New Google Smartphones Feature FPC Biometrics Tech

Google has launched the latest devices in its Pixel line of smartphones, and they once again feature fingerprint sensors from Fingerprint Cards.

Launching just seven months after the Pixel 3, the new Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are very similar devices, with one key difference: They’re priced at $399 and $479, respectively, compared to $799 for the original Pixel 3 and $899 for the plus-sized version. Google’s aim is clearly to use the low price to attract more customers; despite Google’s prominence as a tech titan, it currently only has 0.3 percent of global smartphone marketshare.

There have been some concessions to help Google achieve the dramatically lower price point on the Pixel 3a, of course, including going from dual camera selfie imaging to a single camera, downgrading the processor, and removing wireless charging. The devices also lack the kind of in-display fingerprint sensor technology that has helped other smartphones to stand out in the market over the past year.

That’s no problem for Sweden-based Fingerprint Cards, which offers both in-display and traditional fingerprint sensor solutions. The Pixel 3a and 3a XL are using Fingerprint Cards’ FPC1035 sensor model, which has been used in a range of other brands’ smartphones going back to 2015. Fingerprint Cards previously provided the FPC1025 fingerprint sensor for the first Pixel smartphone, and evidently Google was happy to work with the biometrics specialist again on its latest devices.

Sources: BBC News, CNET, Fingerprint Cards