The Google Pixel was released a few weeks ago on Google's Oct. 4 event. The device is Google's first smartphone release and goes head to head with Samsung's Galaxy S7 and Apple's iPhone 7. Weeks after, reports of issues with lens flare when using the camera has been reported with Google Pixel.
A report from 9to5Google describes the lens flare issue as a "halo effect" in photos that appear when the camera hits a light source and is aimed at a certain angle. While lens flare is a typical issue found in all cameras, the Pixel seems to be more sensitive to it.
A group of Android users reported and posted the issue on Google's Pixel Community Page. According to the post, the flare issue happens both with on-screen and off-screen light sources. The post also includes a link to a Reddit Poll asking Pixel users whether their camera lens has the flare issue or not. At the time of this writing, 59 users voted "Yes" and 70 users voted "No".
Today, Google posted a response to the issue in the official Pixel User Community page. User IsaacOnCamera, who appears to be directly involved with the Pixel's development, said that a software update will be released in the "next few weeks" to improve the issue. The update is said to have an algorithm that recognizes the flare and will take it off the image. Pixel users will need to use the HDR+ feature for the fix to work. Isaac's response also said that the flare issue is not an isolated one, meaning all Pixel devices will have the same flare issue.
Several responses thanked Isaac for the quick response to the issue, while other users brought up different camera issues, like rainbow lines across an image and a similar halo flare when taking a photo of a candle in a dark room. Isaac made it clear that these issues are yet to be studied, and whether it's serious enough to issue a separate "fix". For now, though, Google is focused on fixing the flare issue found in the Pixel.