Fingerprint sensitivity

RandByte

Hi,

I have a Pixel9 (GOS) and a Samsung A34 and there's a huge difference in fingerprint sensitivity and behavior. Enabling the "Screen protector mode" improves a bit but I still have to retry several times to unlock the phone (also using a secondary PIN after FP)

Both phones use a screen protector glass and the Pixel also have an anti-spy soft tape on top of the screen protector. The reason why is I've "tested" (without applying them) various screen protectors (anti-spy) and most of them suck at properly covering the screen, leaving gaps above/and or below. So I combined the best of both worlds and the result is very nice, everything is perfectly covered.

Both phones are really snappy and there's zero issue with the touch experience, everything always reacts perfectly everywhere. I did not test the finger print on stock OS, only on GOS so I can not compare.

When using the FP on the Samsung, the zone highlights (ie: screen gets brighter on the FP zone) and the finger print is detected at the first attempt, every time! On the Pixel, there's no such highlight of the zone and at least 3₄ tries are necessary before I get the secondary PIN keypad.

Is this expected? Does the Pixel have a weak FP sensor or is there something that can be done to improve things?

PS: Searching a bit on the forum, I set up the finger prints again in a very dark room and this improved a bit the detection afterwards. Now, only 2₃ attempts are necessary to unlock.

If anyone have information on that, I'd be grateful :-)

twitheatrophonic

RandByte s
Thanks for the tip, i have the same issue with pixel 9, will try dark room thing

RandByte

RandByte Both phones use a screen protector glass and the Pixel also have an anti-spy soft tape on top of the screen protector.

Several months later, I can tell this was a really bad idea for at least 3 reasons in my case:

Two consecutive layers really hinder the FP sensor
As the anti-spy is a soft tape, with time, a few slight scratches appear here and there and the screen is no longer squeaky clean
The anti-spy soft tape added some diagonal black stripes to the screen clearly visible on light-grey/white backgrounds

Now I've removed both protections and replaced with a single gorilla glass 9H anti-spy screen protector. Now everything is perfect without any of the previous issues. The FP sensor now gets it on the first or second attempt. Only when I just washed my hands and they are extremely clean that it can need up to three attempts to register the FP.

I'm amazed by the sensitivity difference between the touch screen and the FP sensor with the two cumulative screen protections. The former was unaltered and still perfectly snappy while the latter only registered once in a while.

Lucario1829

rhe pixel 9 uses an entirely different fingerprint technology than galaxy a30s thats not light based, but sound based, hence why it doesnt light up. maybe try looking up tips for "ultrasonic" fingerprint sensors specifically. personally mine works great, and i dont really know how to solve your issue, but i thought id tell you that

RandByte

Lucario1829 rhe pixel 9 uses an entirely different fingerprint technology than galaxy a30s thats not light based, but sound based, hence why it doesnt light up.

That's indeed a very interesting and useful information, thank you!
This explains the huge gap in sensitivity between the Pixel9 and the Samsung A34.

Given all the testimonies on this thread, it seems clear that ultrasonic FP sensors are not the best for accurate and reliable FP unlocking or are there other brands using them from a different manufacturer and getting better results?

Dan-cer

With my new Pixel 8a, I initially thought that the technology was better than on the old 6a. At first, it worked very well, usually on the first try.
But the fun quickly came to an end. Then I created a new fingerprint. That worked for a short time. Then it stopped working. More and more often, I had to enter the PIN after 3 failed attempts.
Today, I deleted and deactivated the fingerprints and am back to entering the old PIN.

MEGAbyter

I switched to a GOS Pixel 9 Pro XL from a Samsung S24 Ultra and the fingerprint reader on it is very slow and unreliable, comparatively. I tried using it for 2FA unlock (PIN is an OPSEC necessity) and even before I put a screen protector on it, it was brutal. With the screen protector-forget about it. Unusable.

Speeduser7533

I was hoping to hear that the Pixel 9's reader was better than earlier versions 🙁.

My 7a absolutely sucks. Yes I have screen protector mode turned on.

I'd pay an extra $100 for a real, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Vomitorius

Speeduser7533 you don't even imagine how many times I was almost charging my 8a into the wall. This fucking sensor decides not to work absolutely randomly.

GrouchyGrape

Unlike others, I've had pretty good luck with mine. Pixel 7, then 7pro, now 8. All with privacy screen protectors. Registering my finger can be a little tricky, but once it's registered, I'm good. I've never had it fail out on me and require my password.

When it's not working, your finger may just be too dry. Try moistening it (a quick lick or rub across your forehead will work) and you might be more successful.

trythis3

GrouchyGrape Ive just confirmed this idea on my Pix9 GOS: after a few days of struggling with the sensor reading my fingerprints both for setup and during useage, I tried the 2 methods of re-setting up in a totally dark room and using a forehead moistened fingers, and yes, the reader now gets it 1st or 2nd time! Thanks!

mar2112

Pixel 9a and my fingerprint usually works. When I have difficultly when my finger is either moist, after a shower, or dry when humidity is very low.

trythis3

mar2112 Ive just confirmed this idea on my Pix9 GOS: after a few days of struggling with the sensor reading my fingerprints both for setup and during useage, I tried the 2 methods of re-setting up in a totally dark room and using a forehead moistened fingers, and yes, the reader now gets it 1st or 2nd time! Thanks!

Novalissoide

The simplest advice in the universe worked for me: 'Press harder on the screen'.

And I've noticed that there's good samplings and less good. If you after registering a finger experience a poor performance, try removing it, re-register it and test again. The sampling might have improved.