with aging technology often becoming increasingly unresponsive. Unfortunately, for many Pixel 2 XL users flocking to Reddit, this seems to have hit their devices hard after less than a single year of use across Android 8 Oreo and Android 9 Pie.

“I have experienced lag to the point that the phone doesn't respond to taps for like 10 seconds, audio playback stops, then when it recovers, scrolling is laggy and unresponsive. Reboot fixes it,” explains Reddit user Flyingj99. “I was having this almost daily in the last couple of weeks leading up to the Pie update. I thought things were resolved by the Pie update but it has happened one time since.”

Here's just one example of what I described as "devastatingly and embarrassingly laggy" on my Pixel 2 XL.

And it happens all the time and not to just the Camera (the Camera is just an example).@MKBHD's examples with animations were very tame compared to the crap I deal with. pic.twitter.com/qhShInB4YS

— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) August 9, 2018

These reports come after a handful of high-profile tech enthusiasts began to highlight their Pixel 2 XL’s “devastatingly and embarrassingly laggy” behaviour. Artem Russakovskii of Android Police demonstrated the issue in a tweet, showcasing his camera taking over 10 seconds to open the application to a useable degree. The device even records lag onto videos taken by the user, according to Russakovskii.

“We have teams who constantly manage and monitor performance on our devices and our data indicates this is not a widespread issue,” Google explains to Russakovskii. “Getting bug reports is a normal part of our process – as is common for most consumer devices. We use these to evaluate what might be wrong and work on any necessary fixes. We are still in the process of investigating this report so it is too early to draw conclusions.”

Of its investigations so far, managing director of 9to5Google, Stephen Hall reports that Google has determined the root cause to be one of three possible reasons still undisclosed to the public. One of these reasons would enable users to qualify for a hardware replacement for all those affected, while the remaining two should see a fix pushed out shortly after. It’s difficult to determine which Google will announce, or even when it will reveal its conclusions, but Pixel 2 XL users should see something in the coming weeks.

KitGuru Says: Android handsets are known to work faster at launch, before it ages, but it’s unacceptable for any device to slow down as much as the Pixel 2 XL on such a wide scale. Luckily, Google is on the ball after being pointed in the right direction. Are you experiencing trouble with your handset?

Become a Patron!