Google Is Finally Looking To ‘Fix’ A Fatal Camera Error In Its Pixel 2 Smartphones

The Google Pixel 2 and its larger, more attractive sibling, the Pixel 2 XL, are stunning devices. Equipped with the best internals available during their launch date, the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were premium, flagship smartphones from the inside out. Coupled with a killer single-lens camera that gives all the dual-lens sensors from its competitors a run for their money, Google’s flagship devices for 2017 were among the best released last year.

Except that just weeks into the device’s release, reports emerged from some of the smartphone’s users that one of the key features of the handset has a very substantial error. When launching the Camera app, users were, at times, unceremoniously greeted with a “fatal camera error” message. This is followed by the app crashing.

Considering that the error causes one of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL’s main features to crash, the issue was immediately brought up by buyers of the device. The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were released on October 19, but as early as November 2, just a couple of weeks after the device was released, reports of the issue were already being posted online, according to an Android Authority report.

Fortunately, the fatal camera error issue has not plagued all the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL devices that have been released thus far. If any, the error appears to be limited to a select group of handsets. Nevertheless, for a smartphone at the price point of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, expectations were high that the devices would be shipping without any problems.

This past weekend, a frustrated Pixel 2 owner took to Twitter to air her complaints, and Google’s official madebygoogle account promptly responded. Google’s Twitter account first advised the user to clear her device’s cache. The Pixel 2 owner responded, stating that she had already cleared her smartphone’s cache, adding that she even did a factory reset, but to no avail, according to a BGR report.

Ordered Pixel 2 (128 GB, Clearly White) on 10/4/17 from @projectfi Received phone on 10/25/17. Less than 2 weeks later Camera fatal error. pic.twitter.com/0Nbk1WIqpv

— Piyush Gupta (@PGupta_NE) November 7, 2017

Google then suggested that the Pixel 2 owner put the device in Airplane Mode and try to take a picture. Despite the rather unorthodox response, the user actually tried it, with the same unsuccessful results. At this point, the team behind the Made by Google Twitter account had to wave the white flag, acknowledging the issue and pledging that it would roll out a fix for the fatal camera problem.

While it’s quite admirable for Google to own up to its smartphone’s error and promise a fix, the fact remains that the fatal camera error issue has been going on for months. Thus, even if Google does roll out a fix for the problem, it might very well be a little bit too little, too late, especially considering that the company is now preparing to release its Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 series smartphones later this year.