Pixel 6a has all of the features of the Pixel 6, but it’s time for us to get excited about Google’s next-generation phones. The Pixel 7 series has a lot to live up to, even if it’s one of the greatest Android smartphones you can purchase right now. This morning, new debug code hints that the Pixel 7 might feature a Hall effect sensor, something we haven’t seen on a Pixel since the second-generation phones in 2017.

Whether it comes to flip covers, they may both protect our displays and make it easier to use our devices, but they must be able to recognise when the cover is open or closed. A Hall effect sensor may be used to detect the presence of a magnet in the edge of the cover, which is precisely what a magnet in the cover does.

A Hall effect sensor is mentioned in the debug docs for the Pixel 7, according to Esper blog editor Mishaal Rahman, which strongly implies that the phone will include one.

Interestingly, the Pixel 6a may also include a secret Hall effect sensor, despite the fact that the phone’s hardware specifications do not disclose its existence, but the phone’s software has drivers for it. Our queries may be answered by a thorough deconstruction, but thus far we haven’t found any sensors. If the Pixel 7 does launch with a Hall effect sensor, it’s possible that Google may follow through with a flip cover of its own.