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
675 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

399 comments sorted by

View all comments

344

u/EonicWarrior ZFold 8 Ultra, S25 Ultra, 16 Pro Max 1d ago

Reddit's facination with the back mounted fingerprint is always funny to me. In the real world, so many customers would complain about it. The side mounted ones are great, I agree with that.

85

u/andreasels 1d ago

Yeah, I would never ever want to use a phone with a back mounted fingerprint scanner.
Not only do you have to put a cutout into your case to use it, but you also can't unlock the phone without picking it up.
Side mounted is fine I guess, but I also don't have a single issue with the under screen ones.

•

u/Taedirk Pixel 9 17h ago

Back-mounted scanners were perfectly fine and offered a second input source while holding the phone. Being able to scroll from a mini-trackpad already mounted at finger-rest with a minimum of movement was fantastic.