Some Pixel 8 Pro Owners Report Pink Screen Issues With Always-On Display

pcmag.com:

The Pixel 8 Pro is an excellent smartphone with an incredibly bright screen and an Always On Display (AOD) feature. Some users, however, are reporting issues with unexpected pink text.

Google hasn't responded to the reports yet, but several threads are already on Reddit. In every case, the pink text shows up when using AOD and for most, it seems to show up in the upper-left hand corner of the phone.

Some users theorize that it has something to do with the Pixel 8 Pro's variable refresh rate. The problem seems to only occur when the screen is running at 1Hz. When forced to stay at 120Hz, the pink text reportedly disappears. But doing that will have an impact on battery life. Only some people are seeing the issue, making it more challenging to determine the exact cause.

But it does seem to happen whether the Pixel is running the latest stable software release or the Android 14 QPR1 Beta. That suggests the issue might not be software, but it doesn't confirm it. If it is a software issue, Google could potentially release an update to correct it. But if it's hardware, only a replacement will do. Even that's not a guarantee, though, as some users sought out replacements only to discover the same behavior on their new Pixel 8 Pro.

For now, if you want to avoid the issue, the easiest thing to do is turn off the AOD feature and perhaps the variable refresh rate as well. Turning off AOD could help battery life, although, with the Pixel 8 Pro's OLED screen, it shouldn't require much energy. Turning off the variable refresh rate, however, will shorten battery life.

Thus far, all reports have mentioned the Pixel 8 Pro. The smaller and more affordable Pixel 8 doesn't seem to be exhibiting the same defect.

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