I like the iPhone X. I love the iPhone X. But Touch ID is faster. Period.

[Shirasaki]

I keep seeing this argument, and I don’t see how it’s a persuasive defense of Face ID.

First and foremost, the possibility of a better second gen doesn’t change the experience one bit for someone using an X today. Second, X buyers paid the highest price ever for an iPhone. It’s not like Apple cut people a discount in recognition of the fact that the tech isn’t mature. Third, Face ID is marketed as a flagship feature, not a beta product. And fourth, nobody would be bothered by Face ID’s growing pains if it existed side by side with Touch ID, but it doesn’t. They killed a much-beloved feature and bragged that the replacement was clearly superior, and that doesn’t seem to be the reality for many users.

They do the same thing for headphone jack, which is even worse cause jack existed for 50 years and no one complain about its usability.

And apples support page has two extra sections instructing people how to enter DFU mode specifically for iPhone 7 and iPhone 8/X. This is insane. People are paying the premium for armature design (X).

 

[Sirious]

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, so many other similar threads...

I’m not advocating returning the X. I’m not saying any other iPhone is overall better.

But facts are facts.

Forgetting evil twins and other lookalikes, the real problem with TouchID isn’t security. It’s speed.

Face ID is slower and less convenient than Touch ID. Period dot.

Since the iPhone 5S, I’ve trained myself to pick up the iPhone “thumb first”.

This means that historically, the phone is already on it's way to being unlocked, or is already so, by the time I get it anywhere near my face.

There were basically 3 variables in the unlock process... cleanliness/dryness of finger, cleanliness/dryness of the home button itself, and what kind of mood the iPhone itself was in on a given day.

Yes, there were rare occasions where it didn’t work for some unknown reason. But the vast majority of unlock attempts were, for me, completed before I could even look at the phone.

Face ID is great in theory. But there are apparently way more variables in the unlock process.

Angle of your face. Height and angle of the phone. Quality/angle of the initial facial scans.

All I know is I have gone from near instantaneous unlocks to often completely unsuccessful unlocks, something which happened with TouchID on only a very small handful of instances.

I have had FAR more unsuccessful or highly delayed unlock attempts in 3 days of X ownership than I did with TouchID over the course of 4 years.

I’m not returning the X, in the hopes that machine learning will eventually kick in and the unlock process will become as reliable and instantaneous as TouchID. But I’m not holding my breath.

The big takeaway here is that in general, Touch ID rendered the phone ready to use before I was actually ready to use it, while FaceID has me ready to use the phone before the phone is ready.

I agree with everything you've said. It's like you read my mind. Like, I can't be wearing a hood when unlocking my phone with Face ID? What an oversight by Apple. It's actually kinda embarrassing!

I've gotten quite frustrated with that 'shaking padlock' and I just can't believe Apple firmly and fully believes Face ID is faster than Touch ID.

I'm also not returning it, and hoping for future software improvements - the main one being the ability for Face ID to try again, and keep trying, if it doesn't recognise you in the first instance.

Gloved hand issues are a thing of the past, but Face ID has a long way to go before it becomes reliable and intelligent.

 

[jettie1767]

After using the X for three days, I jumped back to the 8+ and could not be more happy. The X is a fine phone but I have noproblem with the size of the 8+. They are all great devices, glad we all have choice. It

Same here! Went back to my 8+ today. I always have my phone on the table all day and it was becoming a pain to unlock it just to see if I have notifications or not.

 

[kre62]

Wow. Now I know that people have actually lost it. We're talking about a half second being something of actual importance? Not to mention that Touch ID was much slower when it was first introduced in the 5S. FaceID will get faster with each passing year.

Which is why you should pass on the v1 "beta" edition and wait til Apple has its stuff together..

 

[southflguy]

I think they're pretty much the same when the phone is upright and facing you and not maybe you're lying sideways in bed or in your car and outdoors. I have a feeling face id will catch up soon.

 

[Ipadfever]

As days and weeks go by it will be renamed “Failed ID”when winter comes in full effect!

 

[caesarp]

Wow. Now I know that people have actually lost it. We're talking about a half second being something of actual importance? Not to mention that Touch ID was much slower when it was first introduced in the 5S. FaceID will get faster with each passing year.

Not even half a second. It’s milliseconds difference if you do it right.
[doublepost=1510095721][/doublepost]

Same here! Went back to my 8+ today. I always have my phone on the table all day and it was becoming a pain to unlock it just to see if I have notifications or not.

You messed up. U don’t have to unlock to see notifications. Just tap to wake or swipe up from middle to see older notices.

 

[PPCmike]

For me faceId is faster when I pick my phone up the screen turns on and it's unlocked the same amount of time it would take with TouchID.. and none of that having to clean my thumb to get a good read.

 

[Cmd-Z]

Face ID unlock has an extra splash screen. Plus the sloooooooooooow animation of entering home, making the Face ID unlock “unbearably” slow (I over exaggerate it, but it is even worse). Apples obsession to animation will cost them.

I've only seen that animation once or twice in the hundreds of times I've unlocked my X since Friday, and when I did see it it was a fraction of a second. The authentication is so fast that I can swipe up to unlock my phone by the time my thumb reaches the bottom edge. Either you have a difficult face to ID, or a bad Face ID calibration, or just regurgitating stuff you've heard.

