yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 7 General] espionage724:
If I understand right, Google is just offering another way to buy the device, just like retailers. If you order from Google, you deal with their RMA process, or go to ASUS. If you order from Staples, you deal with them, or ASUS.

You wouldn't go to Best Buy for RMA if you ordered your Nexus 7 from Office Depot, and with that in mind, it sort of makes sense for Google to not deal with a Nexus 7 not purchased from them :/
[Nexus 7 General] naqlc:
Mine flickered in Chrome, Kindle, Google Maps, and even the Launcher if I set a bright background even with a full strength wi-fi signal.

It went back to Google for a replacement which should ship this week according to Google.
[Nexus 7 General] dmalovic:
FYI, just received my first replacement tonight. Tested right away both with the 4.1 firmware and after upgrading to 4.1.1, tried a factory reset, but it still flickers.

How NICE would it be of Google to CHECK replacement units. If it is a return, than inspect EVERY replacement unit before sending ones withthe same problem. It's not good marketing :((((((

Google, you say you listen to customers, please do this for us. When requesting a replacement unit, make sure the one you are sending does not have the same issues. At least neither of my devices had screen lifting problems!
[Nexus 7 General] BamAlmighty:
Is this a hardware problem or could they fix it with a software update?
[Nexus 7 General] dmalovic:
It seems very very likely this is a hardware problem, but it also seems likely that not all the units suffer from this problem!
[Nexus 7 General] Shamushand:
Got my 8GB unit with flicker, called and RMA'd barely within the 15 day window and just got my replacement today... it flickers EVEN WORSE. Called Google and they said my 15 days were up and I had to take it up with Asus... Call Asus, two weeks to repair, not including shipping I had to pay for? No thanks, called Google again and told the rep I wanted to return both tablets and get my money back. He says that's beyond the scope of what he can do, escalates it to a specialist by email and tells me to expect an email within a few days. Really upset at this point, hopefully they just take it and give me my money.

Frankly, I just want my money so I can buy a 16GB, maybe in a retailer.
[Nexus 7 General] trothmaster:
I had Google replace my first nexus 7 because of touch screen glitchiness where it would not register touches-....

The replacement I got doesn't have the touch issues but now has the screen lift and the terrible flickering on low brightness.......

I am so dissapointed-.....so much potential here but 2 bad units, I Think I'm just going to get a refund....
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
People, can you please post your csn. I have a theory that the only ones that don't flicker are the first run. The only people who have gotten them back working their csn was from an earlier date. No one has come forward with this new batch claiming they work. My replacement certain lay didn't and it was from thE new batch.

I can honestly see a Class Action Lawsuit with Asus and Google as defendant's.

http://www.topclassactions.com/complaint-form
[Nexus 7 General] TheHighlightGuy:
Mine isn't really a screen flicker... It looks a lot like stuttering. It's like a few straight lines of pixels going out momentarily. It usually seems to happen when I'm reading articles from the Engadget app. Anyone else experience this?
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
I just got off the phone with Google, they are going to replace this replacement unit and the guy specifically called the team handling it to tell them to explicitly make sure the device is working before sending it. Not sure how they can test this particular issue since it only happens at low levels and not always right away. I also inquired since this will be the third strike if the newer unit fails, that even though its past the 15 day grace, could I get a refund. He assured me they would work with me on such if the need arose. Lets hope it doesn't come to that so I don't have to test the truth of that claim.
[Nexus 7 General] matthewr87:
I recently returned my 4th device for screen separation. However, it did not exhibit any screen flickr. SSN started with C70K
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
My current replacement starts with c70kbc06**** as well which makes it a July build by earlier in the month. It still has the flicker. Knowing my luck the new unit might not suffer the flicker but have the separation or ghosting...

