Updated on July 7 with video of the pink variant of the Pixel 9.
Google’s Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro from last year.
Google’s next Pixel smartphones are launching next month, and new details suggest a much-needed upgrade is coming soon.
The Android Authority team reports, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the three Pixel 9 devices (the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL) will all feature an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner.
This should improve the responsiveness and accuracy of the biometric sensor in upcoming devices. The fingerprint readers on the last few Pixel devices have not been well received, with Google’s support pages full of complaints about the sensors, asking why they are unresponsive and inaccurate.
The current (and older) Pixels use an optical sensor, which can be weak in exactly the way many users have found and which, by its nature, are limited to 2D scanning. A switch to an ultrasonic sensor should provide more reliability when reading your fingerprint, more security when unlocking your device, and more accuracy when dealing with a wet screen or finger.
The new sensor isn’t the only upgrade Google is expected to make to the core hardware of the Pixel 9 series. An improved display has been spotted in the supply chain. Google could be gearing up to adopt dual-stack technology, which would give the Pixel 9 a brighter, longer-lasting display with lower power consumption.
A Google Pixel 8 Pro phone is shown off at a product launch event (Photo by ED JONES/AFP via … [+]
Update: Sunday July 7th: Following the latest display details, two new videos have surfaced online revealing a new variant of the Pixel 9 sporting a deep pink color scheme. The videos from retail outlets in Algeria show the vanilla Pixel 9 model.
The reworked camera bar is clearly visible. Instead of stretching the full length of the phone’s back, like on the Pixel 6, 7 and 8 models, the camera bar stops just short of the bezels with wide rounded corners, matching leaked renders from earlier this year.
This camera bar echoes a design preview from last year’s Pixel Fold. You can also see the dual lenses in the bar, along with an LED flash. The larger Pixel 9 Pro is expected to come with triple-lens, including a x5 periscope zoom telephoto lens.
Google is holding a launch event on August 9, where it will launch all three Pixel 9 devices, along with the next-generation Google AI.
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