Fingerprint reader is useless!

[THEPRFCT10]

Might actually works pretty darn well especially after the march update although that could be a placebo effect. Try registering your fingerprints without the screen protector option turned on and then turn it on after you add your fingerprints. Add several of the same finger and then turn on the sensitivity see if that helps. Good luck.

 

[No_autorizado]

I don't know why people are having problems with it. I've never had issues on my 7 Pro or even the 6 Pro. Both have been solid. There's must be some form of user error involved.

 

[Jx J]

I don't know why people are having problems with it. I've never had issues on my 7 Pro or even the 6 Pro. Both have been solid. There's must be some form of user error involved.

I'm not sure what kind of user error you're thinking of. All I expect to do is register my fingerprint and tough the sensor to log in, just like on any other phone.

I've had two previous phones with fingerprint readers and they simply worked.

On the other hand, the Pixel is a disaster.

I purchased it yesterday. I still haven't fitted a screen protector, as I'm testing it. I've tried with one and two copies of my finger print.

The thing often rejects fingerprint login and quite frequently it rejects it so fast, I've not even put my fingerprint on the sensor properly. Sometimes it works fine, other times I can try to login several times and it fails.

Now for normal login, the face unlock works. In fact, it works so quickly it's almost like google are trying to cover up the poor functionality of the fingerprint sensor by steering us towards face unlock.
However, that's simply not good enough, as I expect to use the fingerprint sensor for banking apps, just like I did with the previous phone.

I might yet reject this phone within the 30 day window.

 

[Rob1408]

I haven't had any problems on my 7 pro, I'd say it works 99.9% of the time, I wonder if there's inconsistencies during production or something.

 

[Jx J]

The google contact person says their Engineers are working on a fix, but he cannot give me a time frame.

Obviously I don't know if that's a hardware fix or a software fix. So perhaps the safest solution is to reject the phone and send it back to the retailer.

I've got 2 phones on my desk.
A lovely 4.5 year old LG G7, with a fingerprint sensor that works about 99% of the time.

Then a new Pixel, with a sensor which works about 50% of the time. When it's not working, that's usually numerous times in succession, which blocks fingerprint access to bank apps and so on.

 

[bmetelsky]

If you bought it for the fingerprint reader then you should return it. Mine works almost perfectly but I enjoy the phone for so many other reasons.

 

[rvbfan]

If you bought it for the fingerprint reader then you should return it. Mine works almost perfectly but I enjoy the phone for so many other reasons.

This so much. Fingerprint reader since I got used to it just works. As for the rest of the software? I'm all in.

 

[Jx J]

If you bought it for the fingerprint reader then you should return it. Mine works almost perfectly but I enjoy the phone for so many other reasons.

I have got used to the fingerprint sensor for logging into banking apps with my LG G7.
So I want the same functionality on the next phone.

To be honest, for unlocking the phone, the Pixel face unlock works spectacularly well. It's so good, it's almost like google are trying to cover up a dodgy fingerprint sensor.
However, face unlock does not get me into banking apps.

I'm trying lots of different things and still can't get much better than 50% reliability with the fingerprint sensor.
I've tried 4 copies of my login finger.
When it repeatedly failed after I was out cycling in the cold, I immediately saved a copy of my finger when cold.
I've tried making a copy of the finger when wet, as suggested on one You Tube video.

 

[No_autorizado]

I'm not sure what kind of user error you're thinking of. All I expect to do is register my fingerprint and tough the sensor to log in, just like on any other phone.

I've had two previous phones with fingerprint readers and they simply worked.

On the other hand, the Pixel is a disaster.

I purchased it yesterday. I still haven't fitted a screen protector, as I'm testing it. I've tried with one and two copies of my finger print.

The thing often rejects fingerprint login and quite frequently it rejects it so fast, I've not even put my fingerprint on the sensor properly. Sometimes it works fine, other times I can try to login several times and it fails.

Now for normal login, the face unlock works. In fact, it works so quickly it's almost like google are trying to cover up the poor functionality of the fingerprint sensor by steering us towards face unlock.
However, that's simply not good enough, as I expect to use the fingerprint sensor for banking apps, just like I did with the previous phone.

I might yet reject this phone within the 30 day window.

If there were inherent issues with the fingerprint sensor there would be articles about it wouldn't you think? So, since there isn't....

 

[Jx J]

If there were inherent issues with the fingerprint sensor there would be articles about it wouldn't you think? So, since there isn't....

There articles about it.
Plus you tube videos of people trying various things.
Also, the fingerprint sensor is one of the common causes of poor reviews on Amazon and other sites.
If everyone's fingerprint sensor worked properly, no one would have raised the issue here or anywhere else.

Now YOUR phone might work perfectly, so from that we can only deduce that less than 100% of phones have the problem.
Your experience doesn't tell us that 0% of phones have the problem.

If your phone works, it tells us absolutely nothing about the ones that don't work.

There are issues like manufacturing tolerances and any number of other obscure reasons why different people get different results.

 

[diesel97]

INMO people need to slow down on setup and using it. A 1/2 second longer just might lower your blood presser LOL

 

[Morty2264]

I agree with users saying that different people's experiences and devices will vary. Just because someone's fingerprint sensor works well, doesn't mean another's sensor will work well -- and vice versa. It's definitely frustrating when a biometric isn't functioning the way it's intended.

