Google Pixel 4 will revive one of Samsung's most useless Galaxy features

Google must be tired of leaks around its next Pixel 4. The company has unveiled two major features that its flagship product will include: motion control gestures Motion and Face Unlock.

In one Tweet and a blog post, Google describes both features – as well as the new technology built into the phone that makes them possible.

Look at the Internet, no hands. # Pixel4 Learn more https://t.co/PYY0AFcnyI pic.twitter.com/f9v51VbXWdJuly 29, 2019

Motion Sense is made possible by Soli, a motion detection radar with which Google claims to work for five years. Soli is apparently a reduced version of the usual technology, but it is used to detect complex finger gestures instead of planes and ships.

You can use it for simple controls, such as exchanging songs or apps, so that the sound looks a lot like the hand gesture control of the LG G8. Curiously, Google mentions that Motion Sense will only be available in "some Pixel countries".

For us, this feature is reminiscent of Samsung's "aerial gestures" on the Galaxy S4, a feature that accompanies us at TechRadar and has gone down in history as one of the least significant features ever seen in a handset.

The fact that LG and now Google are taking over this old feature gives us the impression that the technology is starting to become more useful, but it still lacks the Killer feature that would make us rather move past a smartphone rather than touching it. .

Back to normal, Face Unlock is described and works much like the Apple Face ID, although it is authenticated as soon as you pick up the phone and work in almost every direction, even from top to bottom .

It seems more versatile and, hopefully, just as safe. (Google post notes that facial recognition is processed on Pixel 4 and stored locally, as well as Soli sensor data, which "is never backed up or shared with other Google services").

Both functions are made possible by a new series of sensors that extend over almost the entire upper frame (which may explain the maintenance of massive solid frame Pixel 3).

This includes an infrared camera, a spotlight and lighting – all for Face Unlock – as well as a Soli radar chip.

Google intends to improve these features over time, which is not surprising given the long-term support of older Pixel phones with the new software. But we imagine that only Pixel 4 and later models will support Motion Sense and Face Unlock.

With the new, with the old

So, if Face Unlock works exactly like Face ID on iOS, does not Google Pixel 4 have a touch sensor? Nothing we've heard so far – or what Google itself has presented – shows a fingerprint sensor on the back or sides of the phone.

Google Pixel 4 may have a fingerprint sensor on the screen, like most phones coming out this year. This would be the first time for Google, as Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a are equipped with traditional rear fingerprint sensors.

But no leaked Pixel 4 drawing showed any fingerprint scanners on the screen, any more than the rumors mentioned.

While Google can wait later to reveal that the phone will have one, which would be far from the most interesting feature, we must keep the possibility that flagship Pixel phones rely on facial recognition for authentication.