 

[Ipadfever]

Not even half a second. It’s milliseconds difference if you do it right.
[doublepost=1510095721][/doublepost]
You messed up. U don’t have to unlock to see notifications. Just tap to wake or swipe up from middle to see older notices.

It’s not so much speed as it is will failed attempts, when any technology fails us,and gives us a hard time, or doesn’t work at all it is extremely frustrating!

 

[eyedoc2020]

I prefer touchID.

 

[Surf Monkey]

This thread is nonsense. FaceID is super fast. Don’t wait for the unlock graphic. Just swipe up. Works for me just about every time.

 

[caesarp]

It’s not so much speed as it is will failed attempts, when any technology fails us,and gives us a hard time, or doesn’t work at all it is extremely frustrating!

Way more failed attempts with Touch ID - wet or oily or greasy or dirty fingers. Or not positioned On the tiny circle correctly. I don’t think you “get” Face ID. It is objectively more robust and the use window is larger as far as angles while looking at screen vs positioning one digit on a spot. It is way more seamless with Face ID. Failures in my experience are unusual.

 

[mcdj]

This thread is nonsense. FaceID is super fast. Don’t wait for the unlock graphic. Just swipe up. Works for me just about every time.

If you were standing next to me watching it hit and miss you’d change your tune. Glad it works for you.

 

[Surf Monkey]

If you were standing next to me watching it hit and miss you’d change your tune. Glad it works for you.

“Your face is wrong.” - Ghost of Steve Jobs

 

[caesarp]

If you were standing next to me watching it hit and miss you’d change your tune. Glad it works for you.

Redo it in setup. Your experience does not seem to be typical.

 

[tatsumi]

I have gotten used to the notch already and that there is no home button.
But FaceID still is not as comfortable as TouchID in some cases. E.g. I often open the iPhone while sitting on the sofa playing games and having the phone at my side. Now I have to actually pick up the phone to check something on an app. Previously I could just put my finger on it and press and see the contents of certain apps I am running.

Other than that I found FaceID to be fine and actually quicker than TouchID. I also taught my wife to simply pick up and swipe, it will immediately unlock. I often don't even see that lock animation. Also, I noticed it already started recognizing my face easier/quicker from more angles.

 

[Ipadfever]

Way more failed attempts with Touch ID - wet or oily or greasy or dirty fingers. Or not positioned On the tiny circle correctly. I don’t think you “get” Face ID. It is objectively more robust and the use window is larger as far as angles while looking at screen vs positioning one digit on a spot. It is way more seamless with Face ID. Failures in my experience are unusual.

First I should clarify my post, I meant it’s more inconvenient which causes more failed attempts as being in a car cradle or having the phone on my desk laying flat and having to reposition my head into camera view.

 

[Ryan1524]

The notification reveal feature is great. This is a different usage pattern than my prior unlock, and navigate around to check things directly. But I'm finding it much more convenient.

If you flick up by the time you pull the phone up, there's almost no delay to get to Home Screen. If all you want to see are notifications, then not swiping lets you do that too.

 

[mizzourah]

I do really love how one person's opinion is stated as fact. Facts are facts it says. It's an opinion. Clearly read through this thread. Many say TouchID is faster and works better for them - great. Wonderful opinion. Face ID works better and faster for others. Wonderful opinion. There's a new phone released this year for each type of person. I have no idea why these threads continue. Nothing that relates to your personal opinion is a fact.

This is the truest sense of 'to each, his own'. Congrats to all who love each technology. Glad something works for you.

 

[mcdj]

Redo it in setup. Your experience does not seem to be typical.

I’ve done that.

There’s like 20 people in this thread agreeing with me, and a dozen other threads with people saying the same thing. Clearly I’m not alone.

 

[Cmd-Z]

If you were standing next to me watching it hit and miss you’d change your tune. Glad it works for you.

Have you tried re-doing your Face ID calibration? Make sure you do that under ideal conditions (clean screen, < 20" from your face, good contrasting background, no sunglasses, no fluorescent light or direct sunlight, etc.) You want the calibration to be done under the best conditions to minimize errors, which will make identification more accurate under less than ideal conditions.

 

[caesarp]

First I should clarify my post, I meant it’s more inconvenient which causes more failed attempts as being in a car cradle or having the phone on my desk laying flat and having to reposition my head into camera view.

Ok. But that doesn’t make Touch ID better or faster. Just works for your specific use case better. When it’s flat on my desk it works for me unless my head is too far back. But I don’t need to be right on top.
[doublepost=1510096688][/doublepost]

I’ve done that.

There’s like 20 people in this thread agreeing with me, and a dozen other threads with people saying the same thing. Clearly I’m not alone.

I doubt you are alone. But reading the press reviews etc. you are in the minority.

 

[Ipadfever]

If you were standing next to me watching it hit and miss you’d change your tune. Glad it works for you.

So what date are you returning it? Lol

 

[davidjearly]

Apple will collect data and learn from the millions of iPhone X devices in the market right now on how to improve FaceID next year or the year after by creating new and faster algorithms. They will finetune the hardware as well, but big data is necessary for them to bring FaceID to the state where TouchID was when they decided to abandon it.

Anyone who's claiming that FaceID is faster than TouchID is simply wrong.

OP is right. Period.

Wrong. FaceID is off the charts faster than TouchID and has the added benefit of never failing me. Period. Fact. End. of. story.