Wow, the Pixel 9’s fingerprint scanner is so much better now

As promised, I’m going to continue posting about the things that are really making me love the new Pixel 9 Pro XL. As a reminder, I came into this review period with what has become a multi-year, general disinterest in Google’s Pixel phones. For the past few iterations of the Pixel line, I checked things out and simply returned to my Samsung devices without giving it much thought.

This year, however, I’ve been shocked with how much I’m loving the Pixel 9 Pro XL. From the supreme build quality to the awesome camera to the general UI you only get on a Pixel, I’m thoroughly enjoying the experience thus far. And it hit me this morning that one of the seemingly-small changes for this year’s phones is having a huge impact on my actual use of this device.

Ultrasonic fingerprint scanner

Since Pixel 6, Google has leveraged an optical fingerprint scanner under the screens of their phones, and it’s simply an inferior way to accomplish the task of unlocking your device. Optical scanners need light, so when you touch the fingerprint area on a Pixel 6, 7 or 8, you’ll see a bright flash from the screen under your finger since it needs the additional light to see the print.

Early on, these types of biometric sensors were the only options for under-display fingerprint setups and we all didn’t mind them being a bit finicky, a bit clunky, and a tad slow. But when ultrasonic fingerprint scanners arrived on the big stage thanks to Samsung’s use of them in the Galaxy S line of phones, it was clear that a superior under-display fingerprint scanner was upon us.

And now that type of reader is in the Pixel 9 series, and I couldn’t be happier. There’s no bright flash when you go to unlock your phone, the actual reading feels instantaneous, and the reliability is far greater.

Sure, having secure face unlock via the front-facing camera is super-awesome and the way my Pixel unlocks most times, but the addition of the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is a massive improvement in my opinion. I don’t think I’ve had a misread yet, and there’s something so visceral and impressive about touching my thumb or finger on that fingerprint area and seeing the phone unlock instantly. And for reference, it feels faster and more accurate than the ultrasonic reader on my Galaxy S23 Ultra.

When paired up with the overall pristine build of the rest of the Pixel 9 Pro XL, this little detail just puts things over the top. There’s no part of this phone that doesn’t feel top-notch, and I just love it. I know the processor isn’t the fastest out there, but I’m still waiting on the moment that I actually care about that. From gaming to messaging to video to photos to GPS on the golf course, the Pixel 9 Pro XL has been holding up to everything I throw at it, and I’m still finding myself absolutely fawning over this phone over a week later. It’s just good, folks. Plain and simple.