---------- Post added at 10:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 AM ----------

That's unrelated and more software with screen redraw. Its what the people who go on about all Tegra 3s having this screen flicker (which they don't since this is tied to the backlight), confuse it for.
[Nexus 7 General] TheHighlightGuy:
Thanks! Mine hasn't had any issues other than that and I was hoping I wouldn't have to exchange like others here
[Nexus 7 General] rhltechie:
Hi all,

I posted earlier about my screen flicker issue. I did have my unit replaced. I received the replacement and so far, it has shown no signs of flicker. BUT! if they have indeed fixed the issue, they have done so by screwing with the wifi. The new one I received loses its wifi signal in my home where the last one worked perfectly fine. Other devices work perfectly fine....i'm at a loss. I assume from the constant searching for wifi or maybe just another "issue", but the battery life on the new one is horrible.
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
Can you please give the serials? Doesn't help us to figure out which batches are bad without.
[Nexus 7 General] rhltechie:
When you look at the device there is a reallllly long SN, sticker that came on them starts with C7, which?
[Nexus 7 General] naqlc:
Received my replacement Nexus 7 today and it looks perfect. The SSN is C70KBBC20----.
[Nexus 7 General] Alimunium:
My Nexus 7 also came with some screen flicker (brightness random fluctuation) at low brightness. However, I noticed that while I was fixing my other problem (left side screen lift), when I left the back cover off the device there didn't appear to be any screen flicker! I tested by using gMaps on 10% brightness with WiFi on.

If anybody else who has the screen flicker problem would also try this method and report their results, it might help to isolate where the problem is or maybe even contribute to finding a fix.
[Nexus 7 General] mi7chy:
I reported this previously that removing the cover makes the screen flicker go away. I returned the affected unit, one out of three, so I can't try it but you can try putting electrical tape over both WIFI contacts on the inside cover and put the cover back on to see. If the screen flicker is still gone you can take it one step further and cover just one of the WIFI contacts. If still gone and you're daring, cut out a small strip down the center of the WIFI antenna tape on the cover as perhaps there's a shorting issue.
[Nexus 7 General] kenyee:
My theory a while back was they could do a workaround by modifying the ROM to lower the power level output by the wifi chip...would cut range and/or speed but the flicker would be gone...
[Nexus 7 General] Sterlic:
I decided I might as well try this advice and after about 20 minutes of testing this seems to work for me. Took some electrical tape and covered the bottom WIFI contact on the back cover and while I've taken a little hit in signal strength it seems my flicker is gone or drastically reduced.
[Nexus 7 General] mi7chy:
Good job. I had done this test on the GPS contacts which made no difference but forgot to do it for the WIFI contacts before returning it. If you alternate covering just one of the WIFI contacts at a time and the screen flicker doesn't occur then there's a good chance that breaking the loop by cutting out a thin strip with an exacto knife down the center of the antenna tape will fix the issue while retaining the signal strength. Don't cut it too wide as you can further experiment with closing the loop by soldering a tiny surface mount resistor with enough resistance to hopefully mask the short/flicker or zero value resistor to restore to original state. Good luck but you're on to something.
[Nexus 7 General] webad_13:
Ordered a replacement today due to this issue. Also, left side of the screen started raising a bit as if it was not glued properly. Funny thing is that the guy @Google support knew only of the raised screen issue, says he never heard about the flicker (and started attributing that to the raised left side). Serial is C70KBC0.... not sure if the new one will have any of the issues resolved. I also played around with developers options, to see if that would somehow reduce the flicker but no luck really.

Will give an update for the new one when it gets here.
[Nexus 7 General] NorthGuard:
When I returned mine last week, the guy didn't know if the flicker was covered by the warranty. He had to go ask his boss, lol. On a brighter note, my new n7 doesn't have any issues :D
[Nexus 7 General] webad_13:
Lol, and what is the starting serial number of the new one? Seems that some people reported C70KCC to work without this issue.
[Nexus 7 General] mi7chy:
Getting one of the new SSN's from a shipment that arrived this week doesn't guarantee a perfect unit. When I bought my 3rd unit SSN C70KBC168xx had flicker while C70KBC163xx was fine.
[Nexus 7 General] NorthGuard:
Mine was C70KBC.
[Nexus 7 General] webad_13:
I guess it is good to know that some of them are working - then there is some probability attached to getting a good one with replacement. If so, then it becomes a matter of numbers :). But it seems that they have not grasped this issue yet - I suppose not too many people notice the defect.
[Nexus 7 General] chubb16:
I wonder...

