Pixel 11 Pro Face Unlock Still Sets Google Apart, Android Authority Says

The column's author, who said he had used Google's flagship Android phone for more than a month, praised its cameras, design, and clean software, but wrote that Face Unlock was the feature he left out of his Pixel 11 Pro review. Google has included Face Unlock on every Pixel phone launched since the Pixel 8 Pro nearly three years ago, though the company rarely discusses the feature now, the column said.

Starting with the Pixel 8 Pro and the base Pixel 8 in 2023, Google gave its Pixel handsets two secure biometric unlock options: an in-screen fingerprint sensor and an updated Face Unlock, according to the column. Most Android phones today offer some form of face unlock, but the Pixel implementation differs from rivals such as Samsung and Motorola, whose face unlock can only unlock the lock screen. On Pixels, Google's Tensor chips provide a security boost that makes Face Unlock secure enough for sensitive apps and mobile payments, the column said. The fundamental technology has not changed since the Pixel 8 series, it added.

The author wrote that he does not dislike fingerprint sensors and described the Pixel 11 Pro's sensor as quite good. He said having both fingerprint and full face unlock is convenient. When he is holding the phone, placing his thumb on the fingerprint sensor is usually the fastest and most natural way to unlock it or open a banking app. When the phone is lying on an office desk or kitchen table, glancing at it to unlock is better. He prefers each method under different circumstances. That choice is not available on any other major Android phone in the US, according to the column.

The column said Face Unlock is one reason the author gravitates toward Pixels over competing Android phones. It described the feature as a quality-of-life addition that is hard to live without once users are accustomed to it, and said it remains as impressive as it was at launch three years later. The author wished more Android brands would copy Google's approach.

They have not, according to the column. In September 2026, Google remains the only Android brand in the US and other parts of the world offering the feature, the column said, even though other Android brands would seem eager to copy an approach that has been available for three years. The reason, the column argued, is Tensor. While Google's Tensor chipsets receive criticism in benchmark comparisons, Face Unlock on Pixel phones exists only because of Tensor, it said. Instead of building specialized facial recognition hardware like Apple's Face ID, Google uses a standard front-facing camera paired with machine learning models tuned to the custom TPU in its Tensor chips, according to the column. Samsung and Motorola would have to spend enormous amounts of time and money to make similar models work with the non-specialized Qualcomm and MediaTek chips they use, it said. The column concluded that Tensor may lose benchmark tests, but the trade-off is worth it because it enables features such as Face Unlock.