VeriMark Desktop

This Kensington VeriMark Desktop Fingerprint Reader works great for Windows Hello and Passkeys, making logins incredibly easy. It sets up quickly and the speedy technology ensures secure authentication every time. It's so much more convenient and frankly, more fun than typing passwords. Highly recommended for a seamless, secure desktop experience. Reads fingers very fast and is very small and lightweight.

I was looking to improve the login security of my Windows 11 Pro workstation. I was using an unchanged 6-digit PIN and was being encouraged to both increase the complexity of that PIN and to change it regularly. While I understand and agree with the objective, doing so is a hassle. So, I decided to switch my login process to biometric authentication--no switching required. Given my setup, I wanted to connect this device to a USB hub and not directly to my PC. I was concerned that some reviewers said this would not work but I also noted that they didn't identify the type of USB hub they tried. Years ago, I switched to using an independently powered USB hub as I found it always worked, when non-powered USB hubs didn't. I bet that this fingerprint reader would also work using my powered USB hub and it does--flawlessly. I've been using this for just over a week now and am very happy with its performance. Easier login with better security--it's a win-win.

Initially I thought I was going to end up returning this. My laptop installed drivers for it, but almost immediately it stopped working. I tried installing the driver from the manufacturer website, but it said the latest driver was already installed. I think at that point I rebooted my laptop and then it just recognized it after that. If you already have a fingerprint reader you will most likely need to register new fingerprints using this reader. It would not recognize my fingerprint, which I guess is understandable, since every reader is different. Once I registered my fingerprint using this reader, it worked great. It works for signing in and also to authenticate for passkeys. This was on Windows 11.

Game changer for logging into windows very accurate this replaced my old thumb drive fingerprint reader and I am satisfied with it this works every time no problems my thumb drive fingerprint reader was hit or miss

This product requires a custom driver to be installed (on Windows), will not work via most USB hubs and will not work with most USB extension cables. The failure is often a crash of the driver during system boot which requires you to unplug the reader and then plug it back in to bring it back to life. So ... only buy this if you can plug it directly into your PC's USB-A port without any extension cable. The cable it comes with is 48" long so make sure that will work for you. If you don't have any of those problems, it works well with the actual fingerprint ID. I use it for Windows login and for auth with my password manager on a Windows 11 desktop PC.

UPDATE: I've had it about a month and a half. Or about 2 weeks past the return window. It got more and more fussy about reading our fingerprints. I thought it was just me because of dirt and oil and whatever on my hands from working in the garage. But my wife had the same issues. Now it's just a useless piece of junk. I switched over to Digital Persona 4500 fingerprint reader. I haven't had any issues since. You can find them on Amazon - but buying a used one on eBay from a reputable seller is the better bet. It also costs a lot less. They don't come with drivers. However all you need to do is google Digital Persona 4500 driver and look for the HID Global website to find them. It's no more complicated than downloading any other driver and installing it. Original: I've had it about a week and so far so good. I started looking at these when one of our kiddos somehow obtained our Windows pin #, then used that to obtain some other sensitive information from our desktop computer and got himself in a boatload of trouble.... I'm using Win 10 and it was very easy to get it set up with Windows Hello. Now instead of entering a PIN or password we just touch our finger. I couldn't get this to work with Dashlane. So we switched to NordPass and now instead of entering the master password to unlock it we just touch our finger. I initially encountered some issues with it going to sleep and not waking up as others have mentioned. After doing some research I double checked the BIOS settings to make sure the USB ports were powered even if the machine was off. That was how BIOS was set - so that wasn't the issue. I then checked in device manager and under Power Management I had to uncheck a box that allowed the computer to turn it off to save power. Once I did that I haven't had any issues with it not working. I love the small size of it. I'm not entirely sure the kiddos even know what it is. The adhesive on it was worthless. Even after cleaning the desk with an alcohol wipe and letting it dry the adhesive on it didn't last a day. I replaced it with a good quality double sided tape and haven't had any issues. There isn't much weight to it - so you really do need to secure it to the desk for it to be usable. It's much easier and faster to touch a finger and log into windows, and log into the password manager. And it keeps any kiddos from looking over our shoulders. It's a win win situation. Couldn't be happier so far. Will update if it doesn't last or other issues crop up.

