One of my favorite aspects of folding phones is the return of the fingerprint sensors built directly into the power button. This is objectively the ideal design, for reasons I assume I don’t have to explain.
Lately, however, the novelty of folding phones is wearing off and I’m starting to think I’d just like something lighter and sleeker. Are there any recommendations for a phone with a power-button sensor that still has good specs and cameras?
Edit: for the purposes of this post, physical sensors on the back of the phone also count, since they can wake the phone and unlock it simultaneously.
And to clarify (I thought this was a thing everyone just inherently agreed on), the benefits of physical sensors are:
- accuracy. A physical sensors will always be more accurate (and thus have fewer issues) because it doesn’t have to work THROUGH the screen. This has been improved a lot with newer technologies like ultrasonic readers, but it is literally impossible to be better than the same technology utilized without a screen in the way.
- wake/unlock in one motion. Since it’s also a button, it can wake the phone and unlock it in one motion, rather than 2 separate ones. Again, newer tech has sort of worked around this with things like lift to wake or just having the sensor area ALWAYS scanning so you can unlock it from sleep regardless, but these are clunky software implementations that rely on your phone constantly actively trying to to figure out whether you’re doing the thing or not, so it again can’t be as efficient as just a normal button. Battery impact for these is also pretty minimal for the most part, but it’s still not zero.
- tactility. You can feel the button, and manufacturers can put it where your hand naturally rests, meaning that you can unlock the phone BEFORE you have even taken it out of your pocket.
- cost. Physical sensors are hella cheap y’all. The technology to read the ridges on your finger through a sheet of plastic and glass is (turns out) kind of expensive. We’re all being forced to pay for this dumb gimmick.
- durability. Screens get scratched and dinged up, which compromises the sensors ability to read. Physical sensors on the other hand are basically the most durable part of the phone. Again, mostly a non issue on newer phones, but it’s yet another thing manufacturers have had to dump money into working around (and thus charging you more for).
- not impacted by screen protectors, rain on the screen, etc.
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The fingerprint reader on the back of the phone was the best, in my opinion.
1000% agree. Pixel 3a / 4a era was the greatest
This is objectively the ideal design, for reasons I assume I don’t have to explain.
…can you explain? I don’t understand the issue with the reader being underscreen, let alone why being on the power button is best.
I prefer a full-size physical sensor on the back of the phone myself. It tends to be more accurate and faster than the under screen ones I’ve dealt with. No idea about the power button ones. Convenient placement probably. Not sure about performance though.
In my experience rear-mounted sensors are the most accurate, closely followed by under-screen sensors. Side-mounted sensors are utter garbage.
Accuracy isn’t even that much of an issue, it’s that the side-mounted ones are far too easy to accidentally trigger just by handling the phone. I can’t count the number of times my last two phones told me I had three incorrect fingerprint attempts after I had just pulled them out of my pocket.
Then I got a Pixel and I have no more such issues and virtually perfect accuracy. Same on a Samsung tablet. Same on an old phone I had where the power button was on the rear and had a full-size sensor.
Basically, I’m perfectly happy with any front- or rear-mounted full-size sensor. Those tiny side-mounted ones suck.
I loved the rear-mounted sensor on my old Pixel 2XL, as it could be configured to allow some swipe gestures too. I had mine set to open notifications on swipe down, which was really useful.
Yeah, almost every placement has it’s pros and cons, my only pet peeves is under screen ones are placed often too low, forcing you to change the way you’re holding the phone
My Xiaomi 12 has an in-screen sensor. I’m not going back to having to put my finger on Power button. This is fast and intuitive.
IDK, for me the under screen works fine. When I want to use my phone it turns on automatically when I pick it up, and when I touch the sensor area, it’s instantly ready for use, with me holding it the way I want to use it, whether it’s 1 or 2 hand use, or left or right hand.
I don’t normally use the power button, except to turn off the screen when I’m finished using it.The reader being under the screen makes the most sense in my opinion. It’s the part of the phone you touch the most. And speed is a non issue anymore. Ultrasonic sensors are about as fast if not faster than the old capacitive ones now. They’re also as accurate in my experience and after a while I’ve learned to put my finger exactly where it is so it’s a non issue. It also unlocks when my finger is wet unlike the older capacitive ones which is huge for me. So in conclusion I disagree. Fingerprint sensors should be in display and ultrasonic.
