[Update: All affected devices will be replaced] Google bricks some Homes and Home Minis with firmware update and often there's no reset possible
Even though you probably don't notice that any of your Google Home devices are constantly receiving firmware updates, they get new software all the time. Most likely, you'll only realize it when something goes really wrong, which is exactly what more and more people are reporting on Google's help forum and Reddit. They say their Google Homes and Google Home Minis have been bricked following an OTA, and they receive little to no help from Google when they're outside of warranty.
The issue has been around for a while already, but reports are starting to pile in Google's support forums. People say that they've found their Homes with all four LEDs turned on and unresponsive. Simply unplugging and replugging their speakers could resolve the problem for some while others managed to go through a factory reset to make their Homes work again, but even more people say that no matter what they do, their devices remain bricked.
A Google community specialist joined the discussion and wrote that "the team is working on this issue and checking the root cause since not all Google Home devices are affected." The statement was issued on September 28, but since then, there hasn't been any further information.
Parallelly, discussions on Reddit revolve around the same issues. Redditors complain that Google won't replace their bricked devices when they're outside of warranty, even if it seems pretty certain it was the company's update that ended the speakers. Hopefully, Google will be able to resolve the issue, even if it can't fix it via software and has to replace hardware outside of warranty.
Google replacing all affected devices
Google provided a statement saying it's aware of the issue. It plans to roll out a fix that should prevent bricking going forward. Contrary to the previous stance, Google now states it'll replace all affected devices, regardless of whether or not they're currently under warranty. If you're experiencing the problems, try reaching out to the company again.
We are aware that a small number of Google Home and Google Home Mini devices are affected by an issue that causes the device to stop working. We have a fix that will prevent the issue from happening and will be rolling it out soon. We are replacing affected devices.
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