Shhhh, everyone pretend the Pixel 9 Pro temperature sensor isn't there

Last year, when the Pixel 8 Pro was announced, Google made a decent fuss about the introduction of a new temperature sensor on the back of the phone. You can use it to see if your tea is hot or your pan has cooled down — OMG, the technology! But as it turned out in our testing, that sensor wasn’t as precise as we would’ve liked, and despite the addition of body temperature measurement inside Fitbit, we all collectively forgot it existed. So did Google, as it turns out.

The Pixel 9 series has just been announced, and as you can see from the image below, the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL still sport that small circle below the flash light. The temperature sensor is still there, and it still does the same things it did on the Pixel 8 Pro, except that Google didn’t mention a blip about it during its press conference.

There’s also a stark contrast between the Pixel 8 Pro’s official Google announcement and its introduction of Pixel 9 Pro. On the former, there was an emphasis on the thermometer from the get-go, while on the latter, there’s no blip about it. But at least Google still mentions the thermometer on its Store pages and spec sheets.

As a matter of fact, though, Google cares so little about this sensor that it forgot to include it in its highest-end phone this year — the $1,799 Pixel 9 Pro Fold. So Google is somewhat sweeping the temperature sensor under the rug and hoping no one will notice. Well, sorry to bust your incognito plan, Googz.

Look, I understand why this sensor was developed — it was a remnant of a time when we thought having a thermometer with us at all times would be crucial. I also think it came way too late and past its sell-by date in 2023. Google should’ve skipped it last year or even this year.

However, what saddens me the most is that we’re already a year in with the temperature sensor, and instead of embracing its decision to add this superfluous hardware bit to its phones and finding ways to make it more useful and more essential, Google has just… stopped caring about it. Thermometers and fevers are boring; Gemini is where it’s at now.

Over the last nine years, the Pixel line-up has been the antithesis of Google’s short attention span and build-fast-kill-faster ethos. Almost everything has seemed well planned for the future with few unnecessary disruptions or bifurcations into unknown territory. But like the Pixel 4’s Soli, this temperature sensor is an exception — a reminder that it’s still Google we’re dealing with, and sometimes, it’ll go on a whim and do something weird like slap a thermometer into its phones, then ignore it soon after.