This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 series edge closer to what a perfect Android smartphone experience can be: with the latest and fastest chips, and a truly incredible 120Hz display they provide the fast and smooth experience that one can only dream of in a phone. Plus, you have a camera that can zoom further than any other smartphone. Add to that features like 5G connectivity, large batteries, and pretty much everything but the kitchen sink.

I am referring to the fingerprint scanner built inside the screen.

Samsung is the only company to use an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner

But not in practice: the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is just too slow and nowhere nearly as accurate as the optical scanners that all other companies have adopted.

On the Galaxy S20 Ultra that I used, I often had to press on the screen a couple of times until it unlocked, and while it often times worked on the first try as well, it never felt quick. I also sometimes had to give it three and even four tries until it finally registered. While you do get an occasional misreading on optical fingerprint scanners on other phones, here, it seemed like something I had to deal with on a daily basis.

Optical fingerprint scanners are better in every way

What’s worse is that issues with this type of fingerprint scanner are nothing new for Samsung: it’s the exact same one it used in the S10 series and Note 10 series last year, and there are multiple complaints about this ultrasonic fingerprint scanner online. A recent speed test also confirmed the new S20 series had not improved in any noticeable way. It’s just bad.

This might be forgivable in a cheap phone (it really isn’t), but users will be paying $1400 for a super premium phone and having to fight a feature that is used multiple times every single day is just disappointing.