Google Could Bring Biometric Face Unlock to Its Pixel 7 Series

Google’s third and presumably final design video ahead of the October 6 event, the Pixel 7 series will be getting face unlock.

Google opens on the Lemongrass Pixel 7 with its predominantly light yellow glass back, and equally light gold/copper camera bar that blends into the side rails, which are not all black this year. We get a good look at the matte aluminum texture, with the company going with a “Sophistication comes to #Pixel7” tagline.

From this video, the Pixel 7 does indeed look more refined than last year’s Pixel 6, which felt very utilitarian. Namely, the camera bar jutted out of the rear way too much. That looks to still be the case this year, but the sloping sides might help. Another shot then shows more of the screen emphasizing how it will be blockier than the Pixel 7 Pro.

Meanwhile, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro hit the developer-facing Google Play Console this morning. We get additional confirmation that there’s 8GB of RAM on the smaller phone, while it’s 12GB on the larger device.

The Pixel 7 has a 1080×2400 display with 420 DPI, while the 7 Pro is 1440×3120 at 560DPI. Both phones are obviously launching with Android 13, but only the more premium unit has UWB (ultra-wide band, android.hardware.uwb), which lines up with the FCC filing.

As strongly suggested by our dive into the Android 13 QPR1 Beta, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro will have face unlock, specifically android.hardware.biometrics.face (as spotted by Mishaal Rahman). We’ve chronicled in depth Google’s work on face unlock over recent months, and the company is presumably using DPAF (dual-pixel auto-focus) on the front-facing camera, which both phones support, to create a depth map.

September 30, 2022