If you’re an Android smartphone owner, odds are you’ve experienced a drop in performance since you first got your phone. This can be due to a number of reasons, but one that you may not know, is the reverse of what many think. Android platform updates have been proven to negatively affect some performance levels. Unfortunately, this is the case with Google’s Nexus 6P.

If you’ve ever updated your device to a new Android system overhaul such as Android Nougat or Android Oreo and experienced a drop in performance, you’re not alone. This happens occasionally to phones that are super optimized for the version of the OS that comes pre-loaded from the box. Google’s Nexus 6P is a prime example of a phone that started out with fantastic performance, but slowed with future updates. It hasn’t really withstood the test of time, as most other Google branded phones do. The good news is, Google is doing something about it.

Google is a strong believer in designing smartphones that will last. And over the course of time since the Nexus 6P’s arrival, there have been a slew of complaints regarding battery issues, boot-looping, you name it. It had been reported last week by former Nexus 6P owners that Google is replacing those units with problems in exchange for a free Pixel XL. The news was confirmed over on Reddit and by trusted sources over the weekend that the search giant is indeed shipping free Pixel XL phones out to owners of defective Nexus 6Ps that can’t be fixed. This is said to be happening to customers in the US and Canada, but not in other places like the UK and Australia.

If you trade in a 64GB Nexus 6P, your chances at getting a 128GB Pixel XL will be higher than if you exchange a 32GB Nexus 6P. However, considering the size of Nexus 6P, Pixel XL seems to be the only replacement device (not the smaller Pixel). It doesn’t surprise me that Google is doing this, but outside the original 1-year warranty period, for free, wow!

If you’re experiencing problems on your Nexus 6P, start by getting in contact with Google here, but only if you bought your unit from the Google Store. Google will give you a chance to move over all your data before sending in the defective unit, so there are no worries there.

SOURCE [TechGray on Reddit]