Unlock your phone by face android. I tested Xiaomi's Face ID. It works

First automated systems Facial recognition appeared in the 70s of the last century and is now used even in video surveillance systems, reminiscent of those seen in spy action films. This feature is also not new for smartphones - geeks with a good memory remember that Face Unlock appeared in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwitch, there were even implementations for Symbian. True, the technology has gone through a thorny path of development - the first examples gave a large number of false positives, the computing power was not the same...

The function experienced its second and truly widespread distribution in 2017. By depriving the iPhone X of the usual fingerprint scanner and equipping it only with the Face ID module, Apple “reinvented” face unlocking. Android manufacturers did not keep themselves waiting; comparable solutions appeared quickly. Many companies decided to add face unlocking first of all to flagships, although in the case of Huawei it all started with mid-segment devices - and went on sale without Face Unlock, but became the first smartphones to receive the corresponding software update, and now almost all are relevant Huawei phones can be unlocked using face scanning.

How does this work?

In humans, recognition of faces and images is “hard-wired” by nature - a separate part of the brain is responsible for this. Implementing the same using software is not so easy. Any facial recognition is divided into three stages:

• detection
• leveling
• recognition

As part of the detection, the software “finds” faces in the photo - the colors of neighboring pixels, contrast, dark and light areas of the image are compared. As part of “alignment,” the software divides the found faces into specific nodes. They determine the shape of the eyes, the distance between the eyes, the length of the nose, the width of the cheekbones, and so on - these data allow you to create a so-called fingerprint or 3D model of the face. At the end software compares the newly received data that arrives every time you try to unlock your smartphone with the saved data. Unlocking occurs if the owner's identity is confirmed.

Setting up Face Unlock

Setting up Face Unlock is as simple as possible. If you just bought a smartphone, the device will prompt you to select protection methods during the first setup. At the same time, in addition to face unlocking, you always need to specify an additional password, PIN code or graphic key- they will have to be entered after rebooting the device, if the device has not been used for a long time, or after several unsuccessful attempts face unlocking - we’ll further figure out in what cases this can be encountered.

If you already use a smartphone, then the desired settings item can be found either through a search in the settings or by going to the “Security and Privacy” section, then “Face Recognition Unlocking”.

The function has additional settings - notifications on the lock screen can be displayed hidden until the smartphone “recognizes” the owner or can be open to everyone. After unlocking, you can remain on the lock screen - then you will have to additionally swipe or immediately go to the last one running application, using which you blocked your smartphone.

Suitable smartphones

Now the Face Unlock function is supported by all current Huawei smartphones(and Honor too), even the budget ones - these are models that entered the market in 2018 and at the end of 2017. Y5 2018 is still waiting for an update, which should “arrive” in mid-August. Otherwise, the Y6 2018, Y6 Prime 2018, mid-segment devices (P Smart, Mate 10 lite), the flagship P20 line of three models, last year’s flagships P10, P10 Plus and Mate 10 already have Face Unlock - it was either “out of the box” "or added through appropriate updates.

Face Unlock - influence of lighting and other factors

Fingerprint scanners have long become a common means of unlocking - you just need to put your finger on it. But if your hands are wet or wearing gloves, the scanner will not work. A smartphone with a scanner on the back is inconvenient to use in a car if the device is in a holder. Face Unlock is more convenient in this regard - you just need to press the power key or double-tap on the screen to turn on the backlight, if such a function is supported. It’s even more convenient with the P20 and flagships - they can be activated when you pick up the device.

Face unlocking works a little slower than the usual fingerprint scanning, but not so much that it causes discomfort - Huawei says that during recognition, data is collected from 1000 points on the face, and identification takes 0.8 seconds. If the smartphone runs on a Kirin processor, then the user’s “portrait” is stored in a special protected area of ​​the processor (TEE - Trusted Execution Environment).

When using a fingerprint scanner, the main thing is to have clean and dry hands, and the operation of Face Unlock depends on lighting. When initially registering, it is important to choose a location with adequate lighting, but it is important to avoid backlight or direct bright lighting.

In real use, the main limiter is insufficient lighting conditions - even the flagship Huawei P20 Pro copes poorly with recognition in complete darkness. If you bring the device closer to your face, especially if a light screen saver is installed, then the brightness AMOLED screen It’s enough to illuminate the face and recognize it, but it’s much easier to use a fingerprint scanner.

