OnePlus announced that its OnePlus 2 flagship device, which will launch on July 27, will have one more feature to make it a high-end premium device: a high-quality fingerprint reader that's faster than even the industry standard, Apple's Touch ID.
OnePlus also reminded us how in the past, fingerprint readers used to be too slow and inaccurate, to the point where it might have been faster to use a PIN number. However, according to the company, many users check their phones as many as 200 times a day. If you multiply that by an average of three seconds, which is how long it takes to use a pattern or PIN unlock, it would end up wasting you more than an hour every week.
The company called the OnePlus 2's fingerprint reader "refined and lightning quick" and able to unlock the device faster than Touch ID unlocks an iPhone. The fingerprint sensor is also capable of storing up to five profiles of your finger.
With its launch about a month from now, OnePlus 2 won't come out with Android M out of the box. Android M will introduce standardized software for storing and securing a user's fingerprint data. This standardization helps with two things. For one, not every single OEM has to reinvent the wheel for its own fingerprint sensors. Second, this also prevents most OEMs from writing poor code that could more easily expose their users' fingerprint data to malware and attacks.
Because it won't have Android M at launch, either OnePlus wrote its own code for the fingerprint sensor and its secure storage, or some other third party did it for the company.
We already know that OnePlus will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 chip for its upcoming flagship device, so there is a chance OnePlus will also use Qualcomm's ultrasonic Sense ID sensor and its associated software. This sensor promises much better performance than capacitive fingerprint sensors, even when your fingers are dirty, wet or oily. Even better, it works behind a screen, so OEMs don't have to waste extra bezel space at the bottom of the phone specifically for the fingerprint reader.
OnePlus hasn't given many details about the source of its high-performance sensor, though. Further, there are no other indicators that it would be Sense ID, other than the fact that the company plans to use the Snapdragon 810 chip. Ever since Apple launched Touch ID, many companies such as Vkansee have pushed to improve their fingerprint reader technology, so it's possible there's some other competitor out there making fingerprint sensors that are better than even Touch ID. We'll probably have to wait until July 27 to learn exactly what kind of technology OnePlus intends to put in its smartphone.
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