Google hit with lawsuit over defective microphones on 2016 Pixel

Lawsuits aren't uncommon occurrences in the technology industry. Someone spends money on a phone, something goes wrong, and they hit up their lawyers to issue a class-action suit against the company rather than contacting customer support. In the latest entry of this series, Google is being sued over microphone defects for the original Pixel and Pixel XL.

Shortly after the Pixel's launch in 2016, there were a few complaints from customers about people not being able to hear them during phone calls. Google eventually responded to disgruntled customers in March of 2017, saying that the subpar microphone performance was attributed to "a hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec."

The firm behind the suit is Girard Gibbs LLP, and if that name sounds familiar, that's because it's the same firm responsible for the lawsuit regarding the Pixel 2 XL's display.

While there's certainly merit to some of the lawsuits that pop up, it's worth noting that neither of the named plaintiffs in this case actually sent in their phones to Google to be repaired. Even so, Girard Gibbs claims that replacement phones Google issued still had problems with their microphones. Who knows.

I personally think this particular case is a bit silly, but I'd like to get your input on this. Do you think this is a mere cash-grab or has Google had this coming? Sound off in the comments below.

Joe Maring

Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.