You almost always need to the password to test a phone thoroughly. You can see that the screen works on the lock screen, but what about the front facing camera, and secondary microphone that are attached to the screen and need to be transferred, or replaced if you do it like Apple. On newer iPhones the slightest defect can cause face id to not work. On laptops it depends. Sometimes live USBs don't have the right drivers to test all the hardware. When you assume things are simple you're usually wrong.
Letters of the alphabet, ACAB