I just put a tpu case on my nexus 7 and the flicker reduced greatly. In maps with a weaker wifi signal and low brightness i still see it slightly.

People that aren't having issues are you using a case on the tablet? Could we be shorting out the wifi antenna when we hold it?
[Nexus 7 General] DualSportDad:
I have the flicker issue pretty bad and I use a case. The flicker seems to happen most in the tapatalk app for me but that's the appi use the most. Now the the screen has also started to distort.... get lines flashing across it.

I bought my n7 from staples and they have been out of stock for a long time so I had to order a new one from the play store and will have to take this one back to staples next week before my 14 days are up.
[Nexus 7 General] chubb16:
My tablet isn't that bad. I get some screen tearing in tapatalk every once in a while but no flicker, but that is the nividia driver i am pretty sure. I have a pretty good one I guess.
[Nexus 7 General] shovett:
I called Google this morning as my 8GB from Play store is flickering badly. They agreed to replace it immediately without any trouble shooting over the phone. Very happy to replace the faulty device. The rep I spoke to said that they think it is hardware related. He said if it was software they would have patched it by now to stop all the returns. Fingers crossed the replacement is flicker free
[Nexus 7 General] mateorod:
Yeah, I originally thought this was kernel related as some people in the Nook forum solved their flicker through kernel configuration.

But when I called and asked if it was software related, the rep said with no doubt that it was a known hardware issue that they wanted to replace immediately. Sounds like grounding issues to me.

I guess I would rather they use my warranty to fix it than void it by trying myself. If they were asking me to send it to Asus for a month, probably would take a go at it myself then.

Edit: So, yeah, thanks to you guys for pointing it out. I had pretty much given up on usable stuff in this device forum. Who knew?
[Nexus 7 General] webad_13:
How bad was the flicker? And is it only in the case with low brightness, wifi on and signal not that good?

The reason that I am asking is that I have mine set to minimum brightness and I get noticeable flicker when away from the router (low signal setting) - but even then it is not very bad and at first I wasn't sure who to blame, my eyes or the tablet :).
[Nexus 7 General] clemsyn:
Ive been playing around with voltages in the kernel side and my testers have reported no changes in screen flicker :( Although increasing default brightness have helped hide this issue and not fix it.
[Nexus 7 General] LOJ168:
I have been using my Nexus 7 for the past 3 days and I have noticed that the screen flicker acts up when finding a wifi signal. Also, after popping out the back cover to try and fix the screen lifting problem (I have a minor lift with mine), screen flicker reduced significantly.I think there's a grounding issue affecting the screen. I'm still hopeful that kernel tweaks can fix the flicker *cross fingers* I'd hate to go through the hassle of having to go my local ASUS service center :(
[Nexus 7 General] Pete7ate:
If this is a hardware problem, then that's terrible.
[Nexus 7 General] shovett:
Mine was bad with brightness turned down to minimum, but worse if set to auto. I did see some flicker if standing next to my router but not as bad when I am away from the router. I tend to use mine at night, so the flickering made the tablet unusable. I would have to look away as it loaded pages. It was terrible at night in low light.

Edit: thought I say that the flickering is when the browser is loading data. It mostly stops once the page has loaded.

I felt that it should be replaced with such an issue and am hoping the new one is okay.

Google rep just said can you hold. Came back in a few seconds and said it will be replaced. I didn't fancy taking it to bits so am glad they are replacing it.
[Nexus 7 General] overhc:
I got my third bad one in a row yesterday. It was exhibiting the same symptoms as the first two, if maybe slightly less drastic. I figured I'd keep it a few days and see if I could deal with it. I noticed I was having wifi speed issues with all my devices, and I live in an apartment with a lot of nearby access points, so I checked all the occupied channels and moved my router from channel 6 to 11.

This fixed the flickering

. I know it sounds unrelated, but it seriously does not flicker at all any more, even on the lowest brightness setting.