In real conditions, if you are walking along a night street normally illuminated by lanterns and signs, Face Unlock works. If you are walking down a dark alley where the only source of light is the moon and “that window on the third floor” - no.

Face Unlock does not work well if you are wearing dark sunglasses

There is also protection - if you bring the phone to the user with your eyes closed (for example, when you are sleeping), it will not unlock. Also, unlocking most likely will not work with opaque sunglasses - both with the Y-series and with the flagship, it only worked in 20-30% of cases. If you wear prescription glasses with clear lenses, there will be no problems. Scarves and hats have almost no effect on recognition speed. Crashes will only occur if you “hide” your mouth and nose.

It definitely doesn’t work that way...

Unlock speed of 0.8 seconds concerns first of all budget models. On the flagship, face recognition involves a special NPU processor module, which allows for faster image recognition, while on other models the load falls on the main processor, so the response speed depends on the performance of the hardware. In a direct comparison, the advantages of the top-end device are obvious, but in a real comparison, the second of time it takes for Face Unlock to work on the budget Y6 Prime 2018 is not annoying.

And this is how it works...

All that can be said in the end is that unlocking using face recognition is very convenient in practice. Paired with the usual fingerprint scanner, it allows you to almost forget about entering the main password or PIN code, which most users do not like to do. It’s doubly nice that companies add it not only to flagships, but also to the most affordable models, which makes modern technologies accessible to many users.

Most modern mobile phone users want to protect their data and device from being used by others. Due to this need, developers come up with a variety of blocking methods. So, in devices on Android based To protect personal data, a PIN code was first used, then a graphic key appeared, which was popular for a long time and was not inferior to the new method of unlocking using a fingerprint scanner.

The latest innovation in device locking is the face unlock feature. This technology is no longer a new product, but has become popular and in demand among many equipment manufacturers only in lately. Known for its quality mobile phones and affordable prices, Xiaomi also keeps up with the new standards: it has implemented this function in one of latest updates MIUI firmware 9 and 10 and added Face ID Xiaomi on those mobile devices, who initially did not support it. What is Face ID, how to set it up and use it, which models support face unlocking - our new article is about all this.

Features and differences of Face ID Xiaomi

For the first time about the terms “Face ID”, also known as “Face Unlock” to a wide circle users became aware of this after the presentation of Apple's iPhone X. Xiaomi immediately adopted the technology and installed it on its latest phone models.

Main unlocking feature face of Xiaomi is that for its correct operation no additional devices, applications or scanners. One built-in webcam is enough, or front camera. The technology is capable of working through neural networks. The accuracy of its work is quite high, but still Face ID Xiaomi is slightly inferior in quality to a similar function on the iPhone X. This is explained by the difference in technical performance the above technology.

The facial recognition feature on an Apple device uses not only the webcam, but also special infrared sensors and additional technologies. All this together makes it possible to simultaneously process up to 30,000 different points of the face. The built-in program compiles its expanded structural depth map and image in the infrared radiation spectrum. And a special fragment of the neural core of the microprocessor represents the map in mathematical form, which in turn is compared with the already registered facial data. If they completely match, the gadget is unlocked. The technology is quite reliable. It will work even if the user wears glasses or grows a mustache and beard.

As for Face Unlock on Xiaomi, most often the technology uses only one scanner without all the additional sensors. The only exception is Redmi 8, which has an infrared sensor. Despite this, the scanner can recognize the depth of the face and detect the presence of accessories, such as scarves and hats. The problem only arises with facial hair, which the scanner was not trained to detect. An added bonus is determining whether a person's eyes are closed or not. At closed eyes The mobile device will not be unlocked. This innovation was created by the developers so that it would not be possible to unlock the gadget by the face of a sleeping person. Unlocking by photo, which is important, will also not work.

Xiaomi models supporting Face ID

The in-demand facial recognition technology has become one of the significant challenges for brand developers. The manufacturing company is constantly trying to promptly offer its users the most modern and relevant technologies. For this reason, developers continue to actively work on Face function ID with the goal that as many users as possible around the world can try and appreciate this security feature.

