Pixel 4

Nobody is sure about it right now. The Sonar could be used for both Face authentication and hand gestures like the G8, I would think. I would hope Google can recognize how useless and gimmicky the hand gestures are though and would much rather compete with Apple's FaceID that's much more useful and practical. But Google put Active Edge on their phones too.. which I actually like and find useful for the occasions I use it, but it seems to be ignored by most Pixel users.

If Google can make a Face ID competitor as good as or better (in terms of the angle/range it works at), then I can prolly get past the loss of the FP scanner, but I'm not sure I really trust Google to pull off that kind of execution with a different kind of tech as well (sonar vs IR). So I would just really hope they put the fingerprint scanner as an alternative on there for the times it does come up short on facial recognition. I could see them going either way though since most Android competitors are using in-glass fingerprint scanners now, but none of them have comparable (to Apple's) facial recognition either.

Clear and concise explanations.
 
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Face ID strikes me about as secure as saying "Okay, Google... the password to my TDA account is iluvmoney."

When you say FaceID, are you referring to Apple Face ID or to the facial identification methods being used on competing Android phones? From what I have been reading FaceID (Apple) is very strong in security.

It's going to be very interesting to see what the Pixel 4 brings to the table.
 
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I am on the fence with facial identification for logging in because of certain circumstances. I always think the worst possible case of being tied up by my wife as she scans my phone to unlock it for her shopping purposes.
 

When you say FaceID, are you referring to Apple Face ID or to the facial identification methods being used on competing Android phones? From what I have been reading FaceID (Apple) is very strong in security.

It's going to be very interesting to see what the Pixel 4 brings to the table.
To be more on point, I just don't trust facial recognition in general as a method for security.
 
I really like Face ID and don't mind losing the fingerprint reader on the iPhone, although I will acknowledge the limitations. You can't unlock the phone with someone's sleeping face, though -- your eyes have to be open.

Summertime makes me hate the shit out of Face ID when I have to pull off and on sunglasses constantly. I much prefer an FP reader.
 
I have a long/hate relationship with the finger print reader. Any slight grease, sweat or water moisture makes it impossible to use.
 
Summertime makes me hate the shit out of Face ID when I have to pull off and on sunglasses constantly. I much prefer an FP reader.

Whether or not it works with sunglasses depends on the polarization, I understand -- there are some sunglasses where it works flawlessly. I do understand the frustration, though... not sure how Apple works around that, if it can. Infrared does have its limitations.
 
I'd much rather have to take off my sunglasses versus having to put my hands through an oven after I wash them.
 
I've always enjoyed fingerprint readers on the front of the phone. I never could get used to them on the back and would often end up either scanning half my fingertip or run my finger along the back searching for it. If I had to order my preference:

1) Fingerprint Scanner (Front)
2) FaceID/Face Scanner
3) Fingerprint Scanner (Rear)
4) Iris Scanner

Was hoping the Pixel 4 would have the under display fingerprint scanner, but I don't think they're heading that way unfortunately. I've never tried the fingerprint scanners on the side buttons, but I feel that may also be a really good option.
 
Hopefully you can disable or opt out a lot of the motion/gesture stuff. I jog and work-out while either holding my phone or with it in my pocket. I don't want it going haywire because of that movement.
 
Hopefully you can disable or opt out a lot of the motion/gesture stuff. I jog and work-out while either holding my phone or with it in my pocket. I don't want it going haywire because of that movement.

Something like this is trivial to turn off if an app is running that doesn't support it, or if the app wants it turned off in general.
 
Pixel 4 Face Unlock looks promising and Soli will have a unique involvement with the unlocking procedure. Pixel 4 will be using 2 IR cameras (Apple uses 1) , a Dot projector, and a Flood illuminator.

"Other phones require you to lift the device all the way up, pose in a certain way, wait for it to unlock, and then swipe to get to the homescreen. Pixel 4 does all of that in a much more streamlined way. As you reach for Pixel 4, Soli proactively turns on the face unlock sensors, recognizing that you may want to unlock your phone. If the face unlock sensors and algorithms recognize you, the phone will open as you pick it up, all in one motion. Better yet, face unlock works in almost any orientation—even if you're holding it upside down—and you can use it for secure payments and app authentication too". Google


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My first question on this new Sonar thing, how does it effect battery life? It looks sorta cool, not sure how much I'd use it? Maybe rarely, or always, no idea without seeing it live, but it's not something I've dreamed of wanting needing.

Face ID sounds good and bad. I have never owned a phone with it.

Overall my thoughts are, hmmm ok.
 
Why is the display corners still round when it has a bezel? What a waste of space!
 
Pixel 4 Face Unlock vs. Apple Face ID: How they're different and how Google's might be better.
Both are using well-established tech to detect your face and unlock your phone, but there are some substantial differences in the hardware and the methods. Jerry Hildenbrand
 
Pixel 4 Face Unlock vs. Apple Face ID: How they're different and how Google's might be better.
Both are using well-established tech to detect your face and unlock your phone, but there are some substantial differences in the hardware and the methods. Jerry Hildenbrand


Thanks for the detailed write up. So Google's version sound like it will be more accurate and faster than Apple's?

Still not happy with the dated looking forehead top bezel. That will be hard to get used too. But if the Sonar is that good, it will be worth it.
 
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The more I read about this Face Unlock, the more I'm convinced that my current Pixel (3XL) will be my last Pixel.

Okay, Google... you just lost a customer. (n)
 
As someone who has used an iPhone X since launch, so about 2 years, FaceID isn’t the end of the world. It has improved over this time making it feel slightly quicker.

