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Google makes Face Unlock official for Pixel 7 series; new fingerprint sensor is included too

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By Alan Friedman

Updated: Oct 06, 2022, 5:45 PM

Google makes Face Unlock official for Pixel 7 series; new fingerprint sensor is included too

During today's Made by Google event, the company revealed that the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will feature Face Unlock. Google is also known to share new features with older Pixel models so those with the Pixel 6 Pro are hoping that this feature makes its way to last year's premium model although that is not something that appears to be in the cards after today's event. Google told us later today that it has nothing to share at this point.

The Face Unlock on the new Pixel 7 series will use the 10.8MP front-facing camera. There was speculation last year that the Pixel 6 Pro was going to be released with Face Unlock but Google reportedly pulled the feature at the last moment. Since then, there have been various rumors about an update that would use the front-facing image sensor on the Pixel 6 Pro to create a depth map of the user's face which would make the feature secure.

Google announces Face Unlock for the Pixel 7 series

Unlike the Pixel 4 series and the iPhone, the new Pixels do not include the sensors used for facial recognition on those phones. Google did say that it plans on using "advanced machine learning models" powered by the new Google Tensor 2 to implement Face Unlock for the new Pixel models. This would seem to eliminate the Pixel 6 Pro from receiving the feature although other alternative methods could still be in play.

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Google also told us that the under-display fingerprint sensor on the new phones is a big improvement over the biometric reader on the Pixel 6 line. The company said, "When compared to Pixel 6, Pixel 7 devices use a new generation of under-display fingerprint sensor with higher performance, including a 30% latency improvement, to help deliver a more seamless unlock experience."

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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