[Update 2: Full list] Google Pixel 4’s Soli gestures will work in the US, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, and Europe

We may earn a commission for purchases made using our links.

Update 2 – 09/27/2019 @ 02:15 AM ET: We now have the complete list of countries where Google Pixel 4’s Soli gestures would work. Scroll to the bottom of the article for the full list. The article as published on September 4, 2019, is preserved as below.

Earlier today, we wrote about the Pixel 4 (possibly) passing through the FCC. One of the things that makes that listing likely for the Pixel 4 is the mention of the 60GHz (58-63.5GHz) transmitter, which ties nicely with the frequencies used by Project Soli. These new gestures use the Soli radar chip located in the top bezel to let you skip songs, snooze alarms, or silence phone calls with a wave of your hand. When Google talked about Soli on the Pixel 4, they said it would be available in “select Pixel countries.” We’re now learning more about what countries will get Soli thanks to a U.S. retailer.

The Best Buy landing page for the Pixel 4 talks about Motion Sense:

Wave hello to Motion Sense* — You no longer have to touch your phone to make things happen. Motion Sense is a new technology in Pixel 4 that can detect your gestures without you having to touch the screen.

You probably noticed the asterisk next to “Motion Sense.” Best Buy says Motion Sense is “Not functional in Japan. Motion Sense functional in the US, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, and most European countries. Not all phone features are controlled by Motion Sense. For more information see g.co/pixel/motionsense.”

Although the URL currently doesn’t go anywhere, the description is enough to tell us which countries will and will not be able to use the Pixel 4’s Motion Sense gestures. Given that the description says “most European countries,” there’s bound to be a few countries in Europe that don’t support Motion Sense gestures, but we won’t know until Google confirms the exact availability. We’ll have to wait and see what those features all entail and how big of a selling point they are for the Pixel 4. We reached out to Google for confirmation on the countries that will support the new Soli gestures and will update this article if we hear back.

Google Pixel 4 Forums ||| Google Pixel 4 XL Forums

Thanks to Disqus commenter rrnyc1 for the tip!

Update 1 (9/5/19 @ 12:07 AM EST): The Best Buy landing page was updated to remove the wording on geographical restrictions of the Motion Sense feature.

Update 2: Full list of countries for Pixel 4’s Soli gestures

9to5Google got their hands on the Motion Sense app, within which they have found the complete list of countries in which Google Pixel’s Soli gestures would work.

The list of supported countries is as below:

American Samoa

Austria

Belgium

Bulgaria

Canada

Croatia

Cyprus

Czechia

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Guam

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Puerto Rico

Romania

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Taiwan

United Kingdom

United States

Virgin Islands, U.S.

Notable exclusions in the list are Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico. It remains to be seen whether Google includes the requisite hardware for Soli when selling the new Pixel 4 in these countries, or opts for a different SKU without the hardware and keep the pricing relatively lower. We’ll find out soon.

Source: 9to5Google