Google's Pixel 6 is being plagued by a bunch of weird glitches

From display issues to sluggish performance, the Pixel 6 is having a pretty rocky launch — a flashback to the previous Pixel 5, which shipped last year with several (similar) issues of its own.

Display troubles — This time around, the Pixel 6’s biggest issue is affecting the phone’s display — specifically, a flickering screen and a green tint. You can see both problems in action in this clip (also shared below). Luckily, the flickering screen appears to be a fixable software issue. It’s caused when pressing the power button, but not enough to put it in sleep mode. Google says it will resolve the issue in a December software update for the Pixel 6 Pro.

The second issue, noticed by one user on Reddit, causes the Pixel 6 to display “rainbow colors” when viewed at an angle. According to the post, a support agent assured the user that the rainbow effect was totally normal, though it’s hard to see how something like this could be intentional. Google is already dealing with a similar problem on the Pixel 5a, with one Reddit user claiming Google assured them it would fix the issue in a software update. There’s a chance, however, that the green tint is actually a hardware, not software, issue, meaning an update would do little to alleviate the issue.

On the Pixel 6 Pro side, the phone has been found consuming more power at 60Hz than at 120Hz — even with lower brightness. Typically, higher frame rates eat up more battery due to how demanding the process is on the CPU and GPU. Also, the 120Hz mode consumes more battery in low-light environments rather than well-lit ones. The whole thing doesn’t add up, and according to the person who found it, Andrei Frumusanu from AnandTech, it can’t be fixed via a software update.

Another display issue that is likely a one-off is this double hole punch, which looks like the phone accidentally got punched twice. For a phone to come off the assembly line with such an obvious error does bring into question Google’s quality control. Like, how exactly does this happen? At least the unlucky person who picked this up got a replacement phone.

Fast charging, sort of — The Pixel 6 Pro is coming up against some potentially troubling battery issues. For starters, there have been reports of the phone overheating when charging, with one Reddit user reporting their phone shut down and was unable to boot after charging it overnight. Looks like fast charging might not actually be worth it after all.

Android Authority found that the Pixel 6 Pro’s fast-charging claim of charging 50 percent battery in 30 minutes held true, but the phone slowed considerably for the final 50 percent. According to the report, “the maximum power obtained from both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro is just 22W, with an average of just 13W over a full cycle.” With fast charging nowhere near the 30W, Google claims, it takes 111 minutes to fully charge the Pixel 6 Pro. Oh, and you’ll need to pay $25 for the privilege since Google decided to sell the fast charging adapter separately.

Try again — Finally, there have also been a lot of complaints regarding the Pixel 6’s fingerprint sensor. The under-display sensor appears to be unresponsive or slow to respond. Google claims this has to do with “enhanced security algorithms.” Both the Pixel 6 and Pixel Pro are equipped with Google’s Titan M2 security, so there could be some truth to that. Then again, someone figured out how to log in quicker by registering the same finger up to three times, and then changing pressure and positioning for each finger. It’s a clever workaround that shouldn't have to exist — hopefully, it won’t have to for much longer.

For being out in the wild since late October, it’s crazy how many issues have already popped up with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. And it’s still early enough that more may emerge in the coming weeks.