Google is giving the Pixel 11 a light show when it should fix face unlock

Google has already given us a glimpse at one of the Google Pixel 11's biggest visual hardware upgrades: Pixel Glow.

From the teaser, it appears that the company has added a colored light inside the phone's camera bar. It should look cool and help the Pixel 11 stand out.

But the Pixel 11 does not need a light show upgrade. It needs a dependable face unlock system that works in low light.

That would have been a far more meaningful upgrade.

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By  Jon Gilbert

Pixel Glow looks fun, not essential

A gimmicky upgrade

Google has only teased Pixel Glow, so we do not know exactly how it will work.

On the surface, it seems like a multicolored LED notification light, something Android phones used to feature.

Code discovered in Android 17 beta provides some clues about its functionality.

Pixel Glow may subtly light up to alert you to important activity and notifications when your phone is face down. It may also provide visual feedback during hands-free Gemini conversations.

Google is apparently using an array of eight LEDs for Pixel Glow. That should enable it to function as more than just a notification light.

Besides subtly alerting you to missed calls and messages, Pixel Glow could provide much-needed visual feedback when Gemini is listening or processing a request.

Pixel Glow should also give Google's phones a stronger visual identity. The camera bar already does a good job of making Pixels recognizable, but the added lighting could give the familiar design a fresh signature.

After five generations built around the camera bar, Google could use something that makes the design feel new again.

Nothing has built an entire design language around its Glyph Interface.

So, if Google sticks with Pixel Glow and continues developing it for more than a generation or two, it could become an equally recognizable part of the Pixel brand.

Still, the Pixel Glow only seems to offer limited benefits.

It will only be useful when the phone is face down. Plus, if you wear a smartwatch, you already receive important notifications and alerts on your wrist. Cases may also limit the Pixel Glow’s usefulness.

In any case, the Pixel 11's main hardware upgrade should not be the Pixel Glow itself.

Face unlock still needs the lights on

That should not be the case after all these years

Admittedly, Pixels offer the best face unlock experience in the Android ecosystem.

They offer Class 3 security, meaning you can use it for biometric authentication in banking apps and other sensitive apps.

That's not the case with other Android phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and Z Fold 8 Ultra.

It is commendable that Google has achieved this level of security by relying solely on the Pixel’s front-facing camera.

However, the implementation has one glaring flaw: Pixel face unlock falls apart in low light. A face unlock system that relies solely on the front-facing camera requires sufficient light to work properly.

That is not usually a problem during the day or inside a brightly lit room. It becomes frustrating when you check your phone in bed, approve a payment in a dim restaurant, or unlock it inside a car at night.

These are daily life situations, yet they regularly force you to use the fingerprint sensor instead.

The fingerprint sensor provides a reliable fallback. So, face unlock failing in such situations is not a deal-breaker.

But switching between two biometric authentication methods undermines face unlock’s main advantage: convenience.

I rarely worry about face unlock failing when using an iPhone. That's not the case with my Google Pixel 8 Pro.

It works reliably during the day, but getting it to recognize me at night is a constant struggle.

And no, I do not want the screen to light up and blind me just to make face unlock work properly.

The Pixel 4's design aged badly, but its face unlock didn't

Google already knows how to make face unlock work in the dark. The Pixel 4 used two infrared cameras, a flood illuminator, and a dot projector.

I understand all that hardware requires space to fit into, which is at a premium on today's bezel-less phones.

So, Google abandoning its IR-based face unlock system after just one generation made sense. However, it should not have given up on infrared face unlock.

Project Toscana was reportedly Google's opportunity to fix that mistake. The system was allegedly tested on prototypes with a standard punch-hole display and no obvious additional sensors.

The company supposedly hid the IR sensor beneath the display, allowing face unlock to work in darkness, thereby eliminating the need for a large bezel.

On paper, it seems Project Toscana promised the Pixel 4's face unlock reliability in a modern-looking phone. That is the exact upgrade the Pixel's face unlock needs.

And unfortunately, the Pixel 11 will seemingly not receive it.

Pixel Glow cannot hide what is missing

If Project Toscana is not ready, Google is right to delay it. It's better to ship a working hardware upgrade than a half-baked one.

Still, that does not make its reported absence on the Pixel 11 any less frustrating.

Pixel Glow may give the Pixel 11 a new visual identity, but it will not fix a problem many Pixel users encounter every night.

I don't need another way to know that I have missed a notification. I need face unlock that works whenever I look at my phone, regardless of the ambient lighting conditions.

That would improve the Pixel experience far more than a row of colorful LEDs ever could.