The Pixel 7’s Face Unlock is only for the lock screen and can’t be used to replace a fingerprint
Apple has leaned far in with Face ID in the post-iPhone 8 era with a chunk of dedicated hardware — including a hefty time-of-flight sensor — playing into its devices' design language inone way or another. Google (and the wider Android ecosystem) has generally been more reluctant to stroll along that path for a variety of reasons, but for a lot of people, it boiled down to capitalizing on the fingerprint stans. Now, the company seems more comfortable opening up to both camps in its promoting of Face Unlock on thePixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.
The new Pixels share an “upgraded” wide-angle selfie camera this year to replace disparate sensors on the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. But as Google puts it, this authentication mode really relies on the company’s “advanced machine learning models” for facial recognition.
That said,camera systems have been fooled beforeand Google hasn’t put more stock into facial recognition accuracy on the whole, so it’s giving the usual warnings about having enough light and being conscious of face coverings and has opted to only accept fingerprints when users are verifying Google account sign-ins for apps and mobile payments.
As a matter of convenience, Pixel 7 and 7 Pro owners will be able to rely on either their face or fingerprints to unlock their phone if they decide to set up all those authentication methods — there’s no special hybrid or two-factor system to unlocking these Pixels, just an abundance of biometric options. Google has confirmed to Android Police that its face unlock feature is only for the lock screen, and doesn’t pass the necessary biometric threshold to unlock apps like password managers, or authenticate mobile payments, like its underscreen fingerprint counterpart.
That said, it’s still a great convenience, and we’re looking forward to testing it while we put together our full review.
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Google’s Pixel 7 Pro refines the Pixel experience after the 6 Pro’s initial stumbles last year, improving stability and taking the camera prowess to new levels with image fusing and 4K60fps video on all cameras. 30W fast charging and Pixel’s addictive features like automatic Call screening and Pixel recorder help make the Pixel 7 Pro an alluring phone even as an iterative update.
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