Owners of the Nokia 9 PureView have had a rough go with the in-display fingerprint sensor they've bought their phones — our Ryan Whitwam was not impressed with the fussing around and finger-jambing he had to do in order to achieve authentication. A software update last week was supposed to loosen up and get the sensor working as it should. But manufacturer HMD Global is now investigating a complaint saying that the phone is too loose, producing false positives from unknown fingers and even a packet of gum.

On Monday, @DecodedPixel on Twitter went public with videos demonstrating how they were able to trick the phone.

The user was able to consistently reproduce the fault with quick, repeated, gentle tapping of an unregistered object onto the sensor zone. The device would unlock after a burst of vibration.

@DecodedPixel claimed that they have had the problem for at least two weeks — preceding this month's software update. They have exhausted a multitude of troubleshooting routes and have tried to contact Nokia support in vain. At least one other Nokia 9 owner has voiced similar concerns on Reddit.

In publicizing the matter, he has tagged Marton Barcza, the YouTube personality behind TechAltar, who was also able to generate a false positive.

We held back reporting on these serious allegations until we made a good faith attempt to get a response from HMD Global. While we have yet to receive one, today, the company acknowledged the issue to both Barcza and @DecodedPixel.

@DecodedPixel was contacted by chief product officer Juho Sarvikas, who promised that they would swap out their Nokia 9 and investigate.

We'll be tracking further reaction and will update this story as needed.

  • Thanks:
  • Josh