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Pixel Owners Can Get Up to $500 From Legal Settlement: Here’s How

Tom's Guide 2019-08-13 20:54:30

If you owned a first-generation Google Pixel or Pixel XL, today's your lucky day. The class action settlement for the phones' faulty microphone has finally been approved, and those affected are eligible to claim anything from $20 to $500.

(Image credit: Future)

Of course, the amount you'll earn will depend how you badly you were inconvenienced, and the lengths you're able to go to prove it. The $20 group actually extends to anyone who owns either phone, regardless of whether they have evidence or service documentation of the problem. If you can demonstrate you had one Pixel with a busted headphone jack, you'll get $350, and if you ran into the issue multiple times on different devices, you could receive up to $500.

However, there are a couple caveats to this settlement. It only covers devices manufactured before January 4, 2017. To be eligible, you can't have received a new replacement built after January 3 or a refurbished unit built after June 5 of the same year.

Additionally, as The Verge points out, there's no guarantee you will see the amount stated for whichever group you belong to. Like with all class action settlements, all the money left over once everyone involved in the suit has taken their cut is then split based on the number of individuals making claims. The payout each person gets depends on how many other people they have to share the pot with.

To submit your claim, head over to the Weeks v. Google claim form and enter your information. The form gives you the ability to upload documentation as proof, and offers a few electronic reimbursement options as well, so you won't be waiting months for a check. You only have until Oct. 7, 2019 to file, so act fast.

It's a relief to see original Pixel owners' frustrations finally put to rest. When Google admitted to the fault, the company attributed it to "a hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec," present in less than 1% of units. If nothing else, it's an issue we shouldn't see repeat itself. After all, Google stopped putting headphone jacks in its phones years ago (save for the Pixel 3a, of course).