The one thing you should know before buying the Honor 10
Unveiled this week in London, the Honor 10 made a strong impression. With elegant looks, attractive price and solid performance, the Honor 10 has everything it needs to become one of the best devices of 2018. But if you’re considering purchasing the device, there is one thing you should know, and it concerns how you unlock the smartphone.
Learn more about the Honor 10 in our video:
- Honor 10 review: OnePlus has something to worry about
- Honor 9 review: A more attractive and affordable P10
Honor is offering a smartphone that has everything you would expect from a high-end device at a much lower price than the competition. However, like any smartphone, there are some imperfections. Some are forgivable like the notch, the lacking waterproof certification, and the 4G band at 700 mHz, but others aren't so reconcilable. I was somewhat disappointed with the Honor 10 fingerprint reader. It’s not a fiasco or anything, but the brand has made us accustomed to better workmanship in the past.
The ultrasound fingerprint reader: Honor 10’s only mistake
In the quest for bezel-less design, Honor has sought to find many ways to save space on the front of the device. Many manufacturers have chosen to remove the physical home button that houses the reader at the front (as is the case with Samsung or Apple), but Honor has decided to keep its reader on the front and opt for an ultrasound fingerprint reader.
This type of sensor has the advantage of occupying less space because it’s located directly under the glass. Although the sensor is bounded by a dotted line, it no longer protrudes from the device like it used to. It can therefore replace the navigation bar to make the most of the screen. Finally, it also allows users to unlock the smartphone without having to worry about the state of their fingers (dirty, wet, dry…) because it uses ultrasound technology.
The fingerprint reader isn’t responsive or fast.
The only problem is that the reader has lost responsiveness and speed. It is now necessary to press the reader instead of passing your finger on it quickly. The reader emits very high frequency waves to detect the finger and pressure is therefore required for recognition. As a result, unlocking the smartphone has become more complicated than on previous models.
On a daily basis, the fingerprint reader is then a little less reactive. The difference is that you'll have to wait a few hundredths of a second longer, but Honor has us accustomed better design. You have to 'wait' a little longer and sometimes try a second time. You'll also notice this 'slowness', as the device takes longer to record your fingerprint.
Due to the fingerprint reader technology, it seems difficult for the manufacturer to be able to put an end of the problem with an update, but Honor may find a way to accelerate the unlocking process.
Facial recognition to the rescue
Fortunately, Honor is probably aware of this small delay, which also suggests other ways to unlock the Honor 10, starting with facial recognition. This works very well and is even surprisingly fast, but is unfortunately posed with the problems at night. In poor lighting conditions, the smartphone has difficulty recognizing the users and another unlocking methods need to be used.
In the end, the unlocking problem remains the only disadvantage of this smartphone, but besides this concern, it's a remarkable smartphone in everyday life. I would recommend it.
What do you think the main flaw of the Honor 10 is?
The fingerprint sensor "CAN" be improved. This is what i have found out. If u sense that the phone having hard time sensing ur fingerprint, just go to settings and delete the fingerprint data and reenrol that fingerprint and then try and see if its better. If not, repeat the procedure. I did it twice and now i can unlock my phone quickly, of course its not as quick as those with physical fingerprint sensor.. but at least it works. My only complaint about the phone is that it warms up even with light gaming and battery life is not as good as some which cost less than it
Just found this article as I have just bought this phone and was annoyed by the fingerprint sensor - probably the worst I have ever experienced.
With this being said, the phone is fine, especially at the current prices (£280) - there are some others I considered but the price was just too good.
Loaded with Chinese back doors. I prefer Samsung, Nokia, Pixel
A back door to what? your holiday snaps. They are welcome to see pics of me on the beach if that is what turns them on.
For money I think it's a good offering!
Prefer Huawei P20