Xiaomi Mi7 is slowly becoming like the messiah, we are waiting for it to come. It will be the first Xiaomi phone to feature the 3D face unlock first introduced by Apple, among many other new features, and so far we've been told that we'll get to see the top-of-the-range model in the first half of the year, perhaps in June.
But according to the latest rumours, the 3D Face unlock is not going to happen and tests and fixes may be delayed until next quarter, the earliest we'll see the phone is July. So far, a number of Android phones have come with an iPhone X-like design, cramming the usual sensors into a small island on top of the full screen, but Apple's solution has a lot more to it, as 3D recognition requires more cameras and sensors for depth sensing. None of the recently unveiled Huawei, Vivo and OPPO devices include these and only have simple face unlock. Upcoming devices from OnePlus, LG and Xiaomi will come with 3D technology.
The Information shared by Digitimes 3D sensor module manufacturers have faced the problem that the software and hardware used to scan the face is not yet fully developed, so this feature will have to wait for Android. The modules are being developed jointly by Qualcomm, Himax Technologies and Truly Optoelectronics.
In Android circles, 3D facial recognition is currently supported by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC and only devices running on this line would currently be able to do so. Since none of the phones announced so far can do it, the next generations will only include this feature. Since neither Samsung (S845 only US and China) nor Huawei use the S845 processor, they are forced to create their own 3D algorithms with existing hardware and call on AI to help them achieve this level of facial recognition.
