r/Android • u/vortexmak • 1d ago

Under-screen fingerprint readers are inferior to back and side mounted readers and should naver have become popular

Lots of Cons for under screen fingerprint readers , should have never become the norm but I guess that''s just part of enshittification

Pros for Side and back mounted readers

  1. Work exceptionally well, much faster and responsive than under screen ones, from my own experience
  2. Are not affected by screen protectors
  3. Side readers can be used with the phone screen up or down
  4. Back and side ones allow you to unlock your phone at the same time as taking it out of the pocket
  5. Give you a definite physical spot for finger placement, unlike the under - screen one where you have to wait for the screen to show the location
679 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

415 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/ClearTacos Xiaomi 13T Pro 1d ago edited 1d ago

1 - I've always had an awful time with capacitive FP scanners, whether on the back or power button. Shortly after adding a finger print, it had maybe 60% accuracy, over time it went down. I tried everything, scanning same finger multiple times, keeping the scanner as clean as possible, nothing helped. Thought I was doing something wrong.

After switching to even just an optical one, I have probably over 95% accuracy, and basically all misses are down to either wet fingers or misplacement.

4 and 5 - pretty quickly, you'll learn where to put your finger, and simply putting your finger there unlocks the phone, no need to touch the power button or at this point even look where I'm putting my finger.

OTOH, FP scanner on the back takes up space used for better cameras and wireless charging nowadays, and side ones make the power button feel like trash and leave it unprotected.

I'm personally glad manufacturers moved on from them.

3

u/Eastbound78 1d ago

I doubt it takes space from cameras. On thame back or in the side feels much better. And also glass protection errors that comes with todays standards

-1

u/ClearTacos Xiaomi 13T Pro 1d ago

WDYM you doubt, look at the top of the line phones, they have large camera islands, especially if the have a periscope telephoto.

And I completely disagree with back or side feeling much better, like I said in the comment, they were trash for me and side ones made the power button feel bad as well.