One of my favorite aspects of folding phones is the return of the fingerprint sensors built directly into the power button. This is objectively the ideal design, for reasons I assume I don't have to explain.
Lately, however, the novelty of folding phones is wearing off and I'm starting to think I'd just like something lighter and sleeker. Are there any recommendations for a phone with a power-button sensor that still has good specs and cameras?
Edit: for the purposes of this post, physical sensors on the back of the phone also count, since they can wake the phone and unlock it simultaneously.
And to clarify (I thought this was a thing everyone just inherently agreed on), the benefits of physical sensors are:
- accuracy. A physical sensors will always be more accurate (and thus have fewer issues) because it doesn't have to work THROUGH the screen. This has been improved a lot with newer technologies like ultrasonic readers, but it is literally impossible to be better than the same technology utilized without a screen in the way.
- wake/unlock in one motion. Since it's also a button, it can wake the phone and unlock it in one motion, rather than 2 separate ones. Again, newer tech has sort of worked around this with things like lift to wake or just having the sensor area ALWAYS scanning so you can unlock it from sleep regardless, but these are clunky software implementations that rely on your phone constantly actively trying to to figure out whether you're doing the thing or not, so it again can't be as efficient as just a normal button. Battery impact for these is also pretty minimal for the most part, but it's still not zero.
- tactility. You can feel the button, and manufacturers can put it where your hand naturally rests, meaning that you can unlock the phone BEFORE you have even taken it out of your pocket.
- cost. Physical sensors are hella cheap y'all. The technology to read the ridges on your finger through a sheet of plastic and glass is (turns out) kind of expensive. We're all being forced to pay for this dumb gimmick.
- durability. Screens get scratched and dinged up, which compromises the sensors ability to read. Physical sensors on the other hand are basically the most durable part of the phone. Again, mostly a non issue on newer phones, but it's yet another thing manufacturers have had to dump money into working around (and thus charging you more for).
- not impacted by screen protectors, rain on the screen, etc.
I'm personally not a huge fan of the ones in the power button, they never worked very reliably in my experience. Even worse than the under-screen ones usually.
I'd love to see phones with a fingerprint sensor on the back though. Granted I have pretty big hands and could easily reach it. Always worked reliably for me, and on my oneplus 5t i could even set actions to swipes on the fingerprint sensor.
The one on my Moto G Power 5G works just fine. It has a side mounted power button with the fingerprint reader built into it. It reads very quickly, and apparently very accurately, so much so that 99% of the time I've tried it you can just press the power button normally with the correct finger and this also unlocks the phone. The advantage I can see there is that it does not require a separate action to operate at all.
(I don't keep my fingerprint reader activated, though, for security purposes. Down with fingerprint readers in general, at least if you live in the US where the police can compel you to supply your fingerprint to unlock your phone.)
The under-screen reader in my previous Moto Z4 never worked worth a damn.
Honestly I'm pretty impressed with the G Power 5G overall. It's a "budget" phone so certain people will inevitably get unreasonably butthurt over the lack of "premium," but is quite fast enough for everything I do, gets great battery life, has a headphone jack and memory card slot, a good screen that's 120hz capable, and it's only $200-250 depending on the color. I think its cameras are just fine. How so? Well, check out any of my post history over the last month or two -- All of my photos lately have been taken with that phone.
It works perfectly on my phone (Poco X3 NFC). It is probably different from phone to phone.
It's less that the sensor isn't good enough, and more than the human operating it isn't good enough.
I have an iPad 10th gen with the fingerprint power button and I never realized just how often I hit the power button with parts other than my finger tip.