Google Pixel 8 Pro will finally let you check your body temperature

The addition of a thermometer was one of the most interesting things about the Pixel 8 Pro, and it seems that it will continue to be present in the Pixel 9 Pro. That said, its functionality has always been limited to objects and surfaces. However, this has changed after the arrival of the surprise first Pixel Feature Drop of 2024, after which the device’s thermometer is now capable of measuring body temperature.

The reason why the Pixel 8 Pro thermometer was not suitable for this purpose is that it had not yet received the necessary approvals from the FDA. But, after some months, the company has finally resolved this. In fact, Google is so confident in the accuracy of the thermometer integrated into its mobile flagship for measuring body temperature that they even claim that its results are ‘medical grade’.

To get a person’s body temperature, you just have to access the ‘Thermometer’ app and bring the back area of the device (the sensor is located in the camera module) closer to the forehead. After that, the app will provide a body temperature reading, and then you can save these results to a Fitbit account. This data will help offer you better metrics about your physical condition or better tips through the company’s wearables.

That is, Google is not only including a full-fledged thermometer in the Pixel 8 Pro, but it is also improving the functionality of its Fitbit ecosystem of products. In any case, multiple tests will surely begin to emerge to verify whether the company’s claims about the thermometer’s performance are true. A while ago, the Android Authority team compared the Pixel 8 Pro thermometer against an industrial thermometer measuring temperatures of objects, and the results of the Google flagship were not exactly the most accurate.

Let’s hope that Google has taken its time to optimize the Pixel 8 Pro’s thermometer so that it gives more accurate readings, which is especially important now that many will use it to read body temperature to detect possible cases of fever. In any case, ‘unlocking’ all the capabilities of the Pixel 8 Pro’s thermometer could make it a much more used feature than it was until now.

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