Samsung Galaxy S5 Release Date, Features & Specs: Analysts Think Fingerprint Sensor is Trouble

It's been confirmed: the new Samsung Galaxy S5 will have a built-in fingerprint sensor.

This feature will require the user "to swipe across the home button," The Telegraph noted. This also means that, as alleged by "Samsung insiders," the sensor will be built into the home button and not on the screen display, which is what was reported by some media outlets in the past.

Sammobile divulged that "Samsung hasn't opted for on-screen buttons and is still using physical buttons, like it has been using in the past on all of its flagship devices."

Now that's a bit disappointing.

"The sensor itself works in a swipe manner, which means that you would need to swipe the entire pad of your finger, from base to tip, across the home key to register your fingerprint properly. Also, you would need to keep your finger flat against the home key and swipe at a moderate speed or else it won't recognise your fingerprint. The fingerprint sensor is sensitive to moisture, as well. So, don't try to use it with wet fingers because it will, literally, give you an error and tell you to dry your fingers first," Sammobile added.

Not only that, this fingerprint scanning feature is used "throughout the operating system." This means you can register up to 8 fingerprints, where you can assign each one to a different task or even use one as an app shortcut. That's a lot of fingerprint-based action there. And this is one reason why some analysts have said this "sounds like trouble."

"The reason to have a fingerprint sensor is to add security without the extra effort. If registering a fingerprint requires a careful, deliberate swipe, it's not much better than using a lock screen pattern or PIN. Other companies have tried swipe-based sensors on smartphones before, and it's never worked well. (Even Apple's sensor, widely seen as the best, isn't perfect.)," Time magazine's Jared Newman observed.

Then there's also the issue of how Samsung ensures fingerprint data security and if the fingerprints are stored in the device at all. The iPhone 5S doesn't.

What do you think about Samsung Galaxy S5's fingerprint feature?