The Galaxy S26 phones have a long-overdue fingerprint scanner feature

Smartphones first offered in-display fingerprint scanners in 2018, but the technology was slow and unreliable at first. Fast-forward to 2026, and many flagship Android phones have ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensors for fast and accurate unlocking. However, the Samsung Galaxy S26 series adds another welcome option if you’re having problems with your fingerprint unlock.

The HardReset.info YouTube channel reports that the Galaxy S26 series offers an Improve accuracy option for fingerprints. Tapping this option prompts you to scan your previously scanned finger 10 times to improve fingerprint unlock accuracy. We can report seeing this option on our own Galaxy S26 series device as well. You can access this feature by tapping Settings > Security and privacy > Screen lock and biometrics > Fingerprints. From here, tap the added fingerprint and choose Improve accuracy. Check out our screenshots below.

This is a cool addition to smartphones, as one long-standing workaround was to simply register the same finger again as a duplicate alongside the original scan. The thinking was that two scans of the same finger should be sufficient to reduce fingerprint unlock errors. It’s not immediately clear how Samsung’s new solution works, though. Is it adding more data to the original scan, or is it simply hosting two scans under one fingerprint profile?

We nevertheless hope Samsung can bring this option to other phones as part of the One UI 8.5 upgrade, such as the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy S24 range, and more. It’s also unclear whether the Improve accuracy feature requires an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner or if it’ll work with capacitive scanners (as seen on the Samsung Galaxy A56 and A36). It’s also unclear whether this will work with side fingerprint scanners seen on foldable phones. Either way, I hope other brands adopt this feature too.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the ability for users to improve the accuracy of biometric unlocking. The Microsoft Lumia 950 series included an iris scanner, and users were encouraged to scan their eyes in different environments to improve unlocking. But we’re glad to see a similar concept being revived for modern biometrics.