I had an older fingerprint reader that seemed to have problems reading my fingerprints causing me to have to retry many times. This gets a good read the first time every time. It has a sticky baser so when you put if on a surface it stays when you press your finger and doesn't move around. You don't need to press hard: a light touch will do the trick. It has excellent sensitivity., I use it for system login, website login, passkey verification, etc. It's well worth it.

At the time I wrote this review Amazon was selling 3 versions of the Kensington fingerprint reader. I bought the most expensive model ($85) that was the "desktop" version. That device installed like a dream on a Windows 10 tower PC and worked flawlessly. 5 stars for that one. I cannot recommend that device more highly. Now for the bad news: The desktop version was so good I wanted to add one to another PC of mine but decided to buy the far less expensive model ($35) that looks like the usb "nub" style dongle I use with my Logitech mouse. That was a big mistake since after an hour of installation hell I still could not get it Windows 10 to recognize it as a fingerprint reader (unknown device) so it could not be configured with Windows Hello. I downloaded the drivers from the Kensington site and installed as they instructed but to no avail. I returned the smaller "nub" style fingerprint reader and spent another $85 for the model I know works perfectly; the "desktop" version. Turns out you do get what you pay for.

Was so easy to set up and works really well with Windows 11! I got a YubiKey-5 and was planning on using that to login to my machine, but it turns out you still have to enter your username and password in addition to the hardware key. So I decided to get a fingerprint scanner that works with Hello! on Windows 11. I heard good things about this one on YouTube so I decided to spend the money. Just got it out of the box, plugged it into one of my USB ports on the back on my system, No drivers to install, Windows took care of it. Went to sign-in options. Set a couple of things like my two index fingers for it to read. Rebooted my machine, saw the log in screen, it said "please touch fingerprint", I touched the sensor....BAM...INSTANTLY LOGGED IN! So cool!!! Nothing but good things to say. Super easy to setup and use! :)

Muito bom

Ça fait 3 mois que je l'utilise, rien à redire. Je voyais ça plus gros mais c'est tout petit. Ça marche nickel avec Windows ou même les clés de sécurité comme sur BoursoBank.

Surprised how heavy & solid this little thing is for its small size. The weight makes it sit flat on the surface rather than float about on its cable & it also has an anti slip pad on its undersurface. Like: Went to "setup fingerprint recognition" (for Windows Hello) in Windows 11, & the device was there waiting for selection. Recognition is very fast, faster than any I have experienced on previous laptops or an older USB device. Also using it with Bitwarden & KeepassXC for quick unlock via Win Hello. Microsoft account recognized it for signing in to MS-365 Heavy & small enough to stay put on the desk a LED turns on when it is expecting a print input, flashes red if it doesn't recognise. Don't like: Not much so far Expensive I'm not sure how to take advantage of U2F/FIDO2 for other apps or in browsers. Regrets? Not buying it earlier. Update 2024-04-29: 1: Since the wider re-learning as item 1 below, performance has been rock solid. Fantastic. 2: Item 2 problem below RESOLVED. Uncheck: "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" found in Windows Device Manager>Biometric Devices>VeriMark DT Fingerprint Key>Properties>Power Management. Update 2023-09-16: 1 I found I was inconsistent in positioning my finger for reading, so I re-learnt my print, using an especially broad finger print area with the learning process. That really helped with improved reliability of recognition. 2 For some reason the driver or something occasionally goes to sleep & it gets unresponsive. I had this problem with a windows hello camera in the past so I assume it is somewhere in windows. Sometimes unplugging, pausing, & plugging back in restores life.

Funkar med Windows11 och Windows Hello. behöver försöka med fingret 2-3 gånger för att det ska funka ibland.