The Iris scanner Safe ?
Enlarge / I don't want to use something with this many disclaimers.
If you ignore the fingerprint reader because it's hard to reach, you're left with the iris scanner as your only form of biometrics that can unlock the phone and be used to authorize payments.
Everything we said in the Galaxy Note 7 review still applies. The iris reader is slower than a properly placed fingerprint reader because you have to aim it at a specific point at your face. A fingerprint reader is active all the time and can be used to wake and unlock the phone, while for the iris scanner you have to turn the phone on first in order for the scanner to boot up. Samsung's specific implementation is much slower than it could be, too. The iris scanner isn't active as soon as you wake the phone. There's an interstitial "swipe up" lock screen before the actual authentication lock screen. You have to pull out the phone, turn on the screen, swipe away the first lock screen, then aim the phone at your face for the iris scanner to work.
The iris scanner is also really scary, coming with a laundry list of disclaimers that talk about how it can damage your vision. Perhaps this is why there's an interstitial lock screen. The swipe up on the first screen acknowledges you're ready to enter "eyeball cooking" mode, preventing you from inadvertently blasting your retinas with the IR LED.
Face unlock does a better job with the lock screen—it starts up as soon as you turn the phone on. There's still lots of awkwardness, though. You need to aim the phone at your face, and the phone needs to be "8-20 inches" away from you. This is a full-on "selfie pose" just to unlock your phone, and it also requires good lighting. Plus, even Samsung admits that face unlock isn't that secure—it can't be used to authenticate Samsung Pay or private data in a secure folder. You can only use the iris scanner or fingerprint sensor for such high-security features.
The result of all these janky biometric systems? I'm back to using pattern unlock as my primary authentication method, just like the dark days before good fingerprint sensors were added to devices.
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