The Google Pixel smartphone series is no stranger to odd software and hardware additions. The double-sized notch and the short-lived Soli sensor stand out as some of Google’s more out-there experiments. But despite the company’s path towards more refined and purposeful hardware over the last few generations, it wouldn’t be Google if it didn’t give it another shot. And so here we are with the Google Pixel 8 Pro‘s unexpected temperature sensor.
For what it’s worth, Google hasn’t really justified the sensor’s addition beyond a brief keynote mention suggesting the various things you can take a reading of. The running theory is that the sensor was conceived during the COVID era when the ability to take a quick temperature reading would’ve been helpful. But the temperature sensor isn’t FDA-approved yet and as such, isn’t capable of measuring human body temperatures.