Do I prefer fingerprint scanners? Definitely. I still run into issues every so often where I can’t unlock my phone with FaceID in direct sunlight. But that’s only happened to me a handful of times and in the grand scheme of things only a tiny fraction of a percent of the total times I’ve unlocked the phone.

I don’t think Google’s implementation will be able to solve that issue either. But it does appear that it is better than the current implementation of FaceID due to its ability to scan at any angle and orientation.
 
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Question on face ID does that follow your eyes if you're reading web pages let's say you have the screen time out to 1 minute and normally you have to at least touch the phone or move the screen up and down for a second to keep it the display on but does face ID get rid of the need for screen timeout? Does it just know you're looking at the phone so if you want to read an article for 5 minutes it'll stay on?
 
Question on face ID does that follow your eyes if you're reading web pages let's say you have the screen time out to 1 minute and normally you have to at least touch the phone or move the screen up and down for a second to keep it the display on but does face ID get rid of the need for screen timeout? Does it just know you're looking at the phone so if you want to read an article for 5 minutes it'll stay on?
Yes, under the FaceID options there is an "Attention Aware Features" toggle that states, "TrueDepth camera will check for attention before dimming the display or lowering the volume of alerts."
 
Yes, under the FaceID options there is an "Attention Aware Features" toggle that states, "TrueDepth camera will check for attention before dimming the display or lowering the volume of alerts."

Great thanks. To me that seems like such a no brainer, all phones should do that.
 
I hated face id for the first while. Once you get used to it you wonder how you did without it. I just pick up my phone and use it. No extra steps to unlock my phone, it just works when I pick it up. My only criticism is I wish it would go to my home screen instead of having me swipe up once it scans my face.
 
I hated face id for the first while. Once you get used to it you wonder how you did without it. I just pick up my phone and use it. No extra steps to unlock my phone, it just works when I pick it up. My only criticism is I wish it would go to my home screen instead of having me swipe up once it scans my face.

My problem with this is the assumption that I want to use my phone when I look at it.

I see many 'fuck off's muttered in the direction of my phone in the future.
 
My problem with this is the assumption that I want to use my phone when I look at it.

I see many 'fuck off's muttered in the direction of my phone in the future.

Yeah, I like the current face-unlock method where you still have to swipe up after it authenticates you to get to your home screen, so you can just read and dismiss notifications from the lock screen before unlocking the phone if you want to. But this could easily be a toggle/option in the settings to either stay on the lock screen or send you to the launcher after face authenticating, I just don't see Google making it an option unfortunately since here lately they've been removing more settings than adding them (WiFi/BT management in notification shade, burying BT devices menu, removing settings button from first swipe notification shade, no nav buttons on newer phones, etc.) and apparently think they know how we want to use our phones more than we do.

Or Google could still include a fingerprint scanner under the display, but I don't see that happening at this point, which is unfortunate for me as this may be a deal breaker. But I await its release and reviews to judge it more fairly and I still may pick one up at some point if they have a decent sale, until then my 2 XL is still chugging along great so far with pretty good battery life too.
 
I’m hoping Google will throw a curve ball and include an in display fingerprint scanner. They then could do two factor authentication if the user decided where you’d scan your fingerprint and face at once. Or let the user choose face or fingerprint scanning. It could be one of their major talking points in terms of security.

Wishful thinking though.
 
I honestly don't really have an opinion on the fingerprint and/or face recognition stuff. I side eyed fingerprint scanners at first and now I don't think twice about it. In fact, I like how quick and easy it is.
The face unlock stuff on the iPhone doesn't seem to give my parents or friends any issues. As long as it works, I'll get used to it in a week and never look back.
Obviously there are big brother implications of all of this stuff, but we're already in pretty deep with the fingerprints.
I'm still most interested in 5G and battery life. Better cameras are always nice, but I dunno if I'd really notice that much.
 
They then could do two factor authentication if the user decided where you’d scan your fingerprint and face at once.

Unfortunately, both face and fingerprint scanning fall under the single 'what you are' factor of authentication. We could certainly call it stronger biometric authentication.
 
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This should put things into perspective regarding trustworthiness.
If you lose your phone or have it stolen, this is what would be encountered when someone tries to unlock the phone.

===> Apple said the probability that a random person could unlock someone else's iPhone X was approximately one in 1,000,000, versus one in 50,000 for Touch ID. And they get a limited amount of unsuccessful attempts before they’re locked out.

Google Pixel 4 replicates the technology of Apple's method of facial recognition. As for access and ease of use, the Pixel 4 has an additional IR camera and a Soli radar chip.

As for the remaining methods of unlocking the phone. There’s a 1 in 10,000 chance someone could just guess a four digit passcode and a 1 in 1,000,000 chance they could guess your six digit pass code.
You're working awfully hard to get me on board. :ROFLMAO:

I'm sure I'll give the 4XL a shot. I just don't have much hope it'll win me over this time.
 
To be more on point, I just don't trust facial recognition in general as a method for security.

This should put things into perspective regarding trustworthiness.
If you lose your phone or have it stolen, this is what would be encountered when someone tries to unlock the phone.

===> Apple said the probability that a random person could unlock someone else's iPhone X was approximately one in 1,000,000, versus one in 50,000 for Touch ID. And they get a limited amount of unsuccessful attempts before they’re locked out.

Google Pixel 4 replicates the technology of Apple's method of facial recognition. It also improves on it by adding an additional IR camera and includes a Soli radar chip.

As for the remaining methods of unlocking the phone. There’s a 1 in 10,000 chance someone could just guess a four digit passcode and a 1 in 1,000,000 chance they could guess your six digit pass code.
 
We've seen a lot of good leaks on the Pixel 4 line so far have there been any specification leaks?

-Battery size? 4,000mAh hopefully
-RAM? 6GB or 8GB?
-Screen type? Flat or curved?
 
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