HUAWEI thinks it can one-up Apple's Face ID with its own facial recognition technology

One of the iPhone X‘s differentiating features is its TrueDepth camera, which enables the phone’s Face ID facial recognition technology. As impressive as the tech may be, Huawei says that it plays second fiddle to its own depth-sensing camera system.

Unveiled at the end of HUAWEI’s presentation for the HONOR V10, the camera system captures 300,000 points — this is 10 times more than what the iPhone X captures — and uses infrared and a projector to create a 3D map of your face. The technology should not only allow it to be used in a variety of lighting conditions, but it can also be used for things like secure payments and, of course, entering your device.

Huawei’s camera system also turns your facial expressions into animated emojis, which is where animoji come in. Depending on who you talk to, animoji are fun, creepy, interesting, or a combination of all three. Based on HUAWEI’s on-stage demonstration, it looks like the Animoji selections include a panda and anime-looking humans, though we are unsure how many more selections there are.

As with Apple’s Face ID, OnePlus‘ Face Unlock, and other smartphone facial recognition technology, folks have concerns over how secure the tech is. There is also the question of whether facial recognition technology should replace or live alongside fingerprint sensors.

Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, the main problem with HUAWEI’s new camera system is that it is not yet available for primetime. The company did not specifically say which phones would feature the tech, but at this point, we will have to wait until at least 2018 to get a clearer picture.

In the meantime, expect other smartphone manufacturers to make similar announcements as time passes. For example, Samsung already features an iris scanner in its recent flagships, so look for the company to improve on the tech for the Galaxy S9 and beyond.

What are your thoughts on facial recognition technology for smartphones? Would you want it to just be another option versus a full replacement for fingerprint scanners? Let us know in the comments below.