The last part you said is true but if you have an Apple Watch and enable unlock with Apple Watch once the watch is on your wrist and unlocked you can access the phone on the desk

It works very good in every condition , except any iPhones below the 12 cannot use Face ID with a mask , iPhone 12 - Face ID with mask , No landscape iPhone 13 - Face ID with mask , landscape mode aswell iPhone 11 and below - Face ID no mask unless you have an Apple Watch Basically works flawlessly even in low light cause of the dot projectors ect