I don't know enough about wifi radios to explain this. Is the radio using more power when it's trying to maintain a sketchy connection? Does the frequency itself have something to do with it? Whatever it is, I'm pleased to finally have a working N7.

TL;DR Changing my wifi channel fixed it.
[Nexus 7 General] question.com:
I was getting bad flicker. I disabled auto brightness and it's perfect now
[Nexus 7 General] pinoyto:
Thanks...this seems to work for me.
[Nexus 7 General] webad_13:
I changed my channel from automatic to the fixed one - I took channel 13 now since I assume that it is the least used one around here. I will perform some scans at a later stage. To cut the story short, this change indeed affected the flicker - at least for this short testing period the flicker is gone. Thank you for this

Could other people that are having the issue try to make similar test and see if they get any results. I will test it out with lower channels at some point and report the result back.
[Nexus 7 General] kiewee3:
Is test it if I knew how to change my WiFi router settings to a different channel.
[Nexus 7 General] meatlocker:
First Replacement, New Batch

Just got my replacement from the Play Store. Flicker gone, lift gone. However...the colors are completely washed out. Way out of calibration. I put it next to my original, went through all of the brightnesses, and there is definitely something wrong here. Normal skin tones (pinks, reds) are yellow-whitish. If I didn't know any better, I probably would have kept it, but having the two side by side shows a huge difference.

For reference, my original (good color) - C6OK

New Play Store Replacement: C7OK

Back goes the replacement, I guess.
[Nexus 7 General] EnVoYCoOkiE:
I only notice the bad flicker when I'm watching videos through mx player especially with anime.
[Nexus 7 General] jlczl:
As much as I try to find these defects everyone is talking about, I can't find a single fault in my unit. Am I just lucky or just not too picky?
[Nexus 7 General] Solange82200:
You are lucky, along with many others who have a perfect tablet :) .If it had the flicker you would see it after replicating these settings, although one day mine didn't do it for some reason, so test it a couple days to make sure the flicker isn't there
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
Im sorry but before this all becomes urban myth. I have been on 12 since nearly day 1. It didn't make a difference. I will try 11 for ****s N' giggles. You can also on some of them still get it with the wireless turned off.
[Nexus 7 General] webad_13:
Well i believe the idea here was to choose the channel with the least interference. I presume that signal becomes better then and therefore the flicker is reduced. I don't have enough time to test it out fully but last night on channel 13 that no one uses around here (I confirmed with a scan), I was reading in a dark room and didn't notice it - browsing, so reading web content. Normally I would get a noticeable flicker. It might be a myth but at least it allows me to read at night :). In any case I am waiting for a replacement but surprisingly it's been 2 working days and they haven't shipped it yet
[Nexus 7 General] potentiality:
I'm pretty sure I know what's going on. Note the weak WiFi signal that most need in order to reproduce. Both of you have admitted going to channels barely used. So in your cases it could have been the amount of traffic on the default channels causing more power draw for the wireless. Versus the actual physical distance.
[Nexus 7 General] Nascar Dog:
Finally!

After 4 exchanges I finally got one with no screen flicker or other problems. :D

Has a slightly warmer screen. The one's with flicker all had cooler screens.

July build.

S/N: C70KBC21xxxx

My last flicker beast was C60KBC35xxxx
[Nexus 7 General] stingfeelgood:
Original unit: Ordered from Play June 29 Received July 17: May Build

Minor screen separation

Blown speaker

Minor flicker when Auto Brightness On

1st Replacement: Ordered July 24 Received July 26 June Build

Major screen separation

Backlight bleed in lower left quadrant

Very noticeable screen flicker no matter the Auto Brightness setting

Silver bezel on the left side was completely distorted in the center.

Notable "squishyness" over the entire device.

Intolerable flicker

2nd replacement: Ordered July 30 Received Aug 2: Unknown Build Month (Could be a July Build.)

The silver bezel on the left side of the device is 'crimped' towards the center. Ever so slightly.

LCD is seated properly. No screen lift issues.

No display flicker

No backlight bleed

Device is solid in hand.

