New flaw emerges in Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL devices

Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL are barely a couple of weeks old, and already there’s a new flaw on the horizon. According to users on Reddit and Google’s support page, the new Pixel smartphones randomly shut down several times.

A report from Android Police claims that a hard reset – having to hold down on the power button for close to 30 seconds – is required to bring the phone back on. However, in some cases, even that isn’t enough as the phones tend to work fine until they shut down again.

One Reddit user also went to the extent of using the phone in Safe Mode to ensure third-party app weren’t causing the issue, but that wasn’t the case as the problem persisted despite the device running in safe mode. This might point to a hardware flaw on the handset or a bug in Google’s software.

While there is no indication as to what has triggered this problem, one Reddit user facing the same problem stated that the problem arose only when the device was connected to Wi-Fi and turning off the Wi-Fi setting would solve the issue.

Another user has also pointed to a ‘factory reset’ as an effective solution against the shutdowns. Several Pixel 3a and 3aXL users have even opted to return or exchange their handsets.

The issue seems to be affecting both Pixel 3a and 3a XL handsets, but there’s still no clarity on what’s exactly behind the random shutdowns. Google is yet to publicly acknowledge the problem, and this isn’t the first time Pixel devices have been released with flaws. Early bugs in the Pixel 3 were fixed with a security update.