The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro haven’t been fully unveiled, but Google already shared a great deal about them when it announced the upcoming phones earlier this month. We’ve seen lots of images of Android 12 running on the new devices, but none of the lockscreen shots have hinted at the location of the in-display fingerprint sensor. Hiroshi Lockheimer may have just given that particular game away.
Google’s SVP of Android tweeted, and then quickly deleted, a screenshot of his new wallpaper (see below) along with Material You styling on the lockscreen. XDA’s Mishaal Rahman was tipped about this on Twitter, and was able to deduce that the image was probably taken on a Pixel 6 Pro — it’s not surprising that the head of Android would be testing Google’s next flagship phone with the release fast approaching.
Lockheimer’s lockscreen (via @MishaalRahman).
The resolution of the image doesn’t quite match what we know about the Pixel 6 Pro (1440×3120), but that’s because the tipster (Jeff Springer) screenshotted the shared image on a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (1440×3200). The screen resolutions are very similar, which makes sense, and it seems as though the in-display fingerprint sensor is going to be in practically the same position. This also matches the placement we saw in the early leaked renders of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra and its in-display fingerprint scanner.
Now, there’s a chance that this is the lockscreen of another phone running the Android 12 beta, but we think it’s probably more likely that it’s a Google device given the design of the lockscreen and its elements. Assuming this screenshot was indeed taken on the Pixel 6 Pro, it would suggest that the fingerprint scanner will be positioned rather high up the device, and we already know that this type of placement can be rather awkward to use, especially for those with smaller hands (Edit: Seems I’m in the minority of people who think this will be awkward to use). This will be the company’s first phone with an in-display sensor, so we’re more than intrigued to see how well it performs.
The gigantic Pixel 6 Pro will have a screen measuring 6.7 inches diagonally, and even the display on the regular Pixel 6 is huge at 6.4 inches. Other than that, we know the phones will be the first to use Google’s in-house Tensor SoC, and we can expect a periscope zoom camera on the larger of the two.
We’re not far away from the full unveiling and release of Google’s next flagship phones now — the event will likely come at some point next month. In the meantime, check out everything we know (and don’t know) about them.
