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iPhone X Face ID with thick beard and glasses

Retroglide08

Retroglide08

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 4, 2013
114
73
looking for feedback from owners of an iPhone X who have a thick beard and glasses.

How has Face ID been?

I have said thick/long beard and glasses and I’m a bit sceptical regarding Face ID”s accuracy. I don’t want to grab the phone and not use it’s features to the fullest.
 
it works fine - just keep in mind that when you shave it goes full stupid again.

just one of the many examples of why touchid is so much more robust than fail-id.
 
Beard is not a problem at all. And even if you shave it, it doesn’t go « full stupid » as said above, it will just scan your face and ask for your password immediately after to confirm that you have indeed shaved your beard and that you are still the owner of the phone so that it can continue to scan your face and unlock the device as usual.

Glasses on the other hand depend on what type of glasses you use. Regular glasses are no problem at all but I heard that some sunglasses (depending on the tint) can be an issue. Maybe somebody who have had an experience with sunglasses can confirm whether or not they works fine with Face ID.
 
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macsrcool1234 said:
it works fine - just keep in mind that when you shave it goes full stupid again.

just one of the many examples of why touchid is so much more robust than fail-id.
Click to expand...

Or it could just be user error. After a failed attempt just type in the password and FaceTime automatically updates the profile with the users new look.
 
I have no issues with Cocoon sunglasses. They wrap around the sides of your face a bit. So, cover a lot of area.
 
Vermifuge said:
Or it could just be user error. After a failed attempt just type in the password and FaceTime automatically updates the profile with the users new look.
Click to expand...

Wrong.

It doesn't adapt anywhere near as fast as you think it does - it's not like a single reattempt after a shave it is going to have it automatically accept the new face. I shaved off my beard and it was missing 90% of the time. I ended up deleting the profile and making it fresh to make it adapt quicker.
 
macsrcool1234 said:
Wrong.

It doesn't adapt anywhere near as fast as you think it does - it's not like a single reattempt after a shave it is going to have it automatically accept the new face. I shaved off my beard and it was missing 90% of the time. I ended up deleting the profile and making it fresh to make it adapt quicker.
Click to expand...

Face ID works just fine with my face using an iPhoneX. I wonder what could be wrong with yours? See, it's not how I "think" Face ID works... it's how I know Face ID works. Shaving has not been an issue for me. I'm positive mine is working by design and yours is likely failing due to unforeseen circumstances.
 
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FaceID on my X has been absolutely flawless. Works with glasses, without glasses, with my contacts, without my contacts, with sunglasses, without sunglasses, with one eye patched for a while (after having to enter my pin only once) and worked fine (without having to enter my pin again) a few days later when I removed the eye patch. Been works fine when eating and chewing. Haha. Works fine inside and outside, daytime and night time.
 
Vermifuge said:
Face ID works just fine with my face using an iPhoneX. I wonder what could be wrong with yours? See, it's not how I "think" Face ID works... it's how I know Face ID works. Shaving has not been an issue for me. I'm positive mine is working by design and yours is likely failing due to unforeseen circumstances.
Click to expand...

It depends on how think your beard is.

But to be clear - I don't exactly blame the device for not detecting my face after shaving when i've had a beard. That's how it is supposed to work. But it is yet another example of how unreliable fail-id is. Not at the perfect angle? Rejected. Not at the perfect distance? Rejected. Want to look at your phone without glasses? Too close, rejected.

These are all called out in pretty much every review ive seen of the device. Hell, even Gruber called out Apple on it.

Not a single one of these were an issue with touchid. Fail-id was a solution in search of a nonexistent problem.
 
Beard and glasses here...hated FaceID. Never once worked in the dark in 6 months...worked great while driving, worked half the time just using the phone "regularly." old my X and got an 8 Plus and I am much happier.
 
It Amazes me the differences of experiences others are having with Face ID, where it seems it works really well for the most part, but Face ID is re-trained to the users look when you have to re-enter your password. I find the machine learning process to be highly accurate under many circumstances. For some, they have had more success by completely re-training Face ID and disabling attention awareness.
 
Thick beard and sun glasses when in the car. It actually is beneficial to me when driving. I have the phone mounted with a Kenu Air Frame which goes onto an air vent next to my steering wheel. When driving with sunglasses if I need to see a notification I just need to tilt my face towards the phone, however I can keep my eyes on the road and the phone usually unlocks. If I don't have sun glasses, its harder as the phone recognizes my eyeballs are not focused on face id and won't open.
 
Eggtastic said:
Thick beard and sun glasses when in the car. It actually is beneficial to me when driving. I have the phone mounted with a Kenu Air Frame which goes onto an air vent next to my steering wheel. When driving with sunglasses if I need to see a notification I just need to tilt my face towards the phone, however I can keep my eyes on the road and the phone usually unlocks. If I don't have sun glasses, its harder as the phone recognizes my eyeballs are not focused on face id and won't open.
Click to expand...
Funny as this was my experience too. Also have my phone mounted, and when I had the X, the one place faceID worked 100% of the time was while I was driving during the day. Very convenient way to unlock a phone while driving. Too bad faceID was so unreliable for me in almost every other setting!
 
I’ve been told to keep a bag over my head at all times. Do you think Face ID will work for me?
 
Sunglasses especially dark lens ones are a problem unless you turn off Face attention in settings
As for the beard remember that Face ID works on the curvature of your face so a heavy beard would defeat it
 
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