The Google Pixel 4a was never really built to be the most ideal hiking buddy. As such, it lacks water resistance and sports an all-plastic design, with both the frame and its back panel made of the same. But plastic was still never as brittle as glass, so when reports of some Pixel 4a cracking on their own from the corner began flowing in, it was quite surprising, to say the least.
Complaints from Reddit and the official Google Pixel forums all seem to say the same thing – that the Pixel 4a developed a crack on the top right or left corner without being dropped at all. Many have observed that the crack developed for them overnight. Some complainants have even stated that the crack appeared just a week or so following purchase, which is highly abnormal.
Upon scouring through various reports, we did observe one thing though – almost all of the complaints are from this year. And the Pixel 4a was launched back in August 2020. This could mean that some bad batches with this vulnerability were produced this year and have made their way to users, unchecked by quality control. But of course, this is just an assumption and it’s impossible to know for sure without official clarification.
Another observation was that the newer Pixel 4a 5G is unscathed by the corner cracking issue, making it clear that it’s a Pixel 4a-exclusive thing.
As for the cracks themselves, they’re quite tiny but are still visible enough, especially on the Barely Blue color variant. But a crack, no matter how tiny, is a compromise on the structural integrity of the phone and can thus even grow with time.
Device owners seem to be aware of this and have taken their Pixel 4a to service centers, only for them to be told that physical damage isn’t covered. Worse, many have resultantly gotten their warranties canceled.
Unfortunately, there is still no official word from Google on the matter. We would hence advise the affected to take their grievance to Twitter to try and pull Google’s attention to it.
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