There’ve been many reports of swollen batteries and damaged rear panels in Google’s Pixel 3/XL, from the past few months. Swollen batteries are causing the back panel to lift-off which is a matter of huge concern.
The Google support thread is filled with numerous such reports from May where users have posted images of their Pixel 3 flagships with swollen batteries and damaged back panels. It is also very likely that people never even noticed when the problem actually started as most of the users tend to use cases.
Users have also reported that their devices have stopped charging wirelessly. They also noticed the phones unable to stay intact on a Pixel Stand Charger, rapid battery drain due to swollen batteries, Overheating, and improperly aligned case buttons with the phone buttons.
Some users have reported that Google has refused to fix the devices which are out of warranty and some people have got free replacement units. There was a user who claimed that Google offered to replace the phone even though it was bought second hand from eBay which gives Pixel 3 users a ray of hope.
It is still unclear if the flaw is due to poor QC or something else. Pixel devices, in the past, have always faced Quality Control issues and the giant clearly needs to up its QC game.