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Having just switched from a Pixel 3 to and iPhone 11 I’m inclined to agree that FaceID is a step backward. It has a great high tech feel, but: 1. It’s much les

Having just switched from a Pixel 3 to and iPhone 11 I’m inclined to agree that FaceID is a step backward. It has a great high tech feel, but: 1. It’s much less reliable. Especially in bed when I get paged at night I almost always have to revert to PIN auth, which is unfortunate when I’m disoriented and seconds count. 2. It’s much slower. With the placement of fingerprint sensors on Pixel phones it is totally natural to have the phone unlocked and open by the time the screen comes into view. With FaceID I don’t even start that process until then, and it’s a several step process: assuming the screen is already on (this works well) I have to look at the phone, wait a moment... then swipe up to actually unlock the phone. Facial recognition aside, the act of swiping up alone is way more work than fingerprinting into a Pixel phone. 3. The thing I like most about FaceID is checking notifications - I can simply look at the screen and Signal messages unlock, etc. I’m convinced that most of the hate iPhone users have for fingerprint unlock relates to the placement of the sensor, and (never having used an iPhone fingerprint reader this is speculation) maybe it’s speed or reliability. The implementation on Pixel phones was really great and I’ll be sad to see it go.

melling 7y ago
I’’ve found that I just need to move my phone several inches farther from my face for it to work properly in bed.
CobrastanJorji 7y ago
> 1. It’s much less reliable. Especially in bed when I get paged at night I almost always have to revert to PIN auth, which is unfortunate when I’m disoriented and seconds count. This is a tangent, but oncall roles where seconds count but you need to sleep during your shift are an idea as bad as it is ubiquitous.
krzyk 7y ago
> 1. It’s much less reliable. Especially in bed when I get paged at night I almost always have to revert to PIN auth, which is unfortunate when I’m disoriented and seconds count. Not sure, my fingerprint sensor in Pixel 3 is unreliable during cold season (in Poland it is about 7 months) - my fingers are dry then (a side affect of allergy) and I basically have to teach it my fingerprint every week because it stops recognizing it. And when it does it takes too much time in my opinion, so I plan to buy Pixel 4 solely because of Face Unlock (but I hope my ever changing beard won't be an issue). Pixel 3 is my first phone with fingerprint sensor and I was really looking forward to it, but after almost a year of having it I basically hate it.

melling 7y ago

I’’ve found that I just need to move my phone several inches farther from my face for it to work properly in bed.

CobrastanJorji 7y ago

> 1. It’s much less reliable. Especially in bed when I get paged at night I almost always have to revert to PIN auth, which is unfortunate when I’m disoriented and seconds count. This is a tangent, but oncall roles where seconds count but you need to sleep during your shift are an idea as bad as it is ubiquitous.

krzyk 7y ago

> 1. It’s much less reliable. Especially in bed when I get paged at night I almost always have to revert to PIN auth, which is unfortunate when I’m disoriented and seconds count. Not sure, my fingerprint sensor in Pixel 3 is unreliable during cold season (in Poland it is about 7 months) - my fingers are dry then (a side affect of allergy) and I basically have to teach it my fingerprint every week because it stops recognizing it. And when it does it takes too much time in my opinion, so I plan to buy Pixel 4 solely because of Face Unlock (but I hope my ever changing beard won't be an issue). Pixel 3 is my first phone with fingerprint sensor and I was really looking forward to it, but after almost a year of having it I basically hate it.