Original Google Pixel owners could receive up to $500 for faulty microphone

Pixel owners who didn't experience issues could still get $20 in the settlement.

What you need to know

• Google has agreed to pay a total of $7.25 million in the class action settlement.
• Owners of the original Pixel could get a payout of up to $500.
• A hearing to approve the settlement will take place on June 5.

Google has agreed to pay $7.25 million dollars in a settlement of a class action lawsuit stemming from faulty microphones in the Pixel and Pixel XL devices that were manufactured before January 4, 2017. Owners of the affected devices could be looking at a payout of up to $500.

According to Google, less than one percent of the Pixel phones experienced issues due to a "hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec." This small defect caused users to have problems with the microphone when making calls or using the voice assistant function.

Google first admitted there was an issue back in March 2017. It then took less than a year for owners to file a class action lawsuit against the company.

In order to determine how much the settlement you may be entitled to, claimants have been split into four categories:

• Those who returned a defective Pixel and were sent a second defective one could receive up to $500.
• For those who only had one single defective phone could get up to $350.
• Anyone who had to pay an insurance deductible could be refunded the amount.
• If you had no issues with your 2016 Pixel, you could see a payout of up to $20.

The court still needs to approve the settlement, but a hearing scheduled for June 5 to decide whether or not to grant preliminary approval. Until then, you can register for updates from the law firm by filling out this form.

This is the second hardware-related lawsuit has settled in three months. Back in early April, Google agreed to pay $9.75 million in a case relating to the Nexus 6P issues with early shutdowns and bootlooping. A final judgment is expected to take place in that case in a hearing on October 10.