The Pixel 2 series doesn’t seem to be able and catch a break from negative feedback, with new reports now suggesting that some Pixel 2 units sent out by Google to customers are marred by a bootloader bug that prevents users from unlocking it. The good news is that the issue doesn’t seem to affect too many units and seems to be limited to the smaller Pixel 2 model while avoiding the Pixel 2 XL, but the bad news is that there doesn’t seem to be a viable solution for affected users wanting to unlock the bootloader, aside from waiting or trying to acquire a replacement unit.
As exciting as the Pixel 2 series may be from certain perspectives, it’s unfortunate that Google’s new flagship phones have not been without flaws leading to various controversies. The latest problem manifests itself in the form of a grayed out “OEM Unlock” button within the Developer Options settings menu, which prevents users from unlocking the bootloader. Reportedly, these affected units prompt the user to connect the device to the Internet regardless of their connectivity status or suggest that the user should get in touch with the service provider. Evidently, none of these solutions work and it’s currently unclear whether this is a hardware issue or a software bug that could be fixed in a future firmware update. It’s also interesting to note that according to recent reports, most of the units affected by the bootloader bug seem to have been acquired through the Google Store after the delivery was postponed by up to three weeks, leading to some speculating that Google may have shipped bootloader-locked Verizon models to customers who didn’t order it. But it’s important to keep in mind that correlation does not imply causation, so the exact reason as to why only some units are affected by this problem remains unclear.
Pixel 2 owners whose smartphone bootloaders are bugged are advised to head down to the source link below and provide feedback through the Google Bug Tracker. As of this writing, there doesn’t seem to be a fix for this issue, but bringing it to light should help in determining the core problem faster and lead to a timelier conclusion.