Court Approves Google Pixel And Pixel XL Settlement, Owners Get Up To $500

A court has approved Google's Pixel and Pixel XL smartphone settlement. The class-action lawsuit alleged that Google knowingly sold devices with defective microphones. Owners of those devices are eligible for cash reimbursement in the settlement, but there a few conditions Pixel owners must meet with the most important being that they purchased the Pixel or Pixel XL before January 7th, 2017.

The biggest payout possible in the settlement is up to $500, and to get that much from the $7.25 million settlement you must be able to document your microphone woes with the Pixel devices. All owners of the Pixel or Pixel XL that purchased before the January 7th, 2017 deadline are eligible for up to $20. Caveats to getting paid include that you must live in the United States.

You must have purchased before the deadline, and you can't have received a replacement device manufactured after January 3rd, 2017, or a refurbished device after June 5th, 2017. You also can't be a Google worker or have been involved in the case or a family member of a judge or lawyer on the case. 

The group of people eligible for the $20 payout is capped at 25% of the total settlement fund. If so many people apply that it reaches over that amount, the class will be paid less than $20. Those who paid an insurance deductible to get their Pixel device fixed will be refunded the deductible.

To get the largest $500 payout the Pixel owners must have experience mic issues on multiple devices and have documentation to prove it. If you had mic issues on a single device, the payout is $350. 

To submit a claim, you go to the official settlement website here, and the deadline to file a claim is October 7th, 2019. Not surprisingly, the legal team gets paid first out of the $7.25 million payment.