![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5d97200c-44b9-4abd-b9fe-a04745c14d05.jpg\")
The Samsung Galaxy S25 was one of those to fail the testAlamy<\/p>\nPremium mobile phones can be \u00adunlocked using a photograph of the owner, research has shown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Top-of-the-range devices from Samsung, Motorola and Oppo had their \u00adfacial recognition security feature easily spoofed, Which? said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A total of 133 models were tricked by the consumer group into opening with a 2D picture, including the Samsung Galaxy S25 (\u00a3800), Oppo Find X9 Pro (\u00a31,099), Motorola Razr 50 Ultra (\u00a3999) and Oppo Find X9 (\u00a3899).<\/p>\n
The Samsung Galaxy S25 was one of those to fail the testAlamy<\/p>\n
Other models from Asus, Fairphone, Honor, HMD, Nokia, Nothing, OnePlus, Realme, Vivo and Xiaomi also \u00adfailed the test. All were Android devices. Apple\u2019s Face ID remained secure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The three newest Google Pixel models and Samsung Galaxy S26 series were not spoofed by a photo.<\/p>\n
Basic 2D face-check systems work by using the front camera to take a picture and comparing it with the image saved on set-up. If it is similar enough, the phone unlocks.\u00a0Apple, Google and some Android phone makers use a 3D face-check system that maps the shape of your face by projecting thousands of invisible dots on to it to measure the depth, contours and structure.\u00a0That makes it harder to spoof using a photo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some phones using 2D technology warn users about the weakness of the system.\u00a0However, Motorola, OnePlus and Nothing were highlighted for failing to do so. Which? said warnings should be prominent during the set-up process rather than \u201cburied\u201d in terms and conditions or another link.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The group said Motorola had released 27 phones since 2022 that could be unlocked with a 2D photo or by someone resembling the owner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lisa Barber, tech editor at Which?, said: \u201cIt almost seems unbelievable that phone cameras could be fooled by a printed photo \u2014 and yet they can be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which? recommends switching to a fingerprint or six-digit PIN if there is a 2D unlocking system. A PIN can also be set for the Sim card, which prevents a thief taking it for another device to intercept security codes.\u00a0Users can also set up an \u201capp lock\u201d to require a fingerprint to unlock sensitive apps such as messaging, email and banking.<\/p>\n
Alan Goode, the chief executive of Goode Intelligence, a digital trust research company, said: \u201cIn an age of rampant smartphone theft, it is dis\u00adappointing that so many Android devices offer face unlock solutions that are, in reality, merely a toy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben Wood, an analyst at FDM, the business and technology consultancy, said: \u201cA good tip for users is that if the phone doesn\u2019t let you use your face to authorise a payment, it probably indicates the photo authentication isn\u2019t secure enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Separately, an investigation by MIT Technology Review uncovered how software kits were being sold on Telegram to bypass security checks on banking and cryptocurrency apps.\u00a0The kits bypass the phone\u2019s camera, which is used for a \u201cliveness\u201d check, and use a virtual camera to present a fake video or photo to access the app.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In relation to the Which? study, Fairphone said it used a \u201cwidely adopted industry standard utilised by many leading smartphone brands\u201d, which \u201cinherently shares the same limitations\u201d.<\/p>\n
Honor said it viewed the 2D system as \u201ca tool for convenience rather than for authorising sensitive transactions\u201d. Motorola said it \u201cre\u00adcommends that consumers use a PIN, password or pattern for enhanced security\u201d. OnePlus said it was transparent about the risks of the system.\u00a0All other companies tested were approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Premium mobile phones can be \u00adunlocked using a photograph of the owner, research has shown.\u00a0 Top-of-the-range devices from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[64,63,203,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-612069","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}