Probably one of the biggest gripes when it comes to the latest Galaxy S8 and Note8 series is its fingerprint sensor. Because of its 18.5:9 Infinity Display, Samsung had to remove its physical home button and the fingerprint sensor is now moved to the back of the device.
It wasn’t meant to be this way and Samsung had originally planned to integrate its fingerprint sensor underneath the screen. Unfortunately, Samsung had to scrap this implementation purportedly due to the unbalanced lighting of the screen where the embedded fingerprint sensor is located.
According to a note that’s reportedly sent by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, Samsung will overcome this technical challenge in 2018 but it won’t appear on their next flagship.
According to Business Insider’s Kif Leswing, Samsung will be introducing an under-display optical fingerprint sensor in the second half of 2018. This means it won’t make it for the Galaxy S9 which is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2018 but it would likely debut on the Galaxy Note9 which is due one year from now.
The report added that three companies are competing to supply Samsung the vital under-display fingerprint sensor. This includes Korean BeyondEyes, Samsung’s subsidiary Samsung LSI and Egis. At the moment, BeyondEyes and Samsung LSI are the best options right now as both are said to have the technology to use the OLED screen as a light source for the fingerprint sensor.
It is probably safe to say that the Galaxy S9 is likely to have a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor like its current flagships. Hopefully, they would place it better and away from its main cameras. vivo recently had showcased its under-display fingerprint sensor capabilities but so far nobody has introduced one on a commercial product. The iPhone X was initially rumoured to come with an on-screen fingerprint sensor but they have dropped TouchID completely in favour for its FaceID feature.
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