[Google Pixel 2 Questions & Answers] cb474:
Can anyone confirm that this does not happen to some degree on all phones?

As I note above, though I never thought before to put the earpiece to my ear when I'm not making a call on my old Nexus 4, after reading this I discovered it also makes static and electronic interference noises when the screen is on. In fact, it's even there, but only very faintly, when it's off. It does not make a ticking sound, though, which I can imagine is more annoying, especially if it is audible during calls.

Anyway, I'm just wondering it it's reasonable to expect there to be no sound like this at all. Maybe it's just more pronounced and obvious on the Pixel 2, but not necessarily unexpected on a smartphone.

Also, are there any more people other than the OP who has a Pixel 2 that does not make the clicking sound (he said his wife's does not, but his does)?

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[Edit: Okay, I just started setting up my Pixel 2 and I definitely have the clicking sound. I'm officially annoyed. It's only there when the phone is unlocked, not when the screen is on but the phone is locked. Definitely audible during calls.

I do also hear a static noise and some high pitched electronic sounds, when the screen is locked, but it's pretty faint and not significantly different from what I've described on my Nexus 4. So to me the clicking sound is the real issue.]

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[Edit 2: The clicking sound went away.

I have no idea what caused this, if anything. I factory reset the phone, just so I'd be able to tell customer support I'd already tried that, and it did not help. The clicking was still there. Then I was going through and changing settings--most of which I had done before the factory reset and the clicking sound was still there. The only thing I can think of is that I was disabling a lot of the app permissions. I think I disabled more this time than before the factory reset. I prefer not to allow access to the microphone, location, anything that seems privacy related, if not necessary. So I was even disabling stuff for the Google app and Google play services, which in several instances gave me a warning that the phone might no work properly, but I did it anyway. It was soon after this that I notice the clicking sound was gone.

I tried re-enabling a few things having to do with the micophone (thinking that could create feedback or something), but that did not bring the clicking sound back.

Something else I did that I hadn't done before the factory reset was calibrate the compass. I noticed it was way off in the maps, so I just did the figure eight flipping around motion that maps sometimes prompts one to do to calibrate the compass. That did fix the compass.

Anyway, perhaps the disappearance of the clicking had nothing to do with any of these settings. I'm a bit mystified and baffled. I'd also been charging the phone at the same time.

The high pitched electronic sound I was hearing is also less noticeable. I don't hear it with my ear to the earpiece; but I just discovered it's much more noticeable with my ear to the top back of the phone. I do still hear the faint static noise that I described in the earpiece.

Lastly, this could be totally unrelated, but wondering if the clicking is just from something not being put together correctly, I tapped the phone on the top edge and notice that something sounds faintly loose or like it's ratting in the top of the phone. I don't hear this anywhere else on the phone and it only works by tapping the phone on the side at the top or on the edge of the top. Actually, I can hear something similar, but lower pitched tapping the phone on the bottom. It's more like something vibrating inside the phone, than like something is loose. Perhaps components in the speakers? I assume there are small moving components in the speakers for them to function (or maybe not?). I notice I can provoke a similar sound from the earpiece in my Nexus 4. Anyone else notice this?

Anyway, I hope this is somehow helpful. I suppose I won't be surprised if the clicking sound comes back.]