Fingerprint Scanner Not Working Well

[felloffthetruck]

Still holding with the factory plastic for now.

 

[Ninjarette]

Not sure if I posted my update here already...if I did, sorry. My first s10+ had a rotten FPS, and the update didn't get pushed to my phone before I decided to get a replacement. They were out of the 128gb online and in stores. I upgraded to the 512gb, Ceramic Black model - got it today. FPS works fine. Didn't have to register my finger 20 times, and stand on my head. It just works. That's how it should be for a $1000+ flagship phone.

It didn't update instantly, and I got scared. I was going to take it tomorrow and get the updated flashed to my phone. I got the software update notification towards the end of the day. FPS is still fine...works every time.

So, if you're blessed to have a responsive FPS, it may not have as much to do with your awesome thumb game as you think. Maybe you just have a better device

 

[mustang7757]

Not sure if I posted my update here already...if I did, sorry. My first s10+ had a rotten FPS, and the update didn't get pushed to my phone before I decided to get a replacement. They were out of the 128gb online and in stores. I upgraded to the 512gb, Ceramic Black model - got it today. FPS works fine. Didn't have to register my finger 20 times, and stand on my head. It just works. That's how it should be for a $1000+ flagship phone.

It didn't update instantly, and I got scared. I was going to take it tomorrow and get the updated flashed to my phone. I got the software update notification towards the end of the day. FPS is still fine...works every time.

So, if you're blessed to have a responsive FPS, it may not have as much to do with your awesome thumb game as you think. Maybe you just have a better device

Happy to hear it's working now for you ,

 

[Snareman]

I am here to add to the 2 thumbs as 1 fingerprint. I'm shocked that this actually made a difference as it just makes no sense to me, but it seems to have fixed the problem so far.

 

[felloffthetruck]

So, has it been determined that some devices have bad fingerprint hardware while others don't?

 

[tadpoles]

So, has it been determined that some devices have bad fingerprint hardware while others don't?

I don't know how the ultrasonic fps and screen are constructed but I'm wondering if it's a difference in manufacturing tolerances.

 

[maverick96]

So, has it been determined that some devices have bad fingerprint hardware while others don't?

Yep. It sure seems that way. I just exchanged for a 10 Plus and this one works flawlessly. I had 10 before it and it was horrible. I haven't changed anything as far as how I registered my thumbs either.

 

[Mike Dee]

I don't know how the ultrasonic fps and screen are constructed bit I'm wondering if it's a difference in manufacturing tolerances.

Could very well be. It's so sensitive in normal usage I could imagine proper installation of the sensor is also critical and not very forgiving.

 

[bhatech]

So, has it been determined that some devices have bad fingerprint hardware while others don't?

Personally I don't think so, people who have bad experiences are most likely dismissed to be having bad devices or user error. I just think it being first generation, and some having great experiences and some bad adds to all the confusion. But it doesn't hurt if you can get it exchanged and see if it's anything better, can't hurt trying.

 

[Mike Dee]

Personally I don't think so, people who have bad experiences are most likely dismissed to be having bad devices or user error. I just think it being first generation, and some having great experiences and some bad adds to all the confusion. But it doesn't hurt if you can get it exchanged and see if it's anything better, can't hurt trying.

Well there is definitely some potential for user error in recording finger prints. If done poorly you get poor results. The reader only captures a small portion of your print. If you don't move the finger around, especially the thumb because it's larger, during recordimg you have less chances of a good read.

 

[donm527]

Well, for many, even though ultrasonic in-glass FPS is new tech, most have had years of experience using capacitive from iPhones and iPads and other androids so it's not like it's their first rodeo in how to press a button/register a fingerprint.

This is first gen tech so gonna be some growing pains. Like I mentioned elsewhere the performance doesn't sound any different to issues people had with first gen optical. Hopefully following iterations will start catching up to optical and capacitive and improvements like being more reliable with all types of screen protectors, etc.

Well there is definitely some potential for user error in recording finger prints. If done poorly you get poor results. The reader only captures a small portion of your print. If you don't move the finger around, especially the thumb because it's larger, during recordimg you have less chances of a good read.

 

[Mike Dee]

Well, for many, even though ultrasonic in-glass FPS is new tech, most have had years of experience using capacitive from iPhones and iPads and other androids so it's not like it's their first rodeo in how to press a button/register a fingerprint.

This is first gen tech so gonna be some growing pains. Like I mentioned elsewhere the performance doesn't sound any different to issues people had with first gen optical. Hopefully following iterations will start catching up to optical and capacitive and improvements like being more reliable with all types of screen protectors, etc.

This is the first rodeo though with an ultrasonic system for all of us so all of those years of experience with conventional FPS is not necessarily applicablable, relevant or benifcial. Registering this sensor is more difficult than capacitive because it's harder to pinpoint the sensor area and the amount of pressure you need to resgister is less forgiving. You can't see or feel the sensor location like you can with capacitive.
Of course the tech will improve, but we cannot leave user error or hardware discrepancies out of the equation. At least I'm not willing to be dismissive of anything at this point.