Currently devices model range There are very few Xiaomi that officially support the above technology. After extensive testing, the developers made a list of phones that offer face unlock freely available:

• Redmi S2 (announced in Russia in March 2018)
• Redmi Mix 2S (May 2018)
• Redmi Note 5 (May 2018)
• Redmi Note 5 Pro (May 2018)
• Mi 8 (August 2018)
• (August 2018)

At the same time, according to the developers’ message, the facial recognition function is currently supported only in five regions:

1. Russia
2. Hong Kong
3. Taiwan
4. Indonesia
5. Indochina

Xiaomi models that do not support Face ID

The list of the most popular models that do not support the technology is longer. This:

• Mi Note 3: the model introduced in September 2017 was the first in the line to officially have working technology
• Mi A1
• Redmi 4X
• Redmi Note 4
• Redmi Note 4X
• Redmi 5
• Redmi 5 Plus

Despite the fact that the function is not officially supported on the above models, it is quite possible that some custom firmware will implement an analogue of the Face ID technology. In Internet resources, in particular on YouTube, you can find instructions on how to enable device unlocking using facial recognition for each model.

Also, the function may unexpectedly work due to new updates to the custom shell.

How to enable Face ID Xiaomi

What should you do if Face ID does not work on your mobile device, although the model suggests it? No need to worry and look for the nearest one service center. Let’s try to “teach” the phone to recognize a face on our own.

In order to use modern technology Face ID on any Xiaomi device that supports this function, just follow our step by step instructions:

• Unlocking your mobile device in an accessible way.
• Go to “Settings” through one of the main screens or by lowering the curtain.
• Let's scroll down. We find the column “Screen lock and password” or “Lock and protection” in the “System and device” section. Click.
• Find “Add person data” and open it.

• In the tab that appears, you must enter a password. Next, click on “Continue”.

• Now you need to follow the instructions that appear on the screen of your gadget. The camera will be turned on, and you will need to place your face in the circle that appears.

• We wait for the scanning and saving processes to complete (no more than 5-10 seconds).

If for some reason the save fails, the device will prompt you to try again. There's nothing wrong with this; it's a fairly common mistake.

If you cannot install the function due to the absence of the specified columns and windows, check again whether this technology is supported on your model. For example, on Mi 8 Face ID will be installed without the slightest problem, but on Redmi 5 face unlock will not work under any circumstances without additional settings and now existing firmware. This is what it looks like:

In conclusion, face unlock, or Face ID, is one of the most interesting additions to modern phones. Let's hope that in the near future this technology will function on more mobile models. Xiaomi devices.

Now you know what Face ID is on Xiaomi. We hope that our article was useful to you!

Will not subside until the presentation next generation iPhone in September. The technology of data protection using fingerprints is very popular among users and a possible abandonment of it will be problematic.

Most likely, in the first versions of the Face ID system it will be wildly buggy, recognize the owner’s photo instead of a living person, or completely refuse to let the owner through the lock screen.

Of course, over time all this will improve and polish, you just need to wait a few months.

What will be the problem with FaceID?

Let's remember what we most often use Touch ID for on the iPhone and think about how Face ID would work instead.

1. Unlocking your smartphone

Very often we just need to look at the time or information from widgets that are located on the lock screen.

To do this, we turn on the display with the Power key, by simply lifting the device (on models with the Raise to Wake feature) or by pressing Home button a finger whose fingerprint is not saved in the system.

How this will work with Face ID is unknown. Perhaps every time the screen is turned on in front of the user's face, the device will unlock.

2. Payment via Apple Pay

Now to pay in a contactless way we bring the smartphone to the terminal and put our finger on Touch ID. This system makes it impossible to withdraw funds without our knowledge.

Even if an attacker secretly brings the terminal to the device, it will not work without a fingerprint.

Changing Touch ID to Face ID. To begin with, we get rather vague prospects for payment through terminals. For the NFC + user identification combination to work, you will have to lean towards the device along with the smartphone. And at ATMs you will literally have to bow down to make transactions.

It is likely that a new fraud scheme may emerge. Imagine a user looking at the screen of his new iPhone, the attacker runs up with a terminal and brings it to the smartphone. The device receives a request to pay the bill and immediately confirms it with the “face” of the owner.

Most likely, the system will be protected from such operations, but this gives rise to certain thoughts.

3. Payment in the App Store

And again we try to replace the convenient Touch ID with the incomprehensible Face ID. You lie down before going to bed and look through the top applications in App Store. One awkward click on the price button and the system proceeds to confirm the payment.

