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Vivo X20’s embedded fingerprint reader put through extensive torture tests

We learned back in January that the Vivo X20 Plus UD had won the race to be the world’s first smartphone with a fingerprint reader embedded into the display.

We discovered later that it still works fine with a few scratches, but a tech reviewer has now put it through a far more extensive set of tests …

YouTuber Marques Brownlee put the system through a series of experiments designed to see how well it stands up to real-life use.

He started with a finger contaminated with water and a sauce, discovering that this caused the Synaptics system to fail – but so did a conventional fingerprint reader.

He followed this by trying it with screen protectors; shattered glass; minor scratching; and massive scratching – and the sensor passed every test.

Recognition was admittedly slower with the very badly scratched screen – after Brownlee attacked it with sandpaper – but it continued to work.

The Synaptics sensor was notably slower than standard fingerprint readers, even on an undamaged screen, but as Brownlee says, that’s likely to be something that improves over time.

Check out the video below.

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