Key Takeaways
- Google’s Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones are incompatible with the “precision find” feature in Find Hub.
- Older Pixel Pro devices feature less-capable UWB hardware that Google doesn’t support for precision finding.
- Google has confirmed that only Pixel 8 series smartphones (Pro models only) support the feature, but has not revealed why.
Older Pixel phones lack a key feature for accurately locating lost items, despite seemingly including the required Ultra-Wideband (UWB) hardware. The Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro are officially incompatible with the Android Find Hub’s precision finding function, meaning these smartphones can’t precisely locate UWB tracking devices like recent Pixel Watches or Motorola’s Moto Tags. This comes as a disappointing surprise to owners of older Pixels who might reasonably have assumed their devices, which do support UWB technology, would be compatible, especially as Apple supports similar functionality on devices as old as 2019’s iPhone 11.
Google Confirms Missing Precision Find Capability On Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro
According to Google’s support documentation, the UWB precision finding feature works only on the following smartphones:
- Pixel 8 series and above (Pro models only).
- Samsung Galaxy S21 and above (Plus and Ultra models only).
- Motorola Edge and Razr.
This leaves the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro out of the equation. A Google representative confirmed the feature omission to Android Authority directly, but did not explain why it remains unavailable on older devices.
Older Pixels Feature Outdated UWB Hardware
Despite supporting UWB, the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro lack some of the UWB features found on the Pixel 8 Pro and newer devices.
According to Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman, the Pixel 6 Pro only partially supports UWB’s Angle-of-Arrival feature that determines the direction from which another device’s signal originates. However, this wouldn’t explain the lack of precision finding on the Pixel 7 Pro, which offers full AoA support.
Secondly, neither the Pixel 6 Pro nor the Pixel 7 Pro supports “background ranging,” the feature that lets your phone continue to monitor a tracking device via UWB even when the Find Hub app isn’t open. However, this limitation wouldn’t necessarily prevent the Find Hub from using precision finding while the app remains open.
A clue to the discrepancy lies in the different UWB hardware across the various Pixel Pro models. The Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro rely on Qorvo’s DW3720 transceiver for UWB support, but the Pixel 8 Pro and newer feature an upgraded Qorvo QM35725 system-on-a-chip (SoC).
The QM35725 is a considerably more advanced product with sophisticated on-board processing capabilities not present on the older model. These significant hardware differences could go some way to explaining why Google hasn’t implemented certain features on the older hardware.
However, Qorvo’s December 2021 press release specifically mentions “find my stuff” applications as a potential use case for the older UWB device, implying that a feature like precise finding may once have been on the cards.
The Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro still use UWB for other features like Android’s digital car key and Nearby Share. These older models can also use basic Bluetooth-based tracking features, including audible alerts and the display of the device’s last known location in the Find Hub.
The Only Solution Is To Upgrade
The lack of precision finding support is unfortunate for owners of older Pixels who might reasonably have assumed that UWB support would be enough to enable it. However, to be fair to Google, the Pixel 6 Pro was released in 2021, three years before the arrival of popular precision-trackable devices like the Pixel Watch 3 or the Moto Tag. Pixel users who want these features have no choice but to upgrade to at least a Pixel 8 Pro.
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