Some Pixel 8 Pro owners are reporting a display color issue

By Trevor Mogg October 18, 2023

Google Pixel 8 Pro in a case showing off a custom AI generated wallpaper. — Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

Google’s new Pixel phones started shipping last week but there are already concerns over an apparent issue with the display on the Pro version of the new device.

According to various reports, some owners of the Pixel 8 Pro are seeing a yellow or pink tint on parts of the screen — usually near the top or sides — which apparently only shows up only when the device’s Always On Display is activated.

Specifically, it seems that text that should show as white is appearing as yellow before turning a reddish-pink after several seconds.

Some comments in forums discussing the issue have suggested it could be linked to the Pixel 8 Pro’s variable refresh rate of between 1Hz and 120Hz as the off-white text only seems to appear when the display is running at 1Hz.

The more affordable Pixel 8’s refresh rate runs between 60Hz and 120Hz and doesn’t appear to be experiencing the issue.

That said, it’s not altogether clear if it’s a hardware or software problem, and Google has yet to publicly acknowledge it. However, a number of Pixel 8 Pro owners are claiming to have been offered a replacement Pixel 8 Pro by Google after they got in touch about the issue.

As complaints mount, you’d like to think that Google engineers are already investigating the apparent fault and will be in a position to offer a solution soon.

There are worse problems for a phone to have, but if you’d rather not see the off-white text on your Pixel 8 Pro’s display, try switching off the Always On Display and also the variable refresh rate. After that, sit tight and hope for a fix. Or get in touch with Google.

By most accounts, the Pixel Pro 8 is a great device, notable for its superb design, vibrant display, outstanding cameras, and long-term support, among other positives. In Digital Trends’ hands-on review, the phone only fell short on three counts: battery life, charging speed, and the puzzling inclusion of a temperature sensor.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Mobile

Google’s Pixel phones are in trouble

The Google Pixel 8 with the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 6.

Google Pixel 6 (left) with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 8. Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Almost every single review of the Google Pixel 8 and Google Pixel 8 Pro talks about how these two take us to the promised land of AI nirvana on smartphones. Google Assistant screening calls for you? Check. More intelligent smart reply suggestions? Of course, my lazy soul deserves that convenience. Enhanced zoom that relies on pixel-level image reconstruction to de-haze blurry edges? My Instagram dump would love that.

Mobile

The Google Pixel 8 just got its first update. Here’s what’s new

Holding the Google Pixel 8 Pro in front of a bush.

Google has started seeding a new software update for its Pixel phones, which also happens to be the first one for its latest Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro models The update notes don’t mention the arrival of any new features, but the update does fix crucial problems that users have been complaining about in online forums for months and apply to the Pixel 8 series as well as its predecessors.
At the top of the list is a solution for display- and graphics-related woes, including the problem of “a green flash when the display is turning off in certain conditions.” Google’s post mentions a specific scenario where the green screen issue appears, but users have been reporting it for a while.
Moreover, the “green goblin for Pixels” manifests itself in various ways. One user shared an image of the Pixel 8 Pro on Reddit with a vertical green line running across the screen. Others mention random screen flashing or a permanent tint on the panels, both partial and full-screen. The reports date back at least a couple of years and seem to affect phones as old as the Pixel 6 series.

Previous

Mobile

I tested the Pixel 8 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro. This one has the best camera

An iPhone 15 Pro in Blue Titanium (left) and Google Pixel 8 Pro in Porcelain showing camera modules.

Every fall, there’s lots of pumpkin spice, spooks, and flagship phones from Google and Apple. This year, Google released the powerful Google Pixel 8 Pro, while Apple upped the ante with the iPhone 15 Pro.

While the Google Pixel 8 Pro is more comparable to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, we wanted to see how it would do against the smaller iPhone 15 Pro as well. After all, the regular iPhone 15 Pro is still considered a flagship, and both phones share the same $999 price tag.