Google Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro Could Feature Biometric Face Unlock, eSIM MEP: Report

Google's Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will soon be launched on 6 October, but with the launch drawing nearer it's getting more difficult for the tech giant to keep its new smartphones under wraps. Both devices have now reportedly shown up on Google's Play Console and that appearance has also revealed some interesting features that could be unique to Pixel devices. The new Pixel 7 smartphones will feature the new Tensor G2 SoC and will also be coming to India this time.

Google's Play Developer Console is basically a place for app developers to publish their apps and monitor their app's performance. The two phones were first spotted by Mishaal Rahman on the Play Console who revealed more details about the upcoming phones in a thread on Reddit.

Both smartphones were said to be running Android 13. The source claims that the two phones will offer eSIM MEP feature that basically lets one smartphone connect to two eSIM providers simultaneously. The feature according to the source was expected to show up with Android 13, but Google's new Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will reportedly be the first smartphones to showcase the new eSIM technology. Another related detail that has leaked is that only the Pro model is said to feature ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology, which is also only available on the current Pixel 6 Pro model.

Another new feature revealed in the same thread, that could be the highlight of this year's Pixel smartphones, is face unlock. Both the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro have reportedly shown up with support for Android's biometric face unlock feature, which was last seen on Google's Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL smartphones (that never made it to India). The source claims that the Pixel 6 Pro was supposed to get the same feature using its front-facing camera along with software, but for reasons best known to Google, the tech giant cancelled the feature.

With the front-facing camera looking perfectly normal in previously leaked renders and videos, it will be interesting to see how Google implements secure biometric face unlock using a regular selfie camera. Google pulled off something interesting several years ago on the Pixel 2 when it managed to create a depth map using the Phase-Detection Auto-Focus (PDAF) pixels found in its single sensor rear camera. By splitting images viewed through the two viewpoints (that were less than 1mm apart) Google managed to compute stereo and produce a depth map without the use of a second camera to assist with the same.

Google's premium range consisting of its Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones will finally be making their way to India this year. The company hasn't launched a high-end premium smartphone in India since the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL back in 2018.