Not taking the back off of this one

FINALLY!
[Nexus 7 General] BamAlmighty:
Great... my 3rd replacement's screen is now flickering.
[Nexus 7 General] wasnt:
So.. what exactly is everyone doing to replicate this flicker issue? I haven't seen it on mine, but I'm not sure I hit the situation where it would occur. Is there an easy way to try and replicate this?
[Nexus 7 General] DualSportDad:
For me auto brightness on while using the tapatalk app in a dark room.
[Nexus 7 General] Solange82200:
For me and some others, put your brightness on the lowest possible setting, open google maps, and sit in a dark room. Mine would flicker every couple of seconds, or sometimes once a minute or so...

So my replacement for that one doesnt have screen flicker (although the brightness is a lot brighter than the previous one at lowest setting, so maybe it just wont go low enough for me to see it), BUT it seems to have backlight bleed on black background. I attached a picture, with the bleed showing where the arrow is (the bottom part of the screen is glare from the picture, that part is fine).

Please look, am I being too picky? Is it just that I found that cause I was looking, and most devices have this, or should I get it exchanged again?
[Nexus 7 General] just lou:
That light bleed is minor and nothing you'll notice with normal usage.
[Nexus 7 General] Anchorman42:
In my opinion, you are being way too picky. Why take a chance returning it only to get one with a problem that might be noticable during use? All this returning for extremely minor "defects"only drives up the price.
[Nexus 7 General] chichoko:
I can confirm that my C60KBC unit has a very minor screen lifting issue and the screen flickering. I'll wait a week or so to see if Google adresses the flickering issue with an update or I'll RMA it. Pitty cause otherwise the N7 is exceptional.
[Nexus 7 General] rhltechie:
My original unit with flickering was C70KBC158242. My new unit with no flicker is C70KBC434555.
[Nexus 7 General] Nascar Dog:
Luck of the draw...
[Nexus 7 General] The Jones:
I had some screen flicker. I have installed Lux and I haven't seen it since. Must be a software issue.
[Nexus 7 General] mi7chy:
True. Had a higher C70K range SSN that had flicker compared to SSN that was about 200 lower.
[Nexus 7 General] slixzen:
Just want to make sure that this is the issue that everyone is referring to before I overreact:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v5qys026uoh6vqv/20120809_200536.mp4

^ Sorry about sound, I would suggest turning it down to about 25%

https://www.dropbox.com/s/69p6o3z6iozuktl/20120809_193915.mp4
[Nexus 7 General] IceColdKila:
Definite return.
[Nexus 7 General] rhltechie:
yep....they werent that far apart. just hoping the new one doesnt fail on me eventually.
[Nexus 7 General] entauba:
Yes, my unit has the same problem.
[Nexus 7 General] Solange82200:
the nexus 7 i have now is extremely bright, even at darkest setting. ive installed Lux too and it helps, just curious does it actually dim the backlight in a way that saves battery, or is it just adding some sort of filter or shade? thanks!
[Nexus 7 General] expose11:
Just a filter.
[Nexus 7 General] Solange82200:
They say in the description that it saves battery life, and there is no way it could do that if it's a filter, right? Damn that sucks
[Nexus 7 General] Dr.Kildare:
Well same issue here (Low light / auto-brightness & low wi-fi signal / activity screen flicker)

Tried changing WiFi channels without success.

3rd party applications don't really "fix" base issue.

SN: C60KBC385830 (8GB)

Expecting a replacement device on Monday so will roll the dice & see if it's any better.

Good service / support from Google regardless.
[Nexus 7 General] khaytsus:
Might save battery on an amoled, which the N7 isn't.
[Nexus 7 General] bushpilotwannabe:
I'm on my second unit. The screen flicker was not noticeable on the first, but it is on the second. After reading through this thread, I tried changing from channel 6 (2.437 GHz) to channel 11 (2.462 GHz) on my Linksys WRT54GS, and it appears to have eliminated the issue. Don't know if the fix is specific to this particular frequency, or if it's just that it's not commonly used nearby.

To me, this supports the idea that the likely cause of the issue is related in some way to the wifi receiver. I'll probably still exchange it because I can't control other routers, but at least this makes it go away at home until a new one comes.