Ruh-roh. It looks like we might have another round of spontaneously shattering camera modules associated with a Google device. Multiple users have reported online that the camera module on their Google Pixel 7 series smartphones have just shattered even though they have not dropped it, and have been using them with cases.
The clearest look we have at this phenomenon comes from Twitter user Heydon Faber (@CSThrowaway) who posted a picture of their Pixel 7 with shattered glass around one of the dual cameras—notably the one closer to the edge of the phone. According to their tweet, they’ve had the phone for less than a month, with no drops and “just regular use” with a case on, but somehow ran into this problem.
Now, the account definitely appears to be a throwaway account so there’s always a little concern with legitimacy, but this isn’t the only report that surfaced. In a Reddit thread by user u/dalitortoise, there were multiple reports of broken glass on their back camera, neither of which claimed to be because of an impact or drop.
We haven’t come across any official response from Google just yet, but it appears the best course of action should you encounter this issue is just to contact Google and let them take it from there. Although, the response from Google has varied between cases. User u/theform claimed that Google agreed to replace their device once photos of the broken glass and phone were shared with them, but there have also been several other users reporting that Google wouldn’t replace their device.
It is interesting that this isn’t the first case where a Google smartphone encountered an issue with a spontaneously shattering camera glass panel. I remember way back in the day when the Nexus 6P first launched, there were multiple reports of that happening too. Back then, one of the working theories was that the glass panel on the Huawei-made phone didn’t account for the expanding and contracting nature of the metal housing around it—but surely that can’t be the same issue this many years on.
Regardless, if you do have a Google Pixel 7, let us know if you’ve encountered this problem and what the outcome of sharing your issue with Google Support has been. Might be helpful for other Google Pixel 7 users.
