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Fingerprint Scanners on iPhone 5s and Galaxy S5 Compared in New Video
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Odd. I doubt it is "tread wear" though; the scanner is looking below the surface at the underlying print, which is a little different from the surface print we are familiar with in crime dramas.
I wonder if a surface-scan approach might be more reliable for some people than the sub dermal scan approach? Maybe a future TouchID will combine both and accurately determine which it can rely on for a particular print.
It didn't seem to help. I was hoping it would have. Since it started malfunctioning, the fingerprint training process also kicks out these warnings with every read - that I'm either not moving my finger enough, or moving it too much. I had never seen those in the first few months after getting the phone. TouchID had worked perfectly for a long time.
Touch ID worked great for me at first (weeks). Then I started getting fade. Then 7.1 came along and all is well. Seeing the video made me appreciate how well fingerprint ID works on the iPhone vs the Samsung phone.
edit: p.s. I've only needed one print. I always hold the phone with my left hand and the left thumb was the obvious choice for me. Very convenient. Pick up the phone. Press. Hold thumb over the button. Viola... Unlocked.
I have one each of left thumb, right thumb, left index, right index. I almost always use right thumb since that's how I hold it most of the time, and the left thumb is there because sometimes I hold it that way when I have something else in my right hand. On occasion I'll have it sitting on my desk when I want to unlock it and the thumb is inconvenient, so I use my index finger. Left and right index fingers only allow me to reach for and unlock my phone no matter on which side of the keyboard it landed.
With that flexibility, and the 7.1 accuracy and speed, my phone is unlocked without me thinking about it. And with that, my fallback password is a long, secure passphrase-based password that is a little irritating to type in but okay because I only type it once or twice a month.
I don't want it to be the end of Android, I want it to be the end of samsung phones
Why? How does that benefit you?
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Agreed.
Thankfully, Samsung (and other vendors) tries to give customers what they want.
Apple just tries to make customers want what Apple gives them. And they are extremely good at it.
So, Apple is the R&D department of the industry. Then the industry takes Apple's concepts, combines them with a customer wish-list and gaps in Apple's provisions, and we get alternatives.
Personally, I'm okay with that cycle.
I like the bright screen on it too, but yeesh, 5" screen seems the minimum size for me.
Maybe cap me out at 5.7".
If I want a tablet...wait...I don't need no stinking tablet, thanks.
I find that Apple's implementation of touch ID is superior to others (so far), no question.
But I do not understand why Samsung's implementation is considered "bad" because it requires two hands. I use two hands for most functions with my phone, why not here?
Biometric security is not new, and it is better than most other alternatives, period.
All vendors should implement it, as it makes any device more secure.
Let's not have our predilections get in the way of the industry's progress.
You really think if they were copying they could design, debug, and get it manufactured within a few months? If so thats more of a compliment to Samsung than anything.
I have to agree. I could care less about touchwiz and would love for them to use stock Android. I love the look of the Nexus 5 too. It is my favorite of the Android phones.
But the Galaxy line fits a lot of (high quality) screen with very small bezels in a (relatively) small, tight, and light package. That and the cameras are very good.
Yes the back of their phones look and feel chintzy, but they are easily and inexpensively replaced, which makes the need for cases unnecessary, as well as contributing to the device's lightness.
I think they have it (feature-wise) where it counts and are literally do-it-all devices, for those who feel looks come secondary to function.
It occurred to me not everyone has 2 hands, unfortunately.
and I can use my iPhone one handed just fine, usually do.
Good point, not everyone as 2 hands.
That said, I can use my S4 just fine with one hand as well, although I prefer to use it with 2 hands more often than not. To be fair, this was also the case with my 4s.
However, Sammy also has swype to unlock, which I find is easy enough to do with one hand.
Granted, not all phones are for everybody, and one size does not fit all.
Has it been established that Sammy's fingerprint id absolutely does not work when using one hand? I'm curious.
Why twice for each finger? To me, that would only complicate the problem because now the phone would need to shuffle comparison between two nearly-identical print IDs.
Are you trying to outsmart the phone?
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Was that not shown in the video? When holding with one hand, the fingers are more sideways, so it's not as easy to get straight, flat, even swipes down the sensor. That's the point of this.
I have several devices (non-phones) with the typical, swipe-style fingerprint reader. Universally, they suffer from the same problems.
1) You have to swipe pretty slowly, or it can't read the fingerprint pattern.
2) You have to keep your finger at a *very* consistent angle, or it can't match the pattern.
3) If you curve your finger's path slightly, it won't recognize the fingerprint.
Unless Samsung have done something incredible with standard, off-the-shelf, swipe-style fingerprint readers, they'll suffer from the same issues.