I personally have the complete opposite experience with under-screen scanners. As in, it’s literally the only type that works reliably for me. Before I got my samsung s22+, I never even realized that Android asks you for your pattern every 2 days because I had to manually unlock my old phones so often.
I really miss the rear fingerprint reader on my Galaxy S8. It was so effortless to pick it up and touch the sensor at the same time whenever I wanted to use my phone. Honestly, I miss the retina scanner as well. It always worked better and faster for me than the face thing that most phones have.
Samesies. I had a huge nexus 6p back in the day, and I miss scrolling by swiping the rear fingerprint sensor.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that! I could swipe down on the fingerprint sensor to look at my notifications! That so boss, dude.
Are there any recommendations for a phone with a power-button sensor that still has good specs and cameras?
Since nobody has given you a recommendation; The Sony Xperia 1 VI has that, although not available in the US
No scanner at all is the cheapest and it’s just as efficient. I don’t use mine so, if it has to have one, I really don’t care where it goes.
I don’t have an opinion on the matter being discussed
You know it’s an option to just… keep scrolling right? This isn’t high school, you aren’t obliged to leave a comment.
How is “stop worrying about them, they’re pointless” not an opinion on the matter of fingerprint sensors? And how do you know I’m not in high school?
The side mounted finger print reader / power button on my old Sony Xperia XZ 1 Compact was great. Wish more phones had side mounted FP sensors.
While I don’t like the under screen fingerprint reader (getting flash banged at night by it is a problem), and I prefer the back of phone fingerprint readers we used to have, I know at least two people that have had their phone replaced repeatedly by Samsung for the side button fingerprint reader failing.
I also have a pixel tablet with the power button fingerprint reader and it’s awkward as hell especially with a case. I can’t say that I’m completely against the in screen fingerprint reader (on my pixel 8 it works pretty much all the time), but I will say I definitely have a preference for other options. The placement of the power button also means I wouldn’t be able to use it with both hands (the fingerprints from both hands), in the event that my dominant hand isn’t free or the fingerprint I normally use is damaged etc.
Mind you, there are two types of under screen fingerprint sensors: optical and ultrasonic.
Optical blasts the finger with light and forms a 2d scan. It’s pretty slow and arguably worse than conventional (capacitive) scanner on the back of the phone.
Ultrasonic, however, because it uses sound waves, maps a 3d scan. It is significantly faster than conventional scanner, and it also doesn’t care about your fingers being wet.
Ultrasonic sensor only requires a quick tap to unlock the phone. It’s actually really convenient to use, I like those. I’d take the capacitive sensor over optical one, though.
This is a really good point. I haven’t really used any ultrasonic fingerprint readers so I have nothing to compare it to. I will say that on my pixel 7 it was more finicky and I had more false readings.
Nah I can’t go back anymore. Feels like it makes much more sense being on the screen once you get a decent one.
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under screen fingerprint readers (USFR) have basically no accuracy problems? I find that mine rarely struggles to read my fingerprint, and the one on my Ipad (on the power button) sometimes doesn’t register the first time either.
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the USFR DON’T need to scan all the time, they can just wake when YOU TOUCH THE SCREEN! It’s basically the same for ALL kinds of fingerprint readers, so it’s a non-issue.
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well, I concede that point
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cost comes down with scale. Also phones are ridiculously expensive nowadays, the cost of the sensor doesn’t have a huge impact on that.
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fingerprint readers can scratch as easily as the screen. People are much more likely to make sure the screen does not get damaged than the finger print reader.
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traditional finger print readers struggle when wet as well. Also your phone is basically unusable anyways, when it’s wet.
I mean it comes down to preference, but I like the scanner to be under the screen. All the things you listed really speak against finger print scanners in general, why not use Face ID?
For the first two, based on personal experience:
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Anecdotally, my old back-mounted LG fingerprint scanner has never been wrong (when dry of course), but my Pixel needs a re-scan 30% of the time.
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My phone requires a tap to wake the screen before the fingerprint reader will accept any input at all, unless I decide to burn battery and turn on AOD.
E: My current phone uses an optical sensor and, from what I understand, ultrasonics are infinitely better
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Woah. That 4th paragraph reads like it was written by the cocaine.
Deffinetly poco f5 under 300€ on aliexpress (at least it was), great performance, but terrible camera.
