Another day, another issue for the Pixel 6 series' in-display fingerprint scanners
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The Google 6 and Pixel 6 Pro continue to have issues with their fingerprint scanners. Just the other day we passed along Google's explanation for the laggy performance of the biometric reader which has moved from the rear panel to under the display. In a tweet, Google blamed the lag on security algorithms that take longer to verify a user's fingerprints.
Pixel 6 series has another issue with the fingerprint scanner
The latest issue to affect the Pixel 6 series fingerprint scanner is one that allows someone whose fingerprint is not registered on the phones to unlock the devices using their...fingerprints. For example, a Reddit subscriber recently wrote, "Wondering if anyone out there is experiencing the same issue as me."
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"I recently purchased a Pixel 6," he wrote, "and have one fingerprint registered to the phone. My wife is able to open the phone using her index finger. I've tried wiping the screen protector clean but her one finger works to open the phone every time."
Some other Reddit users posted possible reasons why this is happening. One possible explanation written by a responding Reddit member said, "Maybe what it is recording is not just fingerprint but whatever it sees on the underside of the screen protector. So then similar prints are accepted because of the pattern of the screen protector."
Others responded that the problem is with the sensor itself with one person stating that "this sensor is far from ideal. It does the job but it seems way more likely to let a similar print slip by." Another Pixel 6 user explained to Reddit users how he had a similar issue as the original poster.
"Yes! This happened to me and my brother!," he wrote. "His thumb was able to unlock my phone after a few attempts pretty reliably. I have no screen protector on mine and the phone screen was wiped clean between me using it and him using it (some folks guessed maybe it was seeing a fingerprint that I left behind). I don't think this fingerprint sensor is the most secure."
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Scientific American says that the odds of two people having the same fingerprint is 1 in 64 trillion. And if that isn't prohibitive enough, what are the odds if the two people happen to be husband and wife? Obviously, you don't have to be a math whiz to understand that the problem is with the Pixel's in-display fingerprint sensor and has nothing to do with a very unlikely coincidence.
So we add the fingerprint scanner to a list of issues that have confronted owners of the new Pixel 6 models. Just as day follows night, you can always count on new Pixel units having some problems. Google is usually able to fix these by disseminating a software update and that is likely to be the case here as well.
By the way, there are other problems with the fingerprint scanner including one that makes the on-screen fingerprint icon disappear when the always-on display is active. Activate the display again, and the icon returns. And when you go to "Developer options" in the system menu, changing the speed of animations displayed on the phone will break the fingerprint scanner.
A flickering screen is another issue facing Pixel 6 Pro users
If only the fingerprint scanner was the only problem. Google has admitted that there is a problem with a flickering screen on the Pixel 6 Pro. The bug makes the display flicker when the device is turned on. Google says that the next security update will contain a fix for the problem.
And while not necessarily a bug, there is a huge debate about the Pixel 6 series' battery life. while the phones do pack plenty of power (4614mAh for the Pixel 6 and 5003mAh for the Pixel 6 Pro), depending on who you ask, the battery life is fantastic and something to write home about, or is a concern. After putting the new phones through the paces, we were content with the battery life on the new Pixel models.
There are plenty of reports about the battery needing two weeks to learn how you use the device. This has resulted in improvements in battery life over this time period as noticed by Max Weinbach. In a tweet, Weinbach stated, "Pixel 6 Pro battery life has gotten much better for me over the past 2 weeks. It can take a while for adaptive battery shit to kick in and it absolutely has now. Also, I got the phone 2 weeks ago today. Yesterday I ended the day with 67% and 3 hours SoT."
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