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Face unlock easily defeated with photo in over 30 smartphone models
![LG V40 Notch Face Unlock LG V40 Notch Face Unlock](https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/LG-V40-Notch-Face-Unlock.jpg)
We’ve seen a resurgence in face unlock across the mobile industry, arguably due to Apple’s iPhone X touting the technology. Unfortunately, a new study shows that plenty of phones can be defeated with a simple photo.
The Dutch Consumentenbond organization found that out of 110 devices tested, 42 could be unlocked with a high quality photo of the owner (h/t: The Register). To be fair, the organization counted regional and dual-SIM variants as separate models in its testing, so the real number of dodgy devices is actually in the 30s.
Nevertheless, this still represents a massive number of devices that are vulnerable to a simple photo. The list wasn’t restricted to a few manufacturers either, as the likes of Alcatel, BlackBerry, Huawei, Lenovo, Nokia, Sony, and Xiaomi were all featured here.
Most of these phones were budget devices, but we also have a few flagships affected by shoddy face unlock. These devices include the HTC U11 Plus, the HUAWEI P20 Pro, and Sony’s Xperia XZ2 series.
![Sony logo MWC 2018 The Sony logo at MWC 2018.](https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Sony-logo-MWC-2018.jpg)
There were plenty of devices that passed the test, however, including the Alcatel 3V, HONOR 10, HTC U12 Plus, HUAWEI Mate 20 series, the OnePlus 5T, OnePlus 6, and Samsung’s 2018 flagships. Additionally, all 2018 iPhone models passed the test. Oddly enough, the consumer watchdog also counted different storage variants as separate entries. Weird.
Anyway, the organization found that several unlocked devices had more stringent face unlock settings to defeat photos, such as LG’s 2018 flagships and the HONOR 7A. You can check out the full list below.
Remains locked | Unlocked with photo | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
---|---|---|
Remains locked Alcatel 3 | Unlocked with photo Alcatel 1X | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting HONOR 7A |
Remains locked Alcatel 5 | Unlocked with photo ASUS Zenfone 5 Lite | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting LG G7 ThinQ |
Remains locked Apple iPhone XR | Unlocked with photo ASUS Zenfone 5, ZE620KL | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting LG V35 ThinQ |
Remains locked Apple iPhone XS | Unlocked with photo BlackBerry Key2 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting LG V40 ThinQ |
Remains locked Apple iPhone XS Max | Unlocked with photo BQ Aquaris X2 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked ASUS Zenfone Max Plus | Unlocked with photo BQ Aquaris X2 Pro | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HONOR 10 | Unlocked with photo General Mobile GM8 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HONOR 7C | Unlocked with photo HTC U11 Plus | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HONOR 8X | Unlocked with photo HUAWEI P20 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HONOR View 10 | Unlocked with photo HUAWEI P20 Lite | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HTC U12 Plus | Unlocked with photo HUAWEI P20 Pro | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HUAWEI P Smart Plus | Unlocked with photo Motorola Moto E5 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HUAWEI Y6 2018 | Unlocked with photo Motorola Moto E5 Plus | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HUAWEI Y7 2018 | Unlocked with photo Motorola Moto G6 Play | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HUAWEI Mate 20 | Unlocked with photo LG K9 (LM-X210EMW) | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HUAWEI Mate 20 Lite | Unlocked with photo LG Q6 Alpha (LG-M700n) | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro | Unlocked with photo Motorola Moto G6 Play | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Motorola Moto G6 | Unlocked with photo Motorola One | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Motorola Moto G6 Plus | Unlocked with photo Nokia 3.1 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Motorola Moto Z3 | Unlocked with photo Nokia 7.1 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Motorola Moto Z3 Play | Unlocked with photo Oukitel VU | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked OnePlus 5T | Unlocked with photo Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked OnePlus 6 | Unlocked with photo Samsung Galaxy A8 (SM-A530F/DS) | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked OPPO Find X | Unlocked with photo Samsung Galaxy A8 Plus (SM-A730F) | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Samsung Galaxy A6 | Unlocked with photo Samsung Galaxy J8 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Samsung Galaxy A6 Plus | Unlocked with photo Sony Xperia L2 (H3311 and H3321) | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Samsung Galaxy A9 | Unlocked with photo Sony Xperia XZ2 (H8216 and H8266) | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Samsung Galaxy J6 | Unlocked with photo Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact (H8314 and H8324) | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Samsung Galaxy Note 9 | Unlocked with photo Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Samsung Galaxy S9 | Unlocked with photo Sony Xperia XZ3 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus | Unlocked with photo Vodafone Smart N9 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
Remains locked Wiko View 2 | Unlocked with photo Xiaomi Mi A2 | Unlocked with photo, but has "stricter" setting |
If anything, we hope this study shames brands into paying more attention to facial recognition. Do you use face unlock on your smartphone? Let us know in the comments!
NEXT: Samsung Bixby to support Google apps, first 5G phone coming in H1 2019