More and more Google Pixel 3/3 XL are dying without warning

An ever-increasing number of Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL seemingly irreparably crash out of the blue. On the Issue Tracker and the official support forums, as well as on Reddit, they report situations that are always the same: smartphone nailed in EDL (Emergency Download) mode, envisaged by Qualcomm as an extreme attempt to solve serious software problems of devices equipped with Snapdragon chips.

There seems to be no way out of this mode, for example by flashing firmware or other software. Reinstallation of the image is not possible because the smartphone does not reach the bootloader. The smartphone is correctly recognized by QPST, Qualcomm’s recovery software when connected to a PC via USB port, but at the moment the files to flash do not seem to circulate. It would be interesting to try and see what happens, but it is doubtful that this is “enough” to restore the correct functioning of the device.

For the moment there is no detailed information on the cause of the failure. Anyone who has owned a Google smartphone in the past, or who has followed its events when they were still called Nexus, will remember, however, that there are some more or less similar precedents: the very frequent cases of boot loops on Nexus 5, 5X and 6P (i first two made by LG, the last by Huawei).

As at the time, also in this case the description of the symptoms suggests a physical hardware failure or defect, difficult to fix without sending the device for assistance. But at the moment, it should be reiterated, it is only speculation.

It is important to note that the first reports date back to several months ago – some even in April 2021. Despite the long time passed, Google has not yet been able to provide a convincing diagnosis. Complicating the situation is the now rather advanced age of the devices – more precisely, they are still perfectly valid, but the warranties are starting to expire, and there is a risk that users afflicted by the failure will have to pay for the repairs out of pocket.

It should be noted that it has already happened that Google, like all other tech and non-tech companies, has extended the warranty or authorized free repairs in particular cases – in fact, one of them is particularly recent and concerns the Pixel 4 XL, which due to rather widespread hardware defects (including spontaneous reboots and exaggerated battery drain) has seen the free support period grow to 3 years.

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