Fingerprint reader is useless!

[Morty2264]

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.

I bet scanning your thumb twice helped! But 20/20 is amazing!

 

[Chex313]

Anything other than my right thumb print works fine. It gets trashed with golf or other work. It is always my usage of my fingertips as the any other finger or left thumb works 100%. In daylight face unlock works instantly.

The sensor is fine.

The reason the Pixel 5 works 100% for myself is I always used my finger.

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

And despite people complaining about the 6 series FPS my 6 Pro is faultless 99% of the time. I just have to press it hard.

 

[Jx J]

I used to work for a car manufacturer and if there was a warranty claim rate of 1% for any feature, it was considered very bad.

If 80 or 90% of Pixel users have a fingerprint sensor that works, it tells us nothing at all about the ones that don't work.

I've tried mine with 1, 2, 3 and 4 copies of the unlock finger saved.
I'm trying various other things and am getting some improvement, but it's nowhere near as good as my LG G7 fingerprint reader was.

 

[PGrey]

I used to work for a car manufacturer and if there was a warranty claim rate of 1% for any feature, it was considered very bad.

If 80 or 90% of Pixel users have a fingerprint sensor that works, it tells us nothing at all about the ones that don't work.

I've tried mine with 1, 2, 3 and 4 copies of the unlock finger saved.
I'm trying various other things and am getting some improvement, but it's nowhere near as good as my LG G7 fingerprint reader was.

That's interesting, I could see the warranty thing, where any 1% would really add up, FAST.

Yeah, I agree, on the 10-20%, but is it that, or maybe 2-3% (or 25-30%), who knows? Only Google has this telemetry (most OEMs probably have a way to collect this, I bet), and it's not like it's in their interest to talk about it, unless it was a very small percentage. It's easy to see someone doing the math against the proliferation of the P6 - P7 series, and noting just how many people that is.

I did try to take a quick look at the G7, and funny thing, when I searched for "LG G7 fingerprint reader", about 5 of the first 10 entries were a mix of people discussing issues with *that* phones' reader, and an article about how to fix the issues, hmm.

I did 20 tests per my 4 enrolled fingers, and got 19/20, 20/20, 18/20, and 15/20. One of my thumbs definitely doesn't seem to be recognized by the reader/algo as well, but fortunately for me I'm left-handed (mostly ambidextrous, really, I'm quite odd like that, I'm left/right back and forth for a huge variety of things), and my right finger is the one that's problematic.
I tested an old OP7 Pro that's around, and got similar results, between my two thumbs, which was intriguing. Either most OEMs are using stock scan code, or my thumb has some oddities that most don't, I suppose.

 

[Morty2264]

Anything other than my right thumb print works fine. It gets trashed with golf or other work. It is always my usage of my fingertips as the any other finger or left thumb works 100%. In daylight face unlock works instantly.

The sensor is fine.

The reason the Pixel 5 works 100% for myself is I always used my finger.

I agree that my thumbs work quite well almost every time. And sometimes I go to use my thumb and Face Unlock just does it for me. That's okay!

 

[Jx J]

Well here are some of my results
I have 4 copies of the same finger saved.
After resetting copy #3, it worked reasonably well for a while.
Then reverted to the usual high failure rate.

So I re-entered fingerprint #4 and it starts working for a while.

Yes, my hands are clean and I cleaned the Pixel screen.
For a benchmark, my LG G7 fingerprint sensor worked every time I went to it during this trial.

Note: Most of the time, if the phone catches sight of my face, the face unlock unlocks the phone.
The face unlock works very well.
To test the fingerprint login, I need to keep my face out of sight of the camera !

I need the fingerprint login for bank apps.

 

[No_autorizado]

Well here are some of my results
I have 4 copies of the same finger saved.
After resetting copy #3, it worked reasonably well for a while.
Then reverted to the usual high failure rate.

So I re-entered fingerprint #4 and it starts working for a while.

Yes, my hands are clean and I cleaned the Pixel screen.
For a benchmark, my LG G7 fingerprint sensor worked every time I went to it during this trial.

Note: Most of the time, if the phone catches sight of my face, the face unlock unlocks the phone.
The face unlock works very well.
To test the fingerprint login, I need to keep my face out of sight of the camera !

I need the fingerprint login for bank apps.

I've never had issues with mine.

 

[Jx J]

I've never had issues with mine.

How does your thinking account for product variation ?
If your phone works, sample size = 1, how do you conclude that every other phone made by google works ?

Applying your logic from the opposite direction, google don't know how to do fingerprint sensors, as I've never had a problem with the one on my LG phone.

 

[No_autorizado]

How does your thinking account for product variation ?
If your phone works, sample size = 1, how do you conclude that every other phone made by google works ?

Applying your logic from the opposite direction, google don't know how to do fingerprint sensors, as I've never had a problem with the one on my LG phone.

There are no other blogs posting about it like there was with the 6.

 

[Jx J]

There are no other blogs posting about it like there was with the 6.

Have you noticed all other people early in this thread reporting exactly the same problem ?

Also, a quick search shows plenty of other people with the problem. I'm using Bing for obvious reasons.

pixel 7 fingerprint reader - Bing

Mit der intelligenten Bing-Suche können Sie die gewünschten Informationen schneller und einfacher finden und dabei Punkte sammeln.

www.bing.com

 

[No_autorizado]

Have you noticed all other people early in this thread reporting exactly the same problem ?

