I loved my Pixel 5a. It may have been the nicest phone I ever had.
It had a high quality camera that easily rivaled its iPhone competition. It ran stock Android, meaning there wasn’t any bloatware that I couldn’t delete. I got all the latest Android updates immediately, without needing to wait for Verizon or Samsung to tweak things to their liking. And it just looked good and felt good to hold.
But notice this was all in past tense.
My Google Pixel 5a, which I had for just barely a year, bricked on me without warning. I had it from October 28, 2021 until November 7, 2022. Which, of course, was just over a week past warranty.
Here’s what happened: I was using my phone to peruse Facebook Marketplace, like ya do. And then the screen froze. No big deal, this kind of thing occasionally happens on most smartphones. Just give it a minute and the phone should restart on its own.
But nothing happened. Pressing and holding various button combinations wouldn’t turn off the screen or restart the phone.
After a few minutes the screen eventually went black. Probably restarting, right?
Nope. This was now my phone’s life. Or afterlife. Because it was now basically deceased.
Here’s how I knew my phone was done-zo. Apparently, there’s a not uncommon issue among Google Pixel phones known colloquially as the “Black Screen of Death.” Phones with this issue will suddenly have a black screen even though they weren’t dropped or mishandled in any way. If you try plugging them in to your computer, instead of being read as phones, they’ll display as “QUSB_BULK_CID:xxxx_SN:xxxxxxxx.” And guess what my phone displayed as?
When a phone is read as a QUSB BULK device, there appears to be no way to interact with it. I have yet to find anybody online who has been able to revive their Pixel phone after it got in this state. This means even though there’s this tiny sign of life left emitting from the otherwise dead phone, there’s still no way to retrieve data from it.
Luckily, I had backups.
…is what I wish I could say. Except, I didn’t. I didn’t have a single damn thing backed up from my Pixel 5a.
I think normally, Pixel phones back up photos and other files to the cloud by default. But my email address almost entirely filled up its storage before I even got this phone (you know, back when Google still offered free unlimited storage for photo backups). So, I never had that feature turned on.
This means I went from a 100% working phone to a totally dead phone with zero access to its data in the span of a few minutes. Hundreds of photos and videos—irreplaceable memories—gone in an instant. To say my day was ruined was an understatement.
Luckily, when I bought my phone and signed up for the payment plan as part of Google Fi, I also opted in to device protection at an extra $6 per month. So, I’d at least get a free repair, right? Well…
OK, so they can only replace it. But I at least get a free replacement, right? Well…
Apparently health insurance isn’t the only thing where you need to worry about deductibles. To get a replacement phone, I’d be charged $69 as a deductible. This is what I was paying $6 a month for.
I said “yes,” since I felt like I had no other option. But later that evening, I reached back out and asked for the replacement to be canceled. I didn’t want to risk having the same issue on a replacement Pixel 5a. I also didn’t want to give back my phone in case I could retrieve my data still. And I felt so betrayed by Google that I didn’t even want to use Google Fi or Android anymore. I made the begrudging move to Verizon with a new iPhone 13 Pro.
Drastic malfeasance calls for drastic measures
If my Black Screen of Death encounter was an isolated freak accident, I may not have abandoned a carrier and operating system I had mostly good experiences with. But it was nowhere near isolated. In fact, this issue has evidently been around for years and across various Pixel models.
Here’s a 2020 thread from Pixel 3 owners with the issue.
This 2021 thread has several Pixel 4 owners with the same issue.
Pixel 3 and Pixel 4 owners reporting BSOD issues.
And another 5a thread with other Pixel owners of various models.
Pixel 1, 2, 3, and 4 owners all with sudden bricking.
And, in case you thought the Pixel 5 was safe…
You probably get the point. This is a widespread, long-running issue that Google knows about but is seemingly doing nothing to fix. It may only be a matter of time before future models experience the issue.
If other Pixel users are to be believed, this sudden failure is caused by malfunctioning motherboards. Why exactly they’re failing isn’t clear. I also find it hard to believe all of these phone models would use the same motherboard.
Whatever the case may be, this Black Screen of Death issue seems to mostly be flying under the radar. Individuals are experiencing the issue and reporting them on community forums and Reddit threads. There are some articles from obscure websites falsely claiming they have the solution to fix this issue. But no major news outlets seem to be reporting this and I’m unable to find any public statements from Google officials on the matter.
