S23 ultra fingerprint and faceunlock does not work

[Members_egDPv4Q]

Hi All,

I use an S23 ultra which is just 6 months old now.

It has been very very disappointing to notice that this phone has massive issues with faceunlock and fingerprint unlock.

It's so annoying to see that it does not recognise my face or fingerprint half the time. I feel that a  low end device performs far better than this.

It's not possible to re- register every time this issue pops ups, I also tried running the diagnostic tests and few times it got fixed, but now the diagnostic tests are also not working well either.

Very disappointed and angry to see a flagship perform this way, should I switch to an iPhone ?

#S23ultra 

[Piper123]

Hey there

It is far more likely that you haven't set the fingerprint and face up that well, then when you are trying to use it the device isn't recognising you.

I've had fingerprint set up on both S23 Ultra and S24 Ultra and have had no issues with either.

[UNKNOWNUSERNAME]

Hi there, by any chance are you using a screen protector, sometimes screen protectors can interfere with the biometric scanner, (both facial recognition and fingerprint). mine is only 3 months old and its an absolutely brilliant device, i have a gell screen protector on mine and both face and fingerprint recognition work for it.
As piper123 said, it could also be the way you set it up.

[JAMES4578]

@Members_egDPv4Q  Screen protector could be an issue, sometimes you may need to reset though.   With the fingerprint sensor it generally helps to have a few fingers registered twice, however if problems persist  after doing this an idea to clear the cache partition. This deletes temporary files but your data is intact,  some cache files can become outmoded or even corrupt in a few cases.

Need to follow these steps:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Connect To Computer ,other mobile Device or Tv USB . Press and hold the Volume Up key and then press and hold the Power key
3. When the Android logo displays, release both keys.
4. Wait until the Android system recovery menu options appear.
5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
6. Press Power key to select.
7. Press the Volume down key to highlight yes, them and press the Power key to select.
8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

[Wolvesinwales]

I'm having the same issue. No screen protector on, I've had to reregister same finger print twice so far. Huwaei p30 Pro was much better, never had an issue.

[Alex9889]

Same issue. I enter 6 digits pin every time when face not recognized,  fingerprint not recognized. What's the point of biometrics? I've reset it many times. Touchscreen and camera are clean. Does samsung wanna make sure i remember my 6 digits? It's soooooo annoying    what's the point of biometrics if that's not working?

[Alex9889]

BTW  I'm onS23 now for 2 years. Before I had S 10 for 3 years with same issues. Should I switch to IPhone? 

[Alex9889]

I have to punch in 6 digits to open my phone every other time. It's soooo annoying. I see people here got the same issue. Extra security never hurts. No one will disagree with that. But I if someone checks their phone often (let's say 50 times a day/ or every 20 min) and u gotta enter 6 digits password every time. ..... samsung is good at many things but here 🖕👎

[marchhboy37]

I have the same problem. With face Face recognition on day time I have no issues but when the evening comes then it gets worse. The fingerprint sensor is bad. After registering FIVE fingerprints I still cannot unlock my S23U from the first or second try. I also use iPhone 14 Pro Max and never had such annoying situations. Face ID is far more better and advanced.