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Pretty much all phones these days come with fingerprint scanners. I even reviewed a $100 smart phone that came with a relatively serviceable fingerprint scanner a while back. This has actually been the trend going back to the iphone 6 and Galaxy S5 with the scanners getting better over time. Today's flagships feature fingerprint scanners that grant you access to your phone in milliseconds. Fingerprint scanners are a huge advancement in smartphone protection for someone like me. The time consumed entering a pin, swipe pattern or password made unlocking my phone a chore. As someone who unlocks a my phone several times per hour the chore was so off putting that I eventually did away with securing my phone altogether.
Fingerprint scanners are so quick and easy and require no thought at all. Once I figured out how useful they were I finally began locking my phone again and have not turned back. There are those of you that will argue that fingerprint scanners are less secure since anyone, including law enforcement could physically force you to unlock your phone bio metrically. If your phone was locked with a password they would have to crack the code with the threat of wiping it. Still for everyday use for those not paranoid a fingerprint scanner keeps nosey people and thieves out of your phone.
There are all sorts of different types of fingerprint scanners. There are capacitive fingerprint readers and physical button fingerprint readers. There are also different placements. Some phones like the Nexus 6P and LG G5 have the fingerprint scanner on the rear of the device. This is great for easily unlocking your device while it is being held like when removing from you pocket, but is awful for when the phone is sitting flat on a table. There are fingerprint scanners on the front of devices like with the HTC 10 and Galaxy S7 Edge. These are generally easy to access when the phone is sitting on a desk, but can be more difficult to use when holding the device especially when extracting from a pocket. You generally have to grab the phone and unlock once it is within your line of sight.
Which placement do you prefer for the fingerprint scanner. I personally prefer the rear placement of the LG G5 and Nexus 6P. I am always on the go and rarely at a desk so I like being able to essentially unlock my device before the phone is infront of my face. Every person has a different train of though. Why do you like a particular fingerprint placement? Sound off in the comments below.