Hands On: BIO-key USB Fingerprint Readers for Windows Hello and Windows 10

Last week Microsoft and BIO-key announced the availability of three new USB peripherals that allow users on Windows 10 to take advantage of biometrics to securely log into their device using Windows Hello.

Windows Hello was introduced with the initial release of Windows 10 and supports both facial and fingerprint recognition.  The availability for Windows Hello compatible devices has been quite limited so far but it looks like more third party manufacturers are starting to realize there is a real market for devices which can support this method of securely logging in on a device.

There were three devices announced by BIO-key and Microsoft and each of these are available in the Microsoft Store (online and retail locations) for $39.99 each.

BIO-key SideSwipe Mini Fingerprint Reader

EcoID Fingerprint Reader

SideTouch Fingerprint Reader

I have had review units of the EcoID and SideTouch readers for the last few weeks to test them out.

The EcoID, which is perfect for desktop systems with its USB cable that allows it to be placed on the desktop within easy reach, is a touch device which means you simply place your finger on the device to read the fingerprint and log in.

The SideTouch works just like the EcoID reader using touch instead of the swiping motion using by the SideSwipe.

Setup of these devices is straight forward and uses the same methods I have written about previously for the K-Byte Biometric Fingerprint Scanner and the Eikon Mini USB Fingerprint Reader.

I have been using the Eikon reader for many months now on an HP Spectre x360 and it uses the swiping method of reading your fingerprint so it took me a while to get used to simply placing my finger on these readers for logging in. Once I established the muscle memory for where to place my finger on the reader it has worked consistently.

I only had two areas of concern as testing of these readers continued but both have been or will be addressed by BIO-key.

The first one is a series of messages on the Windows 10 Lock Screen indicating the reader was dirty and needed to be cleaned. Of course, this was not the case because they were fresh out of the box. According to BIO-key this is actually a driver related issue that was being addressed in a soon to be released update. Bottom line is to just go ahead and place your finger in the reader and it should work fine.

The other concern was related to the SideTouch reader that plugs into a USB port directly. In my experience with the Eikon USB fingerprint reader it has always fit snugly into one of the HP Spectre's USB ports with no movement at all. When I began testing the SideTouch it has some wiggle when it is plugged into the same USB port although it has no impact on the devices performance. BIO-key told me that this was by design for the SideTouch in order to keep it from damaging the USB port should it get knocked with any force while plugged in. I would expect the SideSwipe to also leave some wiggle room when it is in the USB port for the same reason.

Bottom line is that I am pleased to see more third party manufacturers delivering devices that allow full use of the biometric security that is possible in Windows 10 for both consumers and Enterprise customers.