Google has just recently launched its much awaited 2021 flagship series, the Pixel 6 series. But many early buyers found issues with its slow and sometimes unreliable fingerprint sensor. And now, newer reports have pointed at the biometric scanner suffering from even more dire issues.

According to a thread on Reddit, multiple users have had their fingerprint sensor on the Pixel 6 series break entirely, with the reason being quite bizarre. Reportedly, once the Pixel 6 completely runs out of battery, the smartphone somehow permanently disables the fingerprint sensor. Some users noted that the fingerprint scanner had become entirely non functioning even after rebooting after their phone’s had initially died from an empty battery. As of right now, certain Redditors found that a factory reset was the only way to fix this issue, however, this would be quite a hassle.

Interestingly, one Pixel 6 user also commented on the thread, saying that they faced the issue without their handset running out of battery. In other words, the dead battery might be a primary trigger, but certain other factors related to the battery could potentially be the reason for this issue. Notably, While the search engine giant previously stated that the slow scanner is by design, we had also reported on unregistered fingerprints also managing to unlock the device

Fortunately, Google has acknowledged this problem and an official issue tracker has been registered. So for now, we would suggest making sure that your Pixel 6 series smartphone does not run out of battery if you plan on avoiding a factory reset. Stay tuned for more as well, since we will be providing updates when additional information is available regarding this matter.

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The Google Pixel 6 has been touted by Google as being “a new standard for mobile security”, and makes use of multiple technologies like TrustZone that are processed using a dedicated Titan M2 security chip. However, even with all of that security prowess, Google has seemingly overlooked the most basic aspect with its Pixel 6 series that keeps phones secure – the fingerprint scanner.

A Redditor recently posted a video of his Pixel 6 fingerprint unlock in action. The video quite clearly shows that the device has only one finger registered. But upon handing the phone over to his wife, he found that she was able to unlock it as well – with her unregistered fingerprint.

Other Redditors chimed in saying they’ve observed similar peculiarities, and many have begun to ask if the Google Pixel 6 series’ fingerprint hardware itself isn’t up to the mark.

This comes not long after an influx of complaints about the fingerprint sensor being frustratingly slow and even unresponsive. Google had responded by saying that the “enhanced security algorithms” are to blame as they may take longer to authenticate users’ fingerprints – quite ironic to say for a phone that gives a green light to unregistered fingerprints.

Google is yet to respond to the issue. And while we wait for the California-based tech giant to come up with something clever to say, let’s take the matters into our own hands and try to pinpoint the source of trouble.

So, the Pixel 6 series makes use of the now-dated optical in-display fingerprint scanner tech that works by reflecting light off of your finger. While it’s more economical, it’s not necessarily the most accurate and speediest.

The newer ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner tech first featured on the Samsung Galaxy S10 series is known to be a faster and more reliable alternative as it uses inaudible sound waves instead of light. This enables it to work quite well even through dirt, oil, grime, or water.

Had Google opted for an ultrasonic fingerprint, it’s likely that this problem would never have existed in the first place.

Another potential culprit has been pointed out by none other than the Redditors in the same post. The idea is that screen protectors may retain the fingerprint of a user on the underside and trigger phantom fingerprint detection. This may be possible but is unlikely considering a fingerprint will have to be left in the perfect location.

Regardless, Google needs to address the problem through software optimization if possible and as soon as possible. Security flaws like these, after all, don’t mean well for the image of a phone marketed as going big on security, and may even impact sales.

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