Frankly, this is inexcusable. It may not be as dangerous as an exploding phone or as widespread as Apple slowing down iPhones, but this may actually be worse on some levels. No matter what Google Pixel phone you buy, you seem to have a ticking time bomb before you lose all of your data with no warning and no support from Google if you’ve had your phone for over a year.
I know this is just a tiny blog with no sway, but if anyone comes across this piece, I encourage you to speak up about this issue and warn Pixel owners that they could lose their data at any moment. If you own a Pixel phone, back it up regularly and switch to a different brand as soon as you’re able.
A final plea for help
I may have a new phone now, but my Pixel 5a is still sitting here, waiting for the day I can retrieve the data still on it. But I currently have no way to do so. Some repair shops think my phone needs a new screen, which it doesn’t. Others admit they don’t know how to help. And my best lead so far has been a company called Ontrack, which claims it “can definitely help with the recovery of [my] mobile device.” But they’re asking $950 for the service, plus extra money to pay for the storage media they’d copy my data to. They offer payment plans, but it’s a frankly insulting price to pay that feels like borderline extortion.
So, if anybody knows some other trustworthy way to recover my data (mainly my photos) from my old phone, I’d greatly appreciate it. I just ask that it costs less than double the price of my phone when it was brand new…
suspiciously generic 
The same exact thing happened to me today, except I was on Lowes site looking at fertilizer when the screen froze, then turned black. Google assures me that the “black screen of death” is a simple repair, but I’m skeptical. They offered me 20 percent off a new phone, but I am hesitant for fear it will happen again. Plus, Verizon will give me the same phone for FREE vs 20 percent off, should I stay with Google. Wondering if you were ever able to retrieve all your data?
Nope, I was never able to retrieve the data. I had the phone for a long while with a repair shop and they were ultimately unable to fix the phone (which is the only way to recover the data).
Happened to me with a 5a. I’m getting a replacement 5a from google, and when I asked the rep if the same thing would happen to the new phone, they said they were “pretty sure” it wouldn’t. Google doesn’t give a shit, they’re fine with this continuing to happen because people just upgrade to a newer Pixel.
Hi! How did you get the replacement? I was told I could get a replacement, and then they just never did it. When I called back they insisted that the extended warranty didn’t apply to me.
This happened to me 2 days ago and now left me without a phone. The thing is, I didn’t witness my phone doing something wrong because it happened while I was asleep. I charged my phone to 100% at 12 AM and then I watched some youtube videos. I fell asleep in the middle of the video only to woke up to a broken phone in the morning. At first, I suspect the software update is the root cause because I told the phone to auto-schedule the update at 2 AM (after I fell asleep). The final blow is that I bring my Pixel 5a from the US to my home country where Pixels are not officially sold (NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT! – I understand this), but I NEVER expect the “GOOGLE” phone would just die after one and a half year of usage. People here have no idea how to repair my phone, heck some of the repair shops here don’t even know what a pixel is.
I have delt with this 3x now. Two days before Thanksgiving 2022 mine went dark. It happened to be under warranty for 4 more days so I started the claims process. Eventually I got the repaired phone back but I couldn’t get it to activate. I was given a bad IMEI which meant it had been blacklisted or stolen. I sent it back for them to fix the issue where they sent me the same one back again. I eventually got a replacement phone that worked mid January 2023… For a while. March 30 death again. One week left of warranty. Eventually I got a replacement 6a as 5as weren’t available.
May 2023 my husband’s died. Now I am Going through the process again. I am getting pretty good at the process now unfortunately. We will see how that one turns out. 5as were given an extended warranty for this exact motherboard issue.
We will never get a pixel again of our own choice. It looks we will be going back to samsung. Those phones have lasted us years vs these that died less than a year for me and a year and a half for my husband.
This exact thing happened to mine yesterday – I’ve tried everything, but it appears to be well and truly bricked. I’m livid, as I’m in the same situation where I had no backups from the last 6 months, so everything on the phone is effectively just gone. Extremely disappointed to see that this is a recurring unsolved issue with Pixel phones; I liked the phone a lot, as well as the lack of bloatware, which is increasingly hard to find. Guess I’ll be on the hunt for a new manufacturer again. If you ever find a way to recover your data, please send me an email.
My pixel 5a bricked yesterday, just as described. Contacted Google Fi support since I still have 3 more months of installments to pay, they said it is a recurring issue with the 5a, so despite being out of warranty they would send a replacement but I would have to send my phone.
I am keeping my phone to try to recover my data if a fix is available in the future.
