Google Working on Pixel 6 Face Unlock Feature, Could Depend on Under-Display Fingerprint Sensor: Report

Google is said to be continuing its work on bringing the facial recognition feature to the Pixel 6. Future devices, including the upcoming the Pixel 7 series also expected to benefit from this feature. According to a new report citing industry sources, Google could be working on using the under-display fingerprint sensor in conjunction with the face unlock feature. This approach is reportedly energy efficient and is expected to work on a wide range of Pixel smartphones. Notably, the Pixel 6 Pro was rumoured to come with face unlock, however, the feature was reportedly pulled close to its launch.

According to a 9to5Google report, Google is developing a version of face unlock that also uses the under-display fingerprint sensor. This new feature reportedly works by lowering the recognition threshold for the fingerprint sensor when the smartphone partially recognises a face. The accuracy requirement of a fingerprint match would be significantly lowered, as per the report.

Notably, this new feature does not require any new hardware to function as intended. As such, this approach could bring the face unlock feature to both Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, and Google is reportedly testing this feature on these smartphones.

The use of face unlock with the fingerprint sensor could also function on the Pixel 6a and other a-series Google smartphones, according to the report. Even the upcoming Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro could also utilise this feature. Notably, this approach is said to be more energy efficient than the traditional face unlock feature.

The report further mentions that this new approach could be Google’s ploy to get the best out of the below-average under-display sensor on Pixel 6 series smartphones. The recognition speed of the sensor is said to be sluggish in comparison to the speeds offered by other flagship smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup. Google is yet to officially announce plans to introduce a facial recognition-based system for its Pixel smartphone lineup.