Google Pixel and Pixel XL units have been plagued by series of unfortunate problems since its outing, from a freezing camera to a disappearing Home Button. Recently, the tech giant has admitted that indeed a hardware problem is behind the most serious of the devices' problems: audio distortion.

An email screenshot, dating Jan. 13, was posted on a Reddit thread last weekend. In the email, Google admitted that the audio distortion issue in both the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones is rooted in a hardware issue, and not a software one, according to BGR.

The email further states that the audio distortion is known to affect a "select build of device." This means that Google did not clarify which among the models have this problem.

Part of the email sent by the Google support noted that refund is no longer an option for Pixel and Pixel XL smartphone owners who will further complain regarding the audio distortion problem. Instead, they are offering a warranty service for the flagship devices from Google.

Now, if the root cause of the audio distortion issue was software, then it would have been easier to solve since Google has an army of engineers and software specialist at their disposal. Now that they have admitted this being a hardware problem, fixing the phone is much more difficult.

Mark Buckman, a Reddit user going by the name "badmark," posted a YouTube video demonstrating the audio distortion from both the Google Pixel and Pixel XL at full volume when the Perfect Piano app is played. Also in the same posted video, Buckman compared the units with the Nexus 6 at full volume and playing the same app. This was to eliminate the app problem.

PhoneArena reported late last month that Buckman came up with a workaround to remedy the audio distortion in the Google smartphone units. By unlocking the bootloader, installing the Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP), and flashing WETA audio, this will alleviate the issue.

As of this writing, Google has not made any official announcement for Pixel and Pixel XL smartphone owners who are facing the audio distortion problem. And no official protocols from the tech giant have been released as well. For owners having this problem, your best bet would have to place a claim for a warranty replacement to steer clear of the audio distortion problem.

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