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Following a tenuous cycle of “leaks,” theGoogle Pixel 8 seriesand thePixel Watch 2were finally revealed last morning at theMade by Googlehardware event. We’ve already gone in-depth with thePixel 8and thePixel 8 Pro, detailing what’s new with the flagships. We can now confirm a nifty (and long overdue) addition to the Pixel 8’s bag of tricks — Face Unlock authentication for banking and other secure apps.
While thePixel 4 seriesfeatured dedicated hardware to accommodate secure facial recognition with the help of a flood illuminator, infrared cameras, and dot projector, Google decided to ditch it with the Pixel 5 and Pixel 6. Then with last year’sPixel 7 and 7 Pro, Google decided to bring backfacial recognition with Face Unlock, but sans the dedicated hardware. This meant its functionality was limited to simply unlocking the phone while missing out on the ability to makeNFC paymentson Google Pay/Wallet or other banking apps. This was a peculiar omission, given that fellowAndroid smartphone maker Samsunghas already supported facial recognition for payments through Samsung Wallet (formerly Samsung Pay) and sign-ins.
Googlesaida combination of the Tensor G3 processor and the Titan M2 security chip on the Pixel 8 series finally matches the “highest Android biometric class” required for secure banking apps, referencingClass 3. So customers can finally make NFC payments using Face Unlock on the Pixel 8 series, among other tasks, such as signing in to another app.
“And now, Face Unlock on Pixel 8 meets the highest Android biometric class, allowing you to access compatible banking and payment apps like Google Wallet.”
To be clear, this is made possible thanks to the bevy of machine learning and artificial algorithms built into the Tensor G3 SoC and the Titan M2 security chip, according to Google. So devices like the Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 series probably won’t see this rather basic feature in their lifetimes.
As The Vergereports, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro don’t feature dedicated hardware to enable secure payments through Face Unlock, so the ML and AI elements are seemingly doing a bulk of the heavy lifting here. It will be interesting to see how that works out in real-world situations.
Google is clearly late to the party here, although we can’t envision customers of older Pixel phones switching over to the Pixel 8 specifically for this reason. Thankfully for the manufacturer, there is a ton of other stuff onboard,particularly on the Pixel 8 Pro, making it well worth the upgrade for customers of the Pixel 5XLor the Pixel 6 Pro, for example.
As9to5Googleadds, Google hasn’t specified if Face Unlock has been improved to work in low-light conditions, so you may still see prompts to enter your PIN or fingerprint in such scenarios. In terms of preference, Google is listing Face Unlock on par with fingerprint authentication for banking and other secure apps, which technically means they can be used interchangeably. In its current form, while people can use Face Unlock on the Pixel 7 series to unlock the device, they will be asked to use either one of the saved fingerprints or PIN to authenticate a payment on Google Pay or any other banking app.
While this new addition largely flew under the radar, Google was more open about some of the other features making it into the Pixel 8 series, especially components likeAssistant with Bard, bringing the company’s AI chops to the personal assistant. There’s more on board, of course, and we’ll take a granular look at all the new additions in our reviews of the Pixel 8/Pixel 8 Pro, and not to forget thePixel Watch 2, over the next few days. Both flagship phones can be pre-ordered now, with availability/shipments slated to begin on October 12.
UPDATE: 2025-07-25 20:41 EST BY CHETHAN RAO
A previous version of this article mentioned the inclusion of “new sensors” to authenticate payments via Face Unlock. This is incorrect. We have since updated the story to reflect the changes.
Google Pixel 8
The Google Pixel 8 is a stellar new flagship, which, despite lacking in some areas from its larger Pro sibling, is an excellent option for those on the hunt for a new Google-made flagship. It has all the security features of the Pixel 8 Pro, thanks to the Tensor G3 chipset and the dedicated Titan M2 chip handling the security side of things. It also comes with Android 14 out of the box and will receive software support for seven years.
