According to Samsung, the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner of the Galaxy S10 is safer than an optical scanner but turns out to be a joke. Moreover, the process does not even seem to be extremely difficult.
Galaxy S10 ultrasonic fingerprint scanner
The fingerprint scanner of the Samsung Galaxy S10and S10 Plus can be bypassed via a 3D printed fingerprint, as the user shows dark shark on Imgur. He explains the process and says that he started by taking a picture of his fingerprint on a wine glass. He used a smartphone for this, but he also says that an SLR camera can also be used in theory to take a picture of someone else’s fingerprint remotely.
Darkshark then processed the photo in Photoshop and used the 3ds Max program to convert the fingerprint into a 3D model. After that, he only had to print this out via a 3D printer, although after some adjustments three attempts were needed to get the ‘fingerprint’ completely correct. As you can see in the video on Imgur, the Galaxy S10 can then be unlocked with the 3D-printed fingerprint.
Printing eventually took about 13 minutes, but users stressed that he could complete the process in 3 minutes and that it is not at all difficult. He also indicates that it can relatively easily have access to the banking app on a stolen smartphone since these applications usually use the fingerprint scanner to log in and make payments.
More about the Galaxy S10
The Galaxy S10 is one of the first smartphones that has an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner in the screen. With other devices, such as the OnePlus 6T and Huawei P30 Pro, there is an optical scanner under the screen, which in practice is a small camera that makes a scan of your finger. With the ultrasonic scanner of the S10, sound waves and vibrations are used to make a 3D scan of your fingerprint, after which the phone is unlocked.
In our Samsung Galaxy S10 review, we mentioned that the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is not perfect, although this is mainly due to the fact that it is hard to find by touch and works poorly with screen protectors. In addition, unlocking is less rapid than with a ‘normal’ scanner. In our overview with alternatives to the Galaxy S10 you will find other interesting top devices that are worthwhile, should you have any doubts about the S10.