Google's Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are now at three different issues involving the fingerprint scanner alone
If you've been lucky to order and receive your hot new Pixel 6 or 6 Pro early enough to be using Google's latest 5G-enabled handsets for more than a few days, odds are you're already thinking about disabling the disappointingly fickle in-display fingerprint sensor.
Ironically, Big G might beat you to the punch there if you forget to plug in your stock Android-running smartphone before it switches off or simply don't like to hug a wall until you absolutely have to.
Believe it or not, a worrying number of Pixel 6 and 6 Pro owners claim their fingerprint readers have randomly and abruptly stopped working after completely running out of power. It's unclear exactly what the two phones' biometric recognition technology and battery have in common, but there are far too many reports connecting those events to still assume they're unrelated.
Obviously, not every single Pixel 6-series unit in circulation has ended up with an unusable fingerprint scanner after having its battery depleted. But you'd probably think the issue is widespread and serious enough for Google to acknowledge it and prepare a fix, which unfortunately doesn't seem to have happened yet.
While there's a pretty clear and simple way to ensure you won't join the ever-expanding group of Redditors impacted by this particular glitch (namely, don't let your Pixel 6 die before charging it), those who already find themselves in that boat apparently have (almost) nowhere to turn.
The only thing that can get the fingerprint recognition feature to work again is a factory reset, which is not something most people are willing to do without a (more) serious justification. Restarting the fingerprint enrollment process or trying to register someone else's fingerprint inevitably ends in error, and impacted users are left having to rely on other device unlocking methods.
That's fairly inconvenient for a "modern" and very well-reviewed handset that's otherwise undoubtedly among the best Android phones money can buy right now. Sadly, for those keeping score at home, this is the third different fingerprint issue and the... umpteenth general flaw reported in just the two weeks since the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro 5G have been commercially released.
Given its reasonable price point, that might be acceptable for the "standard" 6.4-inch model, but it's certainly a bad look as far as the $899 and up ultra-high-end 6.7-inch Pro variant is concerned.
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