Google sued in class action over Pixel microphone problems

Google has been slapped with a class-action lawsuit for shipping Pixel smartphones with severe microphone defects.

The complaint has been raised in a district court in northern California by named plaintiffs, Patricia Weeks and Waleed Anbar.

The plaintiffs, representing everyone who purchased a Pixel or Pixel XL since October 2016, allege that Google knowingly sold smartphones with microphones prone to complete failure.

The defect is so severe that it prevented phones from making calls and using the voice-activated Google Assistant.

Google themselves acknowledged the microphone problem in March 2017, blaming a “hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec” that can be caused in the manufacturing process.

In the same statement, Google claimed the fault only occurred in 1% of Pixel phones.

According to the complaint submitted to the court, Google was well aware of the defective manufacturing before Pixels started being shipped to retailers and customers.

In addition, the plaintiffs allege that Google did not properly handle complaints or provide fair replacements in a timely manner.

The case is still a long way from reaching a jury, and it may not get that far at all. The complaint alleges that Google broke seven US laws, including “Breach of Express Warranty”, “Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing”, and “Fraudulent Concealment”.

As Google has already publicly admitted to the microphone fault, the main question for the courts to decide is if the company was deliberately negligent in its actions surrounding the complaints and release of the Pixel.

Google has declined to comment on the case.