 

[Sapient]

For me, it has been entirely an issue with my skin being dry. The weather here has been different for the last week or so, the humidity has been different, and my FPS works just fine. Except for right after I wash my hands. Right after I wash my hands, I have an 80% failure rate. Any other time, I have a 5-10% failure rate, entirely due to me missing the FPS or not pressing long enough.

As such, I've turned off my Smart Lock, except for my car, and am thinking of turning off facial recognition.

 

[Mike Dee]

For me, it has been entirely an issue with my skin being dry. The weather here has been different for the last week or so, the humidity has been different, and my FPS works just fine. Except for right after I wash my hands. Right after I wash my hands, I have an 80% failure rate. Any other time, I have a 5-10% failure rate, entirely due to me missing the FPS or not pressing long enough.

As such, I've turned off my Smart Lock, except for my car, and am thinking of turning off facial recognition.

Yes, that's definitely an issue. This system is much more sensitive to dryness. Hopefully they can improve on the tech at some point.

 

[tadpoles]

This is me thinking "out loud" about this whole fps scenario so far....

I get that this is new tech. What I keep reading, in it's defense, is that it's new tech and works differently than many would expect. Requires more accuracy/patience.

Do you believe Samsung set an appropriate level of expectation?

Is this what was expected based on the marketing?

Would Apple (Samsung's largest competitor?) have released this ultrasonic fps in its current state?

Was Face ID so hit or miss in it's first incarnation for most users? Not a fair comparison, I know. Face ID WAS distinctly different new tech.

How many customers believe(d) the new fingerprint sensor should work just as easily as ones they've used before? Though it works on both my 10+es now, if I'm patient...and careful, it doesn't work as quickly as it did on my Note 9.

TBH, I'm still not sure what we really gained here besides tech for the sake of tech.

Now if the ultrasonic reader worked wherever you placed a finger on the screen that would be a tangible advantage. If it was faster or more accurate than the capacitive readers it wants to replace...that would be an advantage.

Now we have something that in some cases works almost as well as what we had before...but it's new tech so all is forgiven? I like my new phones but if they had a flaw this is what I think most people would say the flaw was.

I know, it was the 10th anniversary and Samsung felt they had to do something different and we got something different but I'm not willing to makes excuses for it.

 

[Mike Dee]

I believe most are identifying the issues and their probable causes in an open discussion, and not necessarily defending or excusing the tech's shortfalls. I believe we all want the tech to meet our expectations.
For myself, I knew what to expect before I purchased and wouldn't change my decision based on the amount of time I've owned the phone. That's a decision everyone should make carefully especially if money is tight.

 

[tadpoles]

I believe most are identifying the issues and their probable causes in an open discussion, and not necessarily defending or excusing the tech's shortfalls. I believe we all want the tech to meet our expectations.
For myself, I knew what to expect before I purchased and wouldn't change my decision based on the amount of time I've owned the phone. That's a decision everyone should make carefully especially if money is tight.

I expected to get a great new toy that I could communicate with. Expectation exceeded.

 

[mustang7757]

I believe most are identifying the issues and their probable causes in an open discussion, and not necessarily defending or excusing the tech's shortfalls. I believe we all want the tech to meet our expectations.
For myself, I knew what to expect before I purchased and wouldn't change my decision based on the amount of time I've owned the phone. That's a decision everyone should make carefully especially if money is tight.

I definitely agree ..

 

[felloffthetruck]

For me, it has been entirely an issue with my skin being dry. The weather here has been different for the last week or so, the humidity has been different, and my FPS works just fine. Except for right after I wash my hands. Right after I wash my hands, I have an 80% failure rate. Any other time, I have a 5-10% failure rate, entirely due to me missing the FPS or not pressing long enough.

As such, I've turned off my Smart Lock, except for my car, and am thinking of turning off facial recognition.

This is 100% my problem. My hands are dry as a bone from washing them several times a day.

 

[donm527]

I had posted elsewhere that for people like you, you should try registering same finger but different conditions... when normal haven't washed for hours with skins natural oil, register when bone dry after so many washes and maybe once after using moisturizer. In that way you cover as many skin conditions as you can.

It may be 100% your problem as you say... but in a way it shouldn't. A sensor that's designed properly should handle slight differences in condition. I have at work a timeclock that has FPS and in over 5+ years I've only had a miss maybe 2-3 times a year over different seasons and conditions. Apple still sells iPad and older iphones with their FPS because it just works without much issue. So it can be done. If they can't then maybe ultrasonic is not the best method to be using.

The sales pitch is that it's more accurate and more secure 3d vs 2d, but the real reason they're using it is because they abandoned their optical FPS development and jumped on Qualcomm's ultrasonic sensor and Qualcomm is hoping they'll have the better sensor to get everyone else on board and charge an additional fee to the manufacturer per phone lol. They're motivated to make it better than optical so hopefully they will.

This is 100% my problem. My hands are dry as a bone from washing them several times a day.