3 Quick Tips on using the Galaxy S5 Fingerprint Scanner

So everyone wants to try the fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S5 including we at Samsung Tomorrow. While we were playing around with it, there were few things we found… interesting. It’s pretty obvious once you know it, but quite cumbersome (or possibly embarrassing) if not. So here are three quick tips to scan your fingerprint like a boss from the get go:

1. Please don’t press, just swipe

A lot of people, most likely in attempt to leave a strong(?) impression, tend to press too hard when swiping their fingerprints and end up pushing the home button. We have a pretty impressive scanner and a pretty good home button too – they’ll both do their jobs.

2. You don’t need to swipe it vertically

Yes the graphics that ask for a fingerprint swipe shows an index finger swiping up-down. That doesn’t mean you need to. A lot of times, your smartphone use is a one-hand operation, and when you unlock your screen, it’s probably more natural to swipe your thumb horizontally. You have options: we’re just letting you don’t necessarily need to have your finger ‘standing’.

▲ Demo of the horizontal and vertical finger swipe

Also, advice from personal experience: It helps to slightly roll your thumb when you scan it horizontally.

3. It makes more sense to register three of your own fingerprints than that of three different people

For your convenience, the Galaxy S5 allows you to register up to three fingers. Now you could choose to have your finger, your spouse’s and your friend’s (personally, I don’t recommend this for so many different reasons, but anyway) but it makes a lot more sense to register three of your own so you have the choice of using whichever finger that’s most convenient in each situation.

By the way, as we previously explained, the distinctive characteristics of fingerprints are extracted and encrypted rather than saved as a full image, then processed as a template through the secured zone of the device’s chip. Therefore, there is no need to worry about the personal data breach of fingerprints!

So there you go – don’t press too hard, swipe in whatever direction you’d like, and utilize all three available fingerprint slots. Feel free to share your own tips in the comments below.

– By Abraham a.k.a. ‘A’

*All functionality features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.