Several issues seem to be plaguing the Pixel 4a 5G’s touchscreen for months now. According to many complaints, these bugs make navigation, especially with three buttons, completely impossible. Obviously, the malfunction did not exist before the December 2020 security update, suggesting a software issue.
Credits: Google
The Pixel 4a 5G quickly won over consumers when it launched in September 2020. For less than € 500, the smartphone offers a Snapdragon 765G, 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of internal storage space, 5G compatibility and a display. 6.2-inch 60Hz AMOLED. Only, it seems that this slab poses a lot of problems for some users, as reported by our colleagues from the Android Police site.
According to multiple testimonials on the Google Support forum and on the XDA Developers site, a recurring bug affects the touchscreen functions. The malfunctions vary depending on the case, but the problem remains the same: the screen does not react to pressure. For some, the lower part of the slab no longer responds, making it impossible to navigate with three buttons. For others, the screen simply reacts to swipes and not to punctual presses.
Read also: Pixel 5 and 4a 5G – deemed poor quality, Google removes astrophotography function
An issue introduced with the December 2020 update
This bug appears to have been introduced with the December 2020 security update because users had not reported a similar bug before. On December 23, 2020, Google acknowledged the problem and assured “that a fix will be included in a future software update ”. In the process, the manufacturer had provided some advice to users to improve the detection of the touch screen:
- When touching icons on the edge of the screen, touch the center of the button or the side of the icon furthest from the edge of the screen
- When touching icons, including navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen, use your fingertip or thumb instead.
Only, the patch released in january obviously did not solve things as evidenced by several testimonials on the Google support forum: “Almost two months without a fix for touchscreen issues. More and more people are reporting this problem every day […] I informed Google that this message was sent to many media like XDA or The Verge, in order to detail the lack of support and attention to customers ”, wrote a user on the Google forum. Now we can hope that the problem will be corrected with the February 2021 patch.
Source: Android Police