Now it’s enough to click Cancel and not put your finger on Touch ID, the user’s face identification will see us in the frame and make the payment.

What will Apple do?

Of course, there are no fools working at Apple; such failures are simply unacceptable. This means that you will have to come up with additional steps and steps when logging in with Face ID.

These may be extra dialog boxes or messages. In any case, simple and familiar processes will become more complex and confusing.

We can only hope for the magic of Apple and that the developers will somehow fit the usual Touch ID sensor into a new generation smartphone.

For the first time, the function of unlocking the screen using pictures taken by the front camera of a smartphone appeared in Samsung Galaxy Nexus. More precisely, not even in a smartphone, but in operating system Android 4.0.

So Xiaomi and Apple are not pioneers. But the Cupertino people set the standard for the future. Will a copyist from the Middle Kingdom be able to at least bring his result closer?

Why does Xiaomi need its own Face ID?

Unlocking using the front camera often appears among the specifications of Android smartphones. This is usually a simple photo comparison that can easily be fooled with a simple, average quality photo. For example, by bringing up another smartphone with a photo on the screen. In addition, it requires you to turn on the screen.

The iPhone is not like that at all. Xiaomi does too.

Xiaomi's own Face ID was presented as a killer feature of the sub-flagship Mi Note 3 (). Somehow it was necessary to show that a strange mid-range smartphone could really lay claim to a place in the top echelon. The camera is excellent appearance and the screen is beyond praise. But it turned out not to be a flagship, but a long-lived mid-ranger with an excellent camera. Although I really liked it.


Face ID could save the smartphone: a feature worthy of a flagship. They swung at the sacred thing, the iPhone X! In its current form, Xiaomi Face ID was received first by Mi Note 3, and then by all other Xiaomi smartphones. How? WITH system update(For Mi Note 3, the function appeared in MIUI 8.5).
A little strange, because real Face ID does not work without a hardware basis, special camera and unique software. Has Xiaomi really managed to get by with just a neural network that scans photos? Apparently yes.

How does real Face ID work?

As you know, Apple Face ID- not just a software function. Complex, and above all - hardware. To recognize the owner's face, TrueDepth cameras are used, scanning the structural map of the face.

To create it, 30,000 are used, created into the TrueDepth system by the projector. They are scanned with an infrared camera and then an IR image is created. Then it is transferred to a separate module of the Secure Enclave processor, in which the match is checked and the face is compared with the previously specified point structure of the owner’s face.

Thanks to this, iPhone X will recognize the owner, even if he grows a beard, and will add glasses to his image. Whatever - twilight, poor lighting or darkness are also not a problem for real Face ID.

Conditions for proper operation Apple's facial recognition system is quite small: the gaze must be directed towards the camera. That's all. You can change clothes, makeup, grimace. The smartphone will be unlocked no matter what.

What can Xiaomi answer to this?

How does Xiaomi's Face ID work?

Initially, you need to enter information about your face into the database. After this, the system will ask you to enter the password that you set earlier or create one. After which a warning will appear that this method unlocking is less secure compared to a finger scanner or password.

After this, the system will ask you to enter the password that you set earlier or create one. After which a warning will appear that this unlocking method is less secure compared to a finger scanner or password.

The last step is to set up the unlock. The first switch allows you to use your face to unlock the smartphone, and the second will allow unlocking at the moment when the screen lights up with a new message.

You can use face unlocking either in conjunction with a finger scanner or independently as a separate system.

I checked it, it works. Convenient, but...

Once the image has been entered into the settings, you can begin testing. The test took place in 2 stages, a month apart: for the sake of the experiment, I had to grow a beard.

The first feature of Xiaomi Face ID is that you don’t need to turn on the screen. All you need to do is point the front camera at your own face. I picked up the phone, didn’t do anything with it - and the first time the photo was not recognized. The second attempt was successful. Unlocking is instant.

As expected, facial hair became an insurmountable obstacle. Subsequent tests showed that it was the mustache. If you cover your chin with a scarf, the screen will unlock. The mustache, which grew out after the first frame was taken, turned out to be a hindrance.

If you close your eyes, Mi Note 3 also refused to unlock the screen. Apparently, this is how the unlocking protection works when the owner is sleeping.

But if you add a photo of yourself wearing oversized glasses to your smartphone and then take them off, the recognition system refuses to recognize the owner. Both the first and the second time. Interestingly, on the contrary (the picture was taken without glasses, the unlocking attempt takes place with glasses) the unlocking is almost instantaneous.

