Google Pixel 3 Overheating Issues Are Becoming More Wide-Spread

Google's Pixel 3 smartphones have been out for a while now; we reviewed them back at launch in October. Since that launch, the smartphone has had more than a few issues that have caused owners problems. One issue, which wasn't a bug but an intentional design choice, was that the Pixel 3 devices could only charge wirelessly at 10W with approved accessories and only approved accessory was Google's Pixel Stand at launch. The second issue was a bug that prevented some photos from saving correctly, Google acknowledged that bug and promised a fix. Now, another problem has reared its head for owners of the Pixel 3, and this one has to do with charging and potential battery safety.

Reports indicate that while charging, the Pixel 3 is overheating for some users and shutting down entirely. Threads have turned up on Reddit, and the Pixel User Community forums complaining about the issue with users affected saying that the shut down appears to happen when the smartphone is charging and has an action running at the same time.

The first warning that something is amiss comes with a notification that states "Phone is getting warm," the notifications also warns that some features will be "limited while the phone cools down." When those notifications are displayed, the phone sees a considerable performance decrease. If the phone continues to heat up, eventually it shuts down and when rebooted users see a message that says "Phone turned off due to heat." The assumption is that a firmware update will be needed to solve the problem.

At least one Reddit user has reported that a handset replacement fixed the overheating issue, the catch is that if it were a firmware issue presumably the replacement device would suffer from the same problem unless Google knows about the issue, has already made a firmware update to address it, and just hasn't gone official. A replacement device that doesn't have the same overheat problem yet is on the same firmware, would seemingly indicate a hardware issue in the overheating handsets.

Some Reddit users report that the overheating and shut down issue happens with video calls, in addition to when the device is charging. One of the Reddit users also stated that when the phone would overheat it would make hissing sounds, which possibly indicates a battery overheat issue that could potentially lead to a fire. Some Samsung Note owners back in the day reported a hissing sound before their devices started to smoke, and eventually caught fire. Google has made no official statement about this issue with the Pixel 3, however.