Google’s upcoming smartphone, the Pixel 5, is said to miss out on Project Soli and the Motion Sense feature that debut with the Pixel 4 smartphones. They are not the only Pixel phones to drop an interesting feature. Even the Pixel 4a series will lack Active Edge, something that has been on Pixel phones since the original Pixel.

The current-generation flagship smartphones from Google, the Pixel 4 and the Pixel 4 XL, come with the brand’s Motion Sense feature, which is based on Google’s Project Soli. The Motion Sense feature allows you to control the smartphone from a distance with gestures, using the phone’s radar-based camera system.

While Motion Sense rarely comes into use, owing to the fact that the phone is mostly in your hand, it is still a noteworthy feature. It is also used to scan a user’s face in 3D, similar to Face ID on iPhones and 3D Face Unlock in other Android smartphones.

Now, it is only expected of Google to carry forward the Motion Sense feature to its upcoming flagship smartphone series, the Pixel 5, since the search giant worked so hard on the sophisticated feature. That, however, doesn’t seem to be the case. Folks over at 9to5Google say that they have learned from their sources about Google Pixel 5 not featuring the Project Soli sensor and Motion Sense.

Considering that the Motion Sense didn’t add a lot of value to the user experience, it is safe to say that its absence won’t be missed. Moreover, it actually seems to be a good thing that Pixel 5 might not feature the Motion Sense as it had an adverse effect on the phone’s battery life. Plus, it took a lot of space above the screen, making the phone look like it’s from 2017.

Can confirm that Active Edge is not available on @julio_lusson's Pixel 4a.

Not a huge loss especially since Google is adding a new double tap gesture that doesn't require special hardware: https://t.co/kFiL8qmzxA https://t.co/IA6qqLJnG9

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) May 18, 2020

Moreover, the upcoming low-cost Pixel smartphone series, the Pixel 4a, seems to be missing Active Edge. It’s a feature that allowed users to squeeze the phone’s sides to perform various actions. Active Edge used pressure sensors inside the phone’s body to perform Active Edge actions. Now, it looks like the Pixel 4a and the Pixel 4a XL would lack the feature. That explains how Google managed to lower the price of the Pixel 4a series compared to the Pixel 3a.