Some Pixel 5 units develop a gap between the display and frame

Source: Android Central

What you need to know

Some Pixel 5 devices are already experiencing structural faults barely a week after launch.
The main issue is a gap which has developed on some units between the display and the frame.
Some users have expressed concern that the waterproof and dustproof credentials of the phone could be compromised.

Google's Pixel 5 just launched last week in seven countries, but there are already reports of hardware flaws. Users on forums, and even the folks over at Android Police (via their review unit), have experienced an issue where the display of the newest flagship Pixel appears to be separated from the metal frame — leaving a gap for dust and other particles to enter.

The photos below come from Google's Pixel Product forums where indivuduals have started complaining about the flaw. One even notes that upon replacing the phone, the new one sent out suffered from the same fault as well.

Source: Pixel Product Forums

Reports of Pixels spontaneously having loose panels aren't new to this generation of phones. The Pixel 3, 3XL, and 4XL all shared rear panel faults attributed to battery for some, and ruled out as not being battery-related by Google for others but otherwise unexplained.

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As Android Police notes, while the volume of the Pixel phones experiencing this is low, so is the volume of all Pixel 5 phones in the wild. Even searching the phone on launch date revealed one which was out of stock in most of the usual suspects. In other words, this could be a widespread issue or a tempest in a teapot — we simply don't have enough data. Still, we've reached out to Google for comment and will update this when we have a response.