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Hands on: Sony’s latest Xperias will finally have working fingerprint sensors in the US [Video]

Sony’s Xperia devices are easily forgotten in the US market, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re excellent smartphones. However, in the States, they’ve often had one major flaw, and that’s been the disabled fingerprint sensor.

Due to some complicated legal reasons, Sony’s power button fingerprint sensors simply don’t work in the US. That’s disappointing, to say the least, and it often keeps even enthusiasts from buying Xperia devices.

Now, Sony is debuting the Xperia XA2 and Xperia XA2 Ultra, and both are eventually destined for the US market. These phones evolve Sony’s admittedly stale design language and make the major change of moving the fingerprint sensor to the back.

Just like many other Android phones nowadays, the Xperia XA2 family has a rear-facing fingerprint sensor which is thankfully at the middle of the device. In spending some time with the phone here at CES 2018, I was left very satisfied with these sensors.

Registration on the sensor is quick, and overall performance is in the same league as the competition. It’s worth noting that the screen turning on is quite delayed from when you lay your finger down, but the same happens when hitting the power button.

For now, I’ll chalk this up to early software and hardware, but I do hope it’s fixed by the time these phones release.

You can check out our other post on the Sony Xperia XA2 for more details on the specs and cameras, but right now we don’t have any information in regards to pricing or availability. For now, we just know these will eventually debut in the US.

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