On Monday, HTC unveiled the One Max, an Android phone with a whopping 5.9-inch, 1080p display. While such a behemoth of a phone is of little interest to iPhone owners, the One Max may catch the attention of the Apple crowd because the handset includes the now trendy fingerprint sensor. Just like the iPhone 5s, the fingerprint scanner in the One Max can be used to unlock device. So how does the fingerprint sensor in the One Max stack up with the iPhone 5s? Read on to see what reviewers had to say about the technology in each device.
HTC One Max Fingerprint Sensor
Since the One Max is the newer device, we will take a look at that one first. Here is what reviewers have to say about the fingerprint sensor in the HTC One Max:
Vlad Savov of The Verge:
“As it is, the fingerprint scanner implementation here is clumsy, awkward, and comfortably in line with the long history of failed attempts at making this technology work.”
Chris Hall of Pocket-Lint:
“We’ve had about a 90 per cent success rate with the One max’s scanner over the week we’ve been using the phone, but it takes some getting used to and we know that some others who had the device prior to launch didn’t have such success.
Much as we hate to say it, the fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 5S is much better when it comes to unlocking: you press the button, it scans, and you’re in. It’s one process. On the HTC One max, we suspect that some will find it fiddly from the off, and disable the feature in favour of regular on-screen security.”
Gareth Beavis of TechRadar:
“The HTC One Max’s fingerprint scanner will be as unused as that on most laptops and the Motorola Atrix, which is sad as it could have been a really nifty feature if it was in an easier to reach place.”
Alex Doble of Android Central:
“So we suspect a majority of One Max owners will try the fingerprint scanner once before ultimately turning it off and ignoring it. For us at least, it’s an oddity, not a value-adder; as always, your mileage may vary.”
iPhone 5s Touch ID (fingerprint sensor)
It’s a much different tone when reviewers are commenting on Touch ID in the iPhone 5s. Here is what some of the top reviewers have to say about the iPhone 5s fingerprint sensor:
Walt Mossberg of AllThingsD:
“It sounds like a gimmick, but it’s a real advance, the biggest step ever in biometric authentication for everyday devices. After using Touch ID, I found it annoying to go back to typing in passcodes on my older iPhone.”
Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch:
“At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss the fingerprint sensor as a whiz-bang feature designed to attract eyeballs and do little else. But this isn’t that. The fingerprint sensor, unlike some other questionable recent smartphone tech like gesture control or eye-tracking, doesn’t feel like a gimmick or tech demo; it feels like a mature feature that actually enhances the overall experience of using an iPhone in a noticeable way that you encounter very frequently.”
Jim Dalrymple of The Loop:
“A fingerprint sensor could be one of those cool features that everyone talks about, but nobody ends up using in their day-to-day lives because it’s too much of a hassle. I’ll be honest, heading into the event, I was wondering if Apple’s implementation of the sensor would be good enough to actually make it useful. Not just for a demo to make people gasp and clap, but could I use it every day.
The answer is unequivocally yes.”
Anand Shimpi of AnandTech:
“Apple’s Touch ID was the biggest surprise for me. I found it very well executed and a nice part of the overall experience. When between the 5s and the 5/5c, I immediately miss Touch ID. Apple is still a bit too conservative with where it allows Touch ID instead of a passcode, but even just as a way to unlock the device and avoid typing in my iCloud password when downloading apps it’s a real improvement. I originally expected Touch ID to be very gimmicky, but now I’m thinking this actually may be a feature we see used far more frequently on other platforms as well.”
What has been your experience? Let me know in the comments.
How the fingerprint sensor on the HTC One Max stacks up against the iPhone 5s
