OnePlus 5T Face Unlock Feature Could Come to OnePlus 3 and 3T, Carl Pei Teases

After confirming its arrival on OnePlus 5, OnePlus has now suggested that the Face Unlock feature could also be a part of the dated OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T. The proprietary feature was debuted with the OnePlus 5T last month to take on Apple’s TrueDepth camera-based Face ID and is coming to OnePlus 5 through an Open Beta build.

OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, in a forum post on Thursday, detailed how the Face Unlock feature was a much requested one by OnePlus 5 users. He then asked users to give their thoughts on the arrival of the Face Unlock feature on the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T. “In the spirit of building together, we’d also like to ask our OnePlus 3 and 3T users: Do you want Face Unlock too?” Pei asked, clearly implying that if it’s sufficiently requested the company would develop it for the older phones. He alongside elaborated on the development of the feature for the OnePlus 5, saying it will be released first to users as an open beta build before being made available to all users.

Face Unlock will first make its way to the OnePlus 5 through an upcoming Open Beta build. Consider it an early test run. We’ll work out any remaining kinks and take time to work through your feedback. Then we will release Face Unlock to OnePlus 5 users worldwide in an Official Release build.

Unlike the TrueDepth camera-based Face ID that Apple deployed on the iPhone X using some hardware and software tweaks, OnePlus’ Face Unlock is a software-centric feature that uses the front camera sensor in addition to some machine learning developments to enable facial recognition on devices. This apparently helps the company expands the experience to devices other than the OnePlus 5T that grabbed some eyeballs, thanks to the custom facial recognition feature. However, it is important to understand that the feature designed by OnePlus is not as secure as Apple’s Face ID as it doesn’t use techniques like depth mapping and laser projection that the latter uses to provide a safer experience.

Last week, Pei confirmed the arrival of the Face Unlock feature on the OnePlus 5. The latest forum post by the executive highlighted that OnePlus would bring the feature through an upcoming Open Beta build. This will help the company receive feedback from a small group of testers before making it public for the masses.

The Android Nougat-based OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T received an update to Android 8.0 Oreo-backed OxygenOS 5.0 in November. The update brought features such as Parallel Apps, new App folder design, and a new Quick settings design in addition to core Android Oreo features, including Notification dots and a Picture-in-Picture mode. Also, it enabled users to upload their photos directly to Shot on OnePlus.