With the iPhone X, Apple has truly gone all in by taking away a key and signature feature on iPhones ever since the iPhone 5s: Touch ID. Whether or not they made the right call still remains to be seen, but unfortunately it seems that some early tests of the iPhone X and Face ID don’t seem particularly positive.
According to a recent report from Tom’s Guide, it was discovered that using Face ID is noticeably slower compared to using Touch ID. Mark Spoonauer of Tom’s Guide tested out the feature using a stopwatch and discovered at the start that it took about 1.8 seconds to fully unlock the iPhone X using Face ID after pressing the side button. This is versus Touch ID which took 0.91 seconds.
However the good news is that this time can be shaved down further by enabling the Raise to Wake feature and also by swiping up on the screen as you bring your phone to you. However even then it seems that with these changes made, the time still took about 1.48 seconds versus just using Touch ID.
While the difference is less than a second, it does add up, especially if you unlock your phone multiple times a day. That and the fact that users do not have Touch ID as a backup security measure means that users have to choose to rely on Face ID or a passcode as their options. That being said your mileage could vary, and who knows, it is possible that perhaps Apple could improve upon the algorithm in future software updates, but for now it’s something to take into consideration if you’re thinking about buying the iPhone X.
Filed in . Read more about Face Id, iPhone X, Security and Touch Id.