 

[PGrey]

I agree with users saying that different people's experiences and devices will vary. Just because someone's fingerprint sensor works well, doesn't mean another's sensor will work well -- and vice versa. It's definitely frustrating when a biometric isn't functioning the way it's intended.

Yep, exactly.

I do think that if you're going to call it out as an issue, you should do say 100 test-unlocks, or even say 20, something to increase the sample size (of possibly "it annoyed me a few times last week"... ), to something that makes this whole thing a bit more empirical. Or maybe it's just from having written too many unit-tests, I dunno'.

NOT saying this isn't happening, to anyone, just wonder how widespread it is, because I sure haven't seen it reviewed this way, in a published sense.
Fingers are different, and h/w tolerances are just that, and s/w algos that "interpret" the newer under-screen readers aren't perfect, no question, all of this feeds into things.
Maybe it's a large, un-amalgamated issue, of some sort, it wouldn't be the first time.

I just got an 18/20 success rate, as a starter, testing 4 fingers, 5 times each. It was a single thumb that failed twice, so that's at least interesting.

 

[No_autorizado]

There articles about it.
Plus you tube videos of people trying various things.
Also, the fingerprint sensor is one of the common causes of poor reviews on Amazon and other sites.
If everyone's fingerprint sensor worked properly, no one would have raised the issue here or anywhere else.

Now YOUR phone might work perfectly, so from that we can only deduce that less than 100% of phones have the problem.
Your experience doesn't tell us that 0% of phones have the problem.

If your phone works, it tells us absolutely nothing about the ones that don't work.

There are issues like manufacturing tolerances and any number of other obscure reasons why different people get different results.

Point to the articles and YouTube videos about it because I haven't seen a single one. There were several about the 6 but not the 7. My original supposition still stands which means turn to the mirror for the reason behind the FPS problems.

 

[Jx J]

I do think that if you're going to call it out as an issue, you should do say 100 test-unlocks, or even say 20, something to increase the sample size (of possibly "it annoyed me a few times last week"... ), to something that makes this whole thing a bit more empirical. Or maybe it's just from having written too many unit-tests, I dunno'.

NOT saying this isn't happening, to anyone, just wonder how widespread it is, because I sure haven't seen it reviewed this way, in a published sense.
Fingers are different, and h/w tolerances are just that, and s/w algos that "interpret" the newer under-screen readers aren't perfect, no question, all of this feeds into things.
Maybe it's a large, un-amalgamated issue, of some sort, it wouldn't be the first time.

I just got an 18/20 success rate, as a starter, testing 4 fingers, 5 times each. It was a single thumb that failed twice, so that's at least interesting.

That's exactly what I decided to do before reading your reply.

I'm gathering data and will report back if I have any useful conclusions. For logging into the phone, the success rate is about 40% at present. Higher logging into banks.

If I wait for a second or two before retrying after a failure, the success rate seems to be far better.

 

[ras47]

Rumor is that Apple tried to make this on-screen fingerprint scanner work but had issues and decided to stick to Face Unlock. Too much technology needed to be fit into such a small space that compromises are needed. Those compromises directly affect reliability of the process.

I'm fine with the fingerprint unlock on the back of my Pixel 5. Rock solid reliability in a convenient place, and backed up by the 4-digit numeric unlock code if it fails.

 

[uw]

This is interesting. My Pixel 7's FPS works better than Galaxy S21 or S22 I used to have. And that's with a tempered glass screen protector on the Pixel 7.

 

[Morty2264]

Yep, exactly.

I do think that if you're going to call it out as an issue, you should do say 100 test-unlocks, or even say 20, something to increase the sample size (of possibly "it annoyed me a few times last week"... ), to something that makes this whole thing a bit more empirical. Or maybe it's just from having written too many unit-tests, I dunno'.

NOT saying this isn't happening, to anyone, just wonder how widespread it is, because I sure haven't seen it reviewed this way, in a published sense.
Fingers are different, and h/w tolerances are just that, and s/w algos that "interpret" the newer under-screen readers aren't perfect, no question, all of this feeds into things.
Maybe it's a large, un-amalgamated issue, of some sort, it wouldn't be the first time.

I just got an 18/20 success rate, as a starter, testing 4 fingers, 5 times each. It was a single thumb that failed twice, so that's at least interesting.

I agree with you that a specific problem has to be isolated: as in, testing the fingerprint sensor multiple times, or ensuring your fingerprint was enrolled properly. But then there are those who get lemons and there's an issue with the software or hardware that is causing the blips in biometrics. Who knows! My fingerprint sensor is good probably 85-90% of the time after the update. I think failed times have to do with hastiness, improper positioning, user error, and maybe sometimes just how my Pixel 7 is feeling at the moment.

 

[Rob1408]

I just tested mine, 20/20 I have a protective film (not glass), no issues. After reading that some were having problems I did scan the same thumb twice, so maybe that's helped.

 

[paradroid]

If my thumb is dry, the finger print sensor often does not work. I have to lick my thumb and all it's germs, wipe it on my shirt and wah-la!