I have priceless memories in pictures and videos that were stored in the phone’s internal memory through WhatsApp that I cannot recover just by accessing google photos in a new phone. I am devastated because those pictures are from my son that passed over a year ago. I was intending to make copies to my computer but just couldn’t handle the pain yet.
I am using my old LG phone while I decide what phone to buy. As I read that new pixels are also having issues I won’t buy a pixel, probably a Samsung.
I will keep searching for a solution on recovering the data. If anyone find anything please reply to me.
The same thing happened to me with Pixel 5a a week ago. I charged it overnight, and on Monday morning my alarm went off but I couldn’t turn it off. Black screen, unresponsive phone.. The alarm just kept on ringing annoyingly until the phone went silent and nothing else since then. I had it from December 2021 until July 2023. Wondering what phone to get now as I’m concerned the issue could happen if I upgrade to a newer Pixel.
Just had this happen to my Pixel 5a this morning. Was browsing the web and it just went black as described. Totally bricked. I was paying for the device replacement, so am working through that now. However, as with all of you, I have data on there that is completely inaccessible to me now. This really is unacceptable, especially if it is a known issue.
Happened to me tonight. Was restarting to install the August 23 security update and the phone never turned back on. Plug it into my laptop and the phone doesn’t show up, but Windows does play the sound as if it is connected. Google said to take to Ubreakifix and they will repair. Hopeful that they will be able to revive it and get my data back, but not holding my breath.
Happened to me two days ago, between ordering takeout online and waiting for the text to tell me that it was ready! Took it to UbreakIfix who promptly confirmed that it was the motherboard and notified Google service. Now we’ll see if they honor the one year extended warranty for the 5a – I’m definitely eligible but I’m not holding my breath waiting ….
Update: I seem to have had a relatively hassle free experience compared with others. I received an email from Google support two days after UbreakIfix diagnosed the motherboard saying they would send out a replacement phone (still a pixel 5a ) and giving instructions for sending the dead phone back by Fedex; they placed a hold on my credit card which would go away after they received the old phone.
New phone arrived in 3 days, promptly sent off old phone which has now arrived at their plant, and just confirmed there is no longer a hold on my card. I went to the local Verizon store where they transferred the SIM card from my old phone to the new one; we restored the most recent backup (from the day before the phone died) and I’m good to go. Lost all the audio/video files I had on the old phone though, and had to restore them from my laptop.
Could have been worse I suppose….
Pixel 5a (5G) just bricked a week ago. uBreakiFix determined MoBo issue/unrepairable. Trying to get even a semblance of support from Google Support is beyond infuriating–the support staff have all of about 5 prescribed prompts and zero competence beyond regurgitating web addresses for you to take care of the issues of trying to get repairs/replacements yourself.
The next person that tells me to call a different repair center or just show my phone to UPS to scan a shipping label barcode (while I’m using a webchat function to learn options to replace my bricked phone) will…
Yes, did I mention Google Support is awful?
There may be slight hope there are a couple of videos which have surfaced on YouTube in July of 2023 which show the technician removing the CPU chip made by Qualcomm called the Snapdragon 765g. They remove from the motherboard and do a process called reballing it’s basically they clean the chip remove it and debris and resolder it back. My 5a did the exact same thing. I take it to a technician he removed the IC power chip charging management and replace it from a donor but that did not work my next step is to find a technician to do the CPU chip process.
Don’t toss your bricked phone. I was unlucky in that I’ve had this exact problem TWICE, once with a Pixel 3 and once with a Pixel 5a. BUT in both cases I was very lucky because I managed to recover the (irreplaceable and not backed up) data on the phones, although doing so wasn’t straightforward.
With the Pixel 3 I basically just put it in a drawer and waited just over a year, then plugged in the phone one day and it started right up as though nothing had happened. I copied all my data off and it kept working for a couple weeks then died again and went back into QDL mode.
With the Pixel 5a, it was a combination of luck and persistence. Understand that to have any chance of recovery, the battery must be completely dead at 0%. Until you reach 0%, it will remain in QDL mode which means it’s fully comatose. For my 5a this was only possible without waiting a year because the battery was already fairly low when it bricked. How do you know what battery percentage it’s at? You don’t. But if it’s showing up on your computer in QDL mode then it’s above 0%. In my case, when it reached 0% trying to turn it on flashed a 0% battery icon on the screen for a fraction of a second.
