Face On! How to activate Face Unlock on the Honor View 10

It made news for its AI elements, but one of the most awaited features of the Honor View 10 was good old (well, it does seem old now) Face Unlock. The company had said that users would be able to unlock the phone using their faces in the coming days, courtesy an update. And now they can. Here’s how you go about it:

1. You will first need to download the latest update to the Honor View 10 (more about which can be read here).



2. That done, head to Settings, and once there, opt for ‘Security &Privacy.’ You will see ‘Face unlock’ beneath ‘Fingerprint ID’



3. Selecting ‘Face unlock’ will have the device asking you for your pin or pattern as a security precaution before letting you get into the real business.



4. Entering the pin or pattern will get you to the ‘Enrol face’ screen, where you are informed what Face unlock can do. You also get the option to enable ‘pick up to wake device’ which makes Face unlock more effective, as the device wakes up every time you pick it up (we would recommend enabling it). Click on ‘Continue.’



5. You will now see the scary part of Face unlock as a disclaimer will pop up pointing out what could go wrong with Face unlock – ‘It is possible that your device may be unlocked by people or objects that resemble you’; ‘Face unlock is less secure than Fingerprint ID and other unlock methods,’ and that the “success rate of Face unlock may decrease in environments that are very dark or bright.” There are also some tips for best results: adequate lighting when enrolling your face, avoiding covering your face with “clothing, hair, sunglasses, masks or heavy makeup” and “ensuring your face appears clearly and fully in the enrolling area” and avoid movement and closing your eyes. Hit ‘Allow’ and carry on.



6. This brings the face enrolling area. And unlike the iPhone X, things work incredibly fast here – you are not required to move your face at all – in fact, the front-facing camera will in all probability enroll your face within seconds before you even realize it. This is super fast to the point of being scary.



7. You are done. You will now have a screen that gives you the option to ‘Delete face data’ (you can enroll just one face), and also to ‘Direct unlock’ which unlocks the device the moment it recognizes your face (after the display is turned on – this is why we advised turning on ‘pick up to wake device’ earlier) or ‘Slide to unlock’ where you are needed to slide the screen to unlock the device even after your face is recognised. Which option you choose depends on the level of comfort you have – the impatient and need for speeders can choose ‘Pick up to wake device.’ Go to ‘Slide to unlock’ if you prefer being slightly circumspect.

And you are ready to roll. And from what we can see, Face unlock does work rather well on the Honor View 10 – it certainly scores in terms of speed if you keep the phone reasonably close to your face.