The Pixel 7’s biggest design change from last year was in the camera bar, which switched from a single large sheet of glass covering each camera to a solid aluminum block with smaller glass cutouts over each camera lens. The idea at the time was that less glass would lead to fewer streaks of light in the camera and perhaps even slightly better durability thanks to a smaller glass surface. Ironically, this smaller glass seems more prone to breakage. Numerous reports are popping up on Reddit, Google’s support forums and Twitter claiming that the camera glass was shattered one day. In addition to the hundreds of comments on Reddit and the support forums, they touch #pixel7brokencamera on twitter you get an endless stream of horrifying pictures.
We have seen this exact problem several times before in the world of smartphones. Samsung was hit with this issue in 2016 on the Galaxy S7 and again in 2021 on the Galaxy S20, both of which marked the beginning of class action lawsuits. In the cases of Samsung and Google, the shattered glass doesn’t look like it was shattered by impact, usually showing an impact point and outward cobwebs. In these cases, a large, round hole appears in the glass. It looks like a bullet was fired at the phone.
These specialized glass panels for smartphones increase scratch resistance by building tension in the glass. We don’t know the manufacturer of Google’s camera glass, but a Corning engineer explains the general process in this Scientific American article by saying, “There’s a low compressive stress, then a low central stress, where the glass wants to go out. pressing , then another low compressive stress.” If you mess something up in your glass formula and these layers aren’t in perfect balance, one day the glass will just “pop” and you’ll get these outward mini-explosions.
A Galaxy S20 from a few years ago. This is all so familiar.
That sounds like what people are describing, with some suspect temperature changes from freezing outdoor weather to indoor warmth are what caused the glass. It would be hard to believe to suggest it comes from a drop. The camera cover is a small circle of glass surrounded by aluminum – even trying to land the phone on the camera cover would be extremely difficult.
Despite the difficulty of imagining this to be user abuse, some users say Google won’t fix the problem under warranty. Alex Hatzenbuhler, one of the victims of Google’s exploding glass, posted a screenshot from Google device support claiming the issue is not covered by warranty. Some users are quoted around $200 for a repair.
Samsung’s class-action lawsuits over camera glass were both overturned thanks to Samsung’s terms of use, which require “mandatory provision of individual arbitration and waiver of class action/jury trial.” By default, Google imposes a similar agreement on users that gives them almost no rights, and while you can opt out of mandatory arbitration, most people don’t, so a lawsuit probably won’t go anywhere.
What can’t stop arbitration is online pressure and negative press from websites like this one. So, hey Google, cover your obviously faulty hardware under warranty. The Pixel hardware division is very small and it wants to grow, but you won’t get anywhere if you start screwing up your small customer base. A public statement saying this is under warranty would help people deal with customer support. You have our email.
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