Swiping won't be faster, because you have to swipe slowly for the reader to work.
A one-handed swipe, while technically possible, is physically awkward.
Swipe-style readers are more common on devices because they're smaller, and cheaper. They have similar accuracy when compared to same-era static readers, but are more finicky regarding angle and placement.
It looks like the "Sammy scan" requires a straight downward motion perpendicular to the width of scanner. I imagine as long as the direction is kept it can work.
You should try it, I recently got a note 3 which have a bigger screen and I use with just 1 hand most of the time, even the keyboard
Hope that apple release a bigger screen this year, 4.5-4.7 will work really well for iOS.
I think it would be redundant.
Apple should copy the Samsung (hehehe) and release the pair:
- 6S - sized like the iPhone 5S or S3/S4/S5 Mini. 4-4.3" screen, depending on the bezel. Fits any pocket and any hand.
- 6S "Big" - sized like S3/S4/S5. ~5-5.5" screen, depending on the bezel. Fits some pockets and average/larger hand. Normally carried in the breast pocket or in the bag.
The S3/S4/S5 size is very well received in the market. I do not think that Apple would gain anything by redundantly experimenting. A small jump to 4.5-4.7" would provide a minor gain in screen size, but aggravation to users like me, who prefer the dimensions of the current iPhones or the Samsung Minis.
It's not bad, it's ridiculous considering it is supposed to be used to unlock the device.
You can use a smartphone with two hands, for sure, but when you need to unlock it, most of the times you just want to do that with one hand and without such an awkward gesture ....
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Motorola released a smartphone with fingerprint sensor about 4 years ago called the Atrix
I had one and used it regularly. it was pretty good sensor too. it worked about 85-90% with first swipe.
Yes, and it was so "successful" that Motorola itself abandoned it on every next model released after the Atrix ....
CopyKitties
Whoever is in charge of Samsung's "Department of Technology Copying" should be fired for not making this work better!
Whoever is in charge of Samsung's "Department of Technology Copying" should be fired for not making this work better!
That's my suspicion as well. I'll admit I was quite surprised to find out how well TouchID worked for my M-i-L, who barely has *any* distinguishable prints. (A 'feature' of playing guitar for 50 years.) She can't make fingerprints the old fashioned way (ink pad & paper), but TouchID works for her.
I suspect someone with more detailed knowledge of how the readers work could explain how they work for her, and probably give some insight into how subtly different physiology can have such a big impact while apparently clear differences don't.
... As usual, I'd add.
Samsung always is about a "specs list longer than your".
It is a marketing strategy that works.
OMG. Nice way to help Samsung's mess of an implementation of fingerprint I.D. look better. There's no way in reality anyone could use this feature on the S5. Nobody in the real world picks up their phone and naturally holds it "properly" so they "properly" swipe their finger downward in a straight line to unlock their phone.
In the real world, a person would pick up their iPhone and lay their finger over the home button in any which way to unlock it.
Just admit it man, the Samsung fingerprint reader is too high maintenance for real world use. I should've known there would be someone here to defend that.
I am just speaking in a sensible manner not a fanboi way.
You could give someone a needle the thread and someone could review it, saying how utterly rubbish it is, no way can you get the cotton thru the eye of the needle as they wildly thrust as it.
If you use it calmy and sensibly then perhaps it will work fine.
I don't know as I don't have both devices, but they guy in the video wildly swiping crazy fast as various angle just looked a fool
Your point would be 100% valid had it been just a blog with someone's verbal opinion but when there's a video showing it there's really no argument. It really doesn't matter how fast or slow he was swiping the Samsung phone. The point is there's no easy way in real world use for their fingerprint sensor to work properly since you can't use it with your thumb in a horizontal fashion. Not only that, it requires a swipe. The iPhone Touch I.D just requires the user to lay their finger on top of the home button and it can be left, right, sideways or upside down. When you pick up your phone and it's cradled in your palm your thumb certainly isn't positioned vertically unless there's something superhuman about the user that can do that.
It does work.
Probably because only Apple fans don't care about "specs", unless it's "thinner" (volume), or "lighter" (weight), smaller/more portable (again, volume), or made of "alumeenium" (material choice), or "has a fingerprint sensor" (security feature), or "comes in 50 gaudy colors" (appearance), or "it's 64bit processing" (speed), or "it's the most innovative", or...oh wait... EVERYONE cares about specs.
Apple fans just care more about different specs. Even Apple lists their tech specs on their site for a reason.
Specs differentiate products, and are used by customers to make decisions based on the individual's need and preference.
With phones, I went with Sammy's specs because they were a better fit for me than Apple's.
With PCs, I went with Apple for the same reason.
To complain about (paying attention to) specs is to complain about choice. I see a lot of that here.