More and more phones with failing facial recognition

Consumers’ Association warns 69% of tested smartphones can be unlocked using a simple photo of the owner

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69% of the mobile phones that the Consumers’ Association has examined since June 2023 fail the facial recognition test. These phones can be unlocked simply by holding a photo of the owner in front of the camera. That is a worse result than three years ago, when researchers were able to open 43% of the tested devices using a photo.

Of the 133 phones that have been tested since June 2023 and are still on sale, 92 turned out to be fooled by a photo. This includes many models from Motorola (19), Oppo (18) and Redmi (16). Unfortunately, an expensive device does not automatically mean good facial recognition. For example, the Oppo Find X Pro (€1300), the Samsung S25 Ultra (€1250) and the OnePlus 15 (€750) all failed. Only with Apple and Google is face unlocking safe on all devices.

Devices that do not have secure face unlocking usually do state that facial recognition is less secure than a password or PIN code. The Consumers’ Association does not consider that enough. Sandra Molenaar, director of the Consumers’ Association: “It is worrying that consumers cannot assume that the facial recognition on their smartphone is in order. Smartphones must either have good facial recognition or not have it at all.”

Read More: Consumers' Association OnePlus 15 Oppo