Have you experienced overheating issues with your Pixel? [Poll]

A new report suggests that the main reason people return Pixel phones according to Google is overheating related to the Tensor chipset. It’s no secret that thermals are not the best on Google’s first-party chip, but just how widespread is it?

Since the Tensor chip was introduced with the Pixel 6 series, it hasn’t been plain sailing. We’ve had modem and connectivity issues, regular overheating problems, and, although unrelated to the chip, fingerprint scanner woes. Three full device releases later most of the major problems are slowly starting to be resolved.

According to a leak of internal data, Google acknowledges that thermal performance and overheating issues are the “#1 reason for returning” Pixel phones. This problem has been a thorn in the side of numerous phones over the years, but it’s obvious that Tensor chips don’t do as well as Qualcomm and MediaTek chips, with thermal throttling and degraded performance as the SoC starts to get warm. It’s almost a “feature” at this stage.

Depending on where you live, thermals on a Pixel phone can make it practically unusable. Recording 4K 60fps video is one way to cause the issue to rear its head on Pixel 6 and 7 series handsets. Lots of 3D gaming and GPS usage are also obvious ways to raise the device temperature.

There are knock-on effects to an overheating Pixel phone too. Bad heat management means degraded performance and even shorter battery longevity. You might not even notice the problems initially. Google’s own support pages aren’t much help – offering basic troubleshooting tips that probably won’t fix things long-term.

While things are not perfect, Google has attempted to mitigate the issues year after year. The Pixel 9 series and the Tensor G4 chip appear to have fewer problematic thermals and overheating complaints.

With that in mind, have you experienced thermal throttling or overheating issues on your Pixel? Let us know using the survey below. The good news is that Google is at least privately admitting that this needs to be fixed with future releases.