Also, a quick search shows plenty of other people with the problem. I'm using Bing for obvious reasons.

pixel 7 fingerprint reader - Bing

Mit der intelligenten Bing-Suche können Sie die gewünschten Informationen schneller und einfacher finden und dabei Punkte sammeln.

www.bing.com

Guess you totally missed this article from your OWN link

Don’t worry, the Pixel 7 fingerprint scanner is totally fine

Worried about the Google Pixel 7 fingerprint scanner since the Pixel 6 had so many problems? Don't be, it's just fine.

www.androidauthority.com

 

[Jx J]

Guess you totally missed this article from your OWN link

Don’t worry, the Pixel 7 fingerprint scanner is totally fine

Worried about the Google Pixel 7 fingerprint scanner since the Pixel 6 had so many problems? Don't be, it's just fine.

www.androidauthority.com

Please explain why one person testing one phone would mean that every other Pixel ever made will have a properly working fingerprint sensor ?

Also, since you have concluded that those with problems (post #48) Do explain precisely what we're doing wrong ?

 

[livetovacation60]

I returned my first Pixel 7 with fingerprint issues. The second one was much better but hardly as efficient as the rear sensors.

 

[davidnc]

Thread has been cleaned up . Please keep this on topic of the thread and remain civil in your discussion . Thanks

Community Rules & Guidelines

Before we dive into specific community rules and guidelines, we would like to provide some general guidelines for our members. Our communities are fun, friendly and most of all helpful places to be. They are places where we make new friends, give help, get help, and find answers to the pressing...

forums.androidcentral.com

 

[No_autorizado]

Please explain why one person testing one phone would mean that every other Pixel ever made will have a properly working fingerprint sensor ?

Also, since you have concluded that those with problems (post #48) Do explain precisely what we're doing wrong ?

Not touching it right, too short, not completely, have stuff on your hands or screen, bunch of things.

 

[PGrey]

Not touching it right, too short, not completely, have stuff on your hands or screen, bunch of things.

Yeah, this is mostly what I've noticed, as well.
The back-ultrasonic readers do a very good job of guiding your (typically index) finger into a good position, with good contact/coverage.
The front/under-glass setup has no such guide, and it's awkward, IMHO/IME, comparatively, to use. The advantage for me (mentioned further up), is that mine works in a ziploc (mostly, it's through the screen protecter AND the thick ziploc, so not 100%, at all), which is its' native environment, a good deal of time, as a road-cyclist...
YMMV, obviously.

 

[Jx J]

Well I'm continuing to trial the fingerprint sensor.

1 Re-saving the fingerprints with a smaller change in position when they say to put the left edge of the finger on, right edge etc has increased my pass rate from about 33% to 53%. Of course, this is still poor.

2 Numerous other places have reports of people with fingerprint sensors. One of them reported success saving the fingerprint in a dark room. So I tried that. It was better for a day or two, then started deteriorating.
What I actually find is every time I save a fingerprint, results are better for 2~3 days, then it gets worse.

3 The failure rate is particularly high when I wake up in the morning. Wetting my finger helps, as it sometimes does at other times of the day.

Just in case some one shows up and says it's all user error, without having a clue about how I use the phone, it must be stressed that I continue to get good results on my old phone and on 2 Samsung tablets.

The other devices work without any need to wet my finger or such nonsense.

Google also know it's a problem, as disclosed when I was calling their helpline.

I suppose I could use the face unlock for unlocking the phone and then be prepared to wet my finger before using banking apps.

 

[Morty2264]

Well I'm continuing to trial the fingerprint sensor.

1 Re-saving the fingerprints with a smaller change in position when they say to put the left edge of the finger on, right edge etc has increased my pass rate from about 33% to 53%. Of course, this is still poor.

2 Numerous other places have reports of people with fingerprint sensors. One of them reported success saving the fingerprint in a dark room. So I tried that. It was better for a day or two, then started deteriorating.
What I actually find is every time I save a fingerprint, results are better for 2~3 days, then it gets worse.

3 The failure rate is particularly high when I wake up in the morning. Wetting my finger helps, as it sometimes does at other times of the day.

Just in case some one shows up and says it's all user error, without having a clue about how I use the phone, it must be stressed that I continue to get good results on my old phone and on 2 Samsung tablets.

The other devices work without any need to wet my finger or such nonsense.

Google also know it's a problem, as disclosed when I was calling their helpline.

I suppose I could use the face unlock for unlocking the phone and then be prepared to wet my finger before using banking apps.

It's too bad that you are trying so hard to get better results and though results are improving, they're still not where they should be. I'm sorry this is happening to you.

 

[Davidoo]

Not touching it right, too short, not completely, have stuff on your hands or screen, bunch of things.

I agree with you. The identical hardware is in every device and I doubt there are that many where something was done in assembly to cause them not to work. I believe 2 things contribute to those having errors. First it is in the setup. When I set my print up I purposely move my finger in many different positions, and even have it off center, sometimes just use the very tip, and others the tip is partially off (above) the sensor area. Also, I would put just a touch of some non greasy hand lotion and rub it in for a couple of minutes before setting up the print.

Second, I've had the 6 Pro and 7 Pro, and the one thing that will cause mine to not work, and it is rare, is a very clean, dry finger. Something about very dry skin causes the only errors I ever have. If that ever happens to me, I breathe on the finger once to add a touch of moisture. Still, this is rare, and mine works at least 98 to 99 out of 100, and about the same as the sensors on my prior 3XL and others. This sensor also requires just a touch more pressure than the previous one I had on the back of the 3XL. Nothing to damage the device, but a firm push down.