Once it’s at 0%, plug into a usb port to slow charge and if you’re lucky it will soon show an animated circle with 0% inside. Don’t charge too much as that will spoil your chances of trying again if you don’t have success initially (the battery drains very slowly in QDL mode). After you get the battery to up a few percent, try booting in safe mode by holding down the power button and volume down button at the same time. Make sure there is no SIM card installed as that can result in software auto-starting after boot which is counterproductive. Doing this brought me to a safeboot menu, but the recovery and rescue modes were non-functional. Selecting them just showed a picture of a sad-looking dead android with its chest door open and a red triangle inside.
At this point, though, the phone now showed up through USB as a Google, Inc. device instead of Qualcomm/QDL/QUSB BULK whatever. But it still wouldn’t boot normally from inside fastboot. I tried turning it off and then back on with just the power button and that time it started right up. I was able to copy my photos off before it bricked again about an hour later. Be ready with all the tools at your disposal because you may have very little time to copy data if you are successful in starting the phone.
I have not been able to start the 5a again since then, at least partly because I charged the battery too much and it’s still in QDL mode.
This is good to know. It may be bullshit but it makes me feel less hopeless should I find myself in this situation.
I purchased 2 Pixel 5As. One in August 2021 (which I’ll call Aug5A), and one in December 2021 (which I’ll call Dec5A). Then I got stationed overseas (I’m military). In roughly May of 2023, Dec5A got the BSOD, but I was overseas, and wouldn’t be able to send it in. No big deal, since I had orders to move back to the U.S. well within the 2 year warranty.
In July 2023, Aug5A got the BSOD. It was my primary phone….. and the warrant expired in a month, the month before I return to the U.S.
So I get with support, who initially didn’t appear to know about the extended warranty. Eventually they did. So I got it approved for an RMA. The issue was that I was overseas, Google only ships via FedEx, and German FedEx would ship a phone to the U.S.. I decided I could send it to my sister in the U.S. and she could FedEx it. A few hours before I went to mail it, I got an email from Google stating that if they don’t receive it in 3 days, the RMA will be cancelled. It takes 2 weeks to get a package back to the U.S.
So I contact Google. They told me to cancel the RMA, and when I get back resubmit. I told them that the warranty expires in August, and I don’t get to the U.S. until September. They insisted it wouldn’t be an issue because they would pursue an exception to cover it.
So that’s what I did, and they denied the exception when I did. Over a month of emails back and forth to support later and they relented. I just received my replacement about 20 minutes ago. It’s a third (refurbished) Pixel 5A (which I’ll call ItsOnlyAMatterOfTime5A).
Now I’m going to submit the RMA for Dec5A. I’m curious to see what I get to replace it with since until I received ItsOnlyAMatterOfTime5A today, I didn’t think Google was sending any 5As out.
Happened to my son a couple months ago, but refurbs were cheap by then, so i bought him a new refurb which bricked a couple weeks ago right before mine bricked itself yesterday just two months shy of being “eligible” for a new phone at the fi store without paying over retail.
Not that shit hardware is necessarily a conspiracy, but that damn phone always wanted to disconnect from wifi randomly and run up my data bills that google makes a buck on too.
Lovely experience over all.
Saludos a todos desde Argentina.
Me pasó lo mismo.
Lo puse a cargar y nunca más encendió.
Si alguien conoce algún método, por más que sea arriesgado, estoy dispuesto a probar con mí equipo, total ya compré otro.
I had my Google Pixel 3 for 5 years…yup, you heard that right…5 years. Absolutely loved that phone but unfortunately, it too, died. I’ve been trying everything I can to get it back on but nothing is working and now I’m seeing that this is a fairly common issue. How infuriating!
Luckily, I think most of my photos were backed up but I’m afraid to look into it too much yet. I have a feeling there’s gonna be a lot that weren’t. I know I had a couple of apps with a bunch of recordings and diary entries that are now gone. 500 some bookmarks and hundreds of files…5 years of what feels like a piece of me…just gone. Heartbreaking to say the least.
I’ve had four Pixel 5a5G phones BRICK in the last 18 months for no reason. I love the phones but can’t continue with this nonsense! Every phone does the same sequence. Turn it on and it freezes, then after a few seconds the screen goes black. I can hear the phone “buzz” but nothing else and of course since there’s no sceeen display so I cant enter the safe boot mode or anything else.
