Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more.
Pixel 3 XL’s speakers are imbalanced and distorted (Update: Distortion fix coming soon)
July 30, 2025
Update, June 01, 2025 (01:27 PM EST):The Google Pixel 3 speaker volume problem detailed below has probably been pretty annoying for many Pixel users over the past month. However, the imbalance of sound likely hasn’t been nearly as annoying as the distortion that occurs when you play something at a low volume.
Fortunately, the distorted speaker issue is getting a fix from Google soon.
This information comes from a tweeted conversation with a Google support rep. Check out the tweet below:
“In the coming weeks” isn’t exactly the most precise of deadlines, but at least you can rest assured that a fix is imminent. The speaker imbalance, however, appears to be a feature, not a bug, and no fix is scheduled for that.
Original Article, July 21, 2025 (12:37 PM EST):With issues like low audio quality in videos and photosnot saving all the time, thePixel 3 and Pixel 3 XLare not off to a fantastic start. Unfortunately, the headaches will continue with reports of one of the speakers being louder than the other.
There is already a thread onRedditabout the issue, while the folks atAndroid Policeconfirmed the reports with one of its Pixel 3 XL units. Based on the reports, the bottom speaker is louder than the top speaker. This results in a sound imbalance which was also evident in theNexus 6Pand, to a lesser degree, thePixel 2 XL.
Google responded to the reports in the aforementioned Reddit thread and said this was an intentional decision. In the response, Google said it used “new amplifier technology with advanced speaker protection algorithms to push these speakers harder and really get every last bit of performance out of them.”
What’s strange about the explanation isAndroid Police‘s Pixel 3 unit didn’t exhibit nearly as much sound imbalance with its speakers as the Pixel 3 XL did. This could be because the Pixel 3 XL’s bottom speaker is possibly much larger than the top speaker, though a teardown that focuses on the speakers might be very helpful in this situation.
Regardless of the reasoning, Google should have been able to deliver balanced output on the speakers. If your Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL exhibits this issue, it might be worth sending it in for a replacement.
Let us know in the comments if you own a Pixel 3 and notice any sort of sound imbalance.
NEXT:The Google Pixel 3 camera is great, it just doesn’t save pictures sometimes
Thank you for being part of our community. Read ourComment Policybefore posting.
