Apart from its mostly lacklustre launch event, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL have faced a lot of issues since its launch earlier last year. One of the issues involved bad microphone audio when recording videos. Although Google acknowledged the fault, they took their own sweet time to roll out a fix. As expected, it was bundled with this month's Android security patch. The update is available for all the Pixel devices, and other OEMs should follow suit shortly.

The January security patch claims to improve the audio quality when recording videos. No specific bugs other than two security vulnerability fixes were noted for the rest of Google’s hardware. The fix appears to have worked, as confirmed by several users on forums such as Reddit. The January update for Pixel phones is currently rolling out and should be available for all users in a couple of days. The update is available for the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel, Pixel XL, and the Pixel C. The only other non-Pixel device to get the update is, you guessed it, the Essential Phone.

Like all security patches, it only weighs about 56MB. You can manually check for the update by heading over to Settings > System > System Update. In case you cannot wait for the OTA, then you can download the factory images or the OTA images from the links below.

Android 9.0

Pixel 3 XL: Android 9.0 — PQ1A.190105.004 —Factory Image—OTAPixel 3: Android 9.0 —PQ1A.190105.004 —Factory Image—OTAPixel 2 XL: Android 9.0 —PQ1A.190105.004 —Factory Image—OTAPixel 2: Android 9.0 —PQ1A.190105.004 —Factory Image—OTAPixel XL: Android 9.0 —PQ1A.190105.004 —Factory Image—OTAPixel: Android 9.0 —PQ1A.190105.004 —Factory Image—OTA

Android 8.1

Pixel C: Android 8.1—OPM8.190105.002 —Factory Image—OTA

Hopefully, this patch doesn't break anything. Pixel users have had to endure a never-ending game of Russian roulette with every security patch installed. Despite its flaws, the Pixel 3 and XL is still a solid device overall and we'd want nothing more than for it to perform at its maximum potential.

News Source: Gsmarena