I’m about to be on Pixel 3 #4. I was gifted one 3 years ago for Christmas. It began to expand, the back popping off. Apparently, a KNOWN issue with their phones—the battery expanding, with the risk of explosion/fire. The replacement did the same within a year. Received this replacement just 2 weeks ago, and now when I hit the power button to lock it, it goes totally black. Some apps won’t open correctly. In getting this replacement, they had me send in first, as usual, leaving me with no cell phone, which I use for medical appointments, etc. Well, they LOST THE REPLACEMENT. Took 2, almost 3 weeks to get the replacement. This is with me sending screenshots that they indeed received the explode-a-phone the day after it was sent back. I had to file with the state attorney general with a consumer complaint, which is still open, luckily, because the replacement finally arrives, and only 2 weeks later, this one is also faulty. They will not give me a different, but similar, phone. It must be another Pixel 3. At this time, I cannot afford to buy another phone, but I am shopping, and looking for one I can make payments on. It will NOT be a Google product of any sort. I’ve had their GPS send me in circles, take me on toll roads when I told it not to, tried to get me to ‘take the next left’ into a playground, through a chain link fence, etc. The Google Chromebook is nearly unusable, because they’re attempting to be Apple, so that all software is proprietary, you cannot download anything that is not a Google product. That said, about the only thing I could use it for was watching videos, but even that failed, as suddenly, it would skip back to the previously watched video, and after a bit, skip to the one before that. They should admit they don’t have a clue what they’re doing, and give up.
I have a Pixel 6 Pro. It shut itself down today whilst I was reading a work e-mail. I was listening to something on my headphones at the same time and received a simultaneous audio message that the phone had disconnected from the headphones, suggesting that it had spontaneously shut down entirely. It had about 40% power when it failed.
It is refusing to power up again, safeboot, go into recovery mode or anything, and it does not seem to be taking on power by cable as it is cold to the touch. It does seem to charge by induction in my car, as my car gives me a “wireless charging started” message, but it cannot detect the phone for connection purposes and neither does my laptop when I connect the two by wire.
I am one month out of warranty (in the UK we have a 24-month standard warranty).
Just had the same thing happen. The phone was sitting on my desk, then it refused to wake up. I had luck getting into fastboot, but couldn’t get it to go to Recovery mode. I tried to use devtools to get in via fastboot, but `fastboot devices` didn’t detect the phone. Instant death.
I had mine for almost 3 years so am not too offended, but it’s sad it instantly dies. The only info I lost was personal health info i was tracking. Could be worse.
This happened to my Pixel 6 about a week ago, after two and a half years of use. In my country, the warranty is two years, so it’s half a year out of warranty. I contacted Google through their chat function, and the person on the other end was rather condescending, saying that parts wear out. When I mentioned this and other sites, they said “not to trust fake news on the internet”. It’s the most expensive and least reliable phone I’ve ever had. I’ve since gone back to Samsung – they’ve always lasted in my experience.
Pixel 5a, had it 2 years with no problems. I replaced a shattered screen 3 months ago. The battery was still lasting 3-4 days. Two nights ago I plugged it in at 36% to charge overnight, and in the morning it was off. I figured it must have done an update. It wouldn’t turn on, so I looked up how else I can get it to reset. It still wouldn’t respond. I took it to a cell repair shop, and the guy checked the screen and the battery – both fine, so he assumes it is the motherboard that went bad. No warning at all.
I miss the Motorola phones! Shamu (Nexus 6) was the best phone I ever had, lasted me 5 1/2 years.
Hi from Barcelona, Spain.
This happened to me some days ago: I was holding my Pixel 4a 5g (yes, I was still using it) on some random app when then screen suddenly died. I connected it to a computer, and Windows detected it as that QUALCOMM weird device (luckily I was using the free Google Photos storage feature that is available until the Pixel 5, so my photos were backed up).
BUT my phone was successfully repaired in a small mobile phone shop on my town, one of these small shops owned by people from Pakistan or India (sorry, I mean no offence of any kind here). They said it was a motherboard problem, and also a short-circuit of some kind. I got my phone back, working and being able to access all my data again.
BUT my kid throw it to the floor the same night, then the screen started flashing with garbage and it’s now again in the same shop, now hoping if they will be able to repair it.
BONUS TRACK: My wife have the same Pixel 4a 5g model, and today it died in the same way. Just a few days after mine. Shame on you, Google. SHAME.
It happen to me yesterday, the phone die while rebooting it. Now nothing can be done with it. I had it for less then a year, It’s a pixel 8 and I’m far from done with the monthly payment.
One more Pixel 4a 5g sudden death.