I think you need to turn on the power button clicking 5 times feature by turning on the "Call with Side Button" option in Settings under Emergency SOS. I'd also suggest turning off Auto Call if you want to use it like this.
Yes this is kinda buried and not clear at all that this function also disables FaceID but it does.
Yes this is kinda buried and not clear at all that this function also disables FaceID but it does.