While Google had bet a lot on its Pixel 6a to make up for the flaws of its predecessor, it would seem that the new mid-range smartphone also has many flaws.
The release of the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro at the end of last year was quite hectic, as smartphone owners were quick to report performance from the fingerprint sensor, which was often deemed too slow. Google had finally corrected the situation with an update several months after the launch.
To avoid facing the same problems, the American manufacturer has confirmed that its new affordable smartphone that it launched at Google I/O 2022, the Pixel 6a, will indeed use a new fingerprint sensor. . In a video, a user had even proven that the new sensor was much more efficient than the previous generation, but the latter seems to have a major security flaw.
Anyone can unlock your Pixel 6a with the fingerprint sensor
Pixel 6a owners who got their hands on the phone early shared their concerns about the fingerprint sensor. Indeed, the latter claim that the fingerprint sensor under the Pixel 6a screen works with any finger, even if your fingers are the only ones registered in the settings.
In other words, anyone can unlock your Pixel 6a. It is not known if this problem is widespread, but at least two videos have proven that a large number of people can unlock a single smartphone without registering their fingerprints.
YouTuber Geekyranjit, for example, discovered that his device unlocked with either thumb, although he only saved his right thumb fingerprint in the settings. He then compares his device to the recent Nothing Phone 1, which also had a difficult launch, but which at least does not unlock with just any finger. Another user also asks his friends to unlock his smartphone and they easily succeed.
Google therefore seems to have traded security for performance for its fingerprint sensor. We tried to reproduce this bug at the editorial office, but our model did not accept unlocking with a finger that is not registered. So it could be an isolated problem. However, since this is a major security bug, it is expected that the American giant will roll out an update very soon. We will of course keep you informed.