Freshly passed through our laboratory, the Pixel 6a stands out as one of the best mid-range smartphones. To its credit, an altogether successful screen, good performance and, above all, a photo performance above the average of its competitors.
Nevertheless: as often when launching new products, the Pixel 6a is already pinned by users for technical concerns. Android Police spotted on Reddit the experience of Youtubers reporting a security issue affecting the device. The fingerprint reader, which moreover does not encounter the reliability concerns detected on the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro (difficulties in detecting the registered fingerprint), is according to them subject to a completely different flaw. This allows you to unlock it using a fingerprint that is not saved in the smartphone. This is all the more alarming since unlocking seems possible with other fingerprints of the same user, but also with those of a third party.
The bug, fortunately, was discovered before the Pixel 6a was released – available from July 28. If Google has not yet communicated on the subject, it is a safe bet that a corrective update will be deployed soon. On our side, our copy did not authorize the unlocking either with other prints of our hand, or with those of another member of the editorial staff.