While the above thread is a month old, earlier today a Redditor posted “This happens to me several times a day. I do use a screen protector.” So obviously, this is a problem that still affects Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro users. But there is no proof that using a screen protector causes this issue. And switching between enabling and disabling the screen protector mode doesn’t make a difference (Settings > Display > Screen protector mode).
Toggling the Pixel’s screen protector mode will not fix the issue
Since a screen protector doesn’t seem to be the issue, that news cheered up one Pixel 7 series owner who posted just a few minutes ago, “I have the Whitestone dome screen protector and thought [I] was going crazy, I was starting to think this expensive ass screen protector was the issue lmfao.” And a Pixel 7 Pro user pointed out on Reddit that since installing the February update at the beginning of the month, he still experiences dead spots on his phone’s screen from time to time.