I was not able to deceive the system using a photograph. A similar face also does not produce results. Although the twins will probably be able to use each other's smartphones.

The only real enemy of Face ID created by Xiaomi is poor lighting and darkness. It uses a regular front camera, which does not work in the IR spectrum. Therefore, to unlock the screen, you need enough light to take photos. Bringing the screen close to your face is a bad option.

For the necessary illumination that the proprietary Face ID requires, a completely different measure. Can you take a clear selfie? Then the smartphone will be unlocked. Otherwise, only a fingerprint or password.

Instead of results. Everything works, but Xiaomi is ashamed

Unfortunately, less than ideal work ruined the innovation (one might say) in the bud. Xiaomi has cut out the facial recognition function from all global (multilingual international, for the European market) firmware

Many people do not want someone else to be able to use their phone. For such users, developers are coming up with new ways to block mobile devices. At first, the phone information was protected by a PIN code, then a pattern key appeared, then a fingerprint scanner, and finally face unlock. Xiaomi decided to keep up with the new standard and therefore, with a firmware update, added this function to many of its devices that did not initially support it. You can learn more about the technology in this review.

Features of Face ID from Xiaomi and differences from Apple

The main features of Xiaomi's face unlock technology are that it does not require any additional scanners other than the webcam itself (front camera). Face Unlock works using neural networks; this feature appeared on devices with Miui 9 and higher. The accuracy is quite high, but still Xiaomi Face ID is inferior in quality of work similar system on the same iPhone X.

The facial recognition technology on the Apple device, in addition to the standard front camera, uses special infrared sensors and other technologies, which allows it to process 30 thousand facial points. The software creates a detailed structural map of the face, as well as its image in the infrared spectrum. A piece of the neural core of the Bionic microprocessor converts the depth map and infrared image into a mathematical representation that is compared with the recorded facial data. The technology will work even if you lose stubble or wear glasses.

Scanner on Xiaomi smartphones although it does not use all these sensors (with the exception of the released Mi 8, which also has an infrared sensor), it is still able to see the depth of the face and recognize the presence of hats, scarves and other things, but there is a problem with facial hair. If you take the first picture without it and then try to unlock the device, for example, with a mustache, then there may be an error. However, it's not all bad. The program perfectly detects when a person's eyes are closed; in this situation, the scanner will not work. This is done so that it is impossible to unlock the device by the face of a sleeping person. It’s also impossible to unlock using a photograph, which means the protection is working.

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How to teach a smartphone to recognize faces

In order to use facial recognition technology on any Xiaomi smartphone that supports this feature, you need to:

1. Go to the settings of your smartphone;
2. Scroll down and find " System and device»;
3. Below it you need to find the line “ Screen lock and password"and click on it;
4. Next, click “ Add face details", then you need to confirm the password and continue;
5. After this, you need to follow the instructions on the screen: the camera will be turned on and you need to place your face in the circle on the screen;
6. Scanning and saving will last 5–10 seconds, you need to wait until the procedure is completed.

It's worth noting that there are instances of face saving being incorrect, so you may be asked to try again.

Face ID is available on smartphones such as Xiaomi Redmi S2, Redmi Note 5 and Mi Mix 2S. And of course, an improved version of face unlock is present in the new Xiaomi flagship Mi 8.

Which smartphones do not support Face Unlock

As we have already said, unfortunately, not all the latest Xiaomi mobile devices support face unlock technology. In addition to the devices noted above, Face Unlock will not work in the following Xiaomi:

• Redmi 5;
• Redmi 4X;
• Redmi Note 4/4x;
• Mi 5 and 6;
• Mi A1;
• Mi Note 3;
• Mi Max.

It is worth saying that the function can work with subsequent firmware updates or using custom builds.

An interesting fact is that the Mi Note 3 model has disappeared from the list of gadgets in which Face Unlock will work. This smartphone was the first device of the company where the described technology was supposed to work. The developers promised next update The firmware has rolled out a feature, but this has not happened so far. Many users are storming the company's forums to find out when face unlocking will appear in Mi Note 3, but there is no clear answer yet. Representatives of the company only say that the firmware for this phone is under development.

As a result, we can say that face unlock technology is one of the most interesting features. We hope that in the future it will work for more Xiaomi devices.