Samsung Galaxy Note 9 smartphone could have a feature even the iPhone doesn’t have
SAMSUNG could one-up Apple with its next smartphone by adding a feature even iPhones don't have.
The South Korean tech giant is supposedly working on a fingerprint scanner that lives underneath your phone's screen.
The revolutionary feature is tipped to appear on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, a top-end blower expected to debut in August this year.
The Korea Herald suggests that Samsung's display division has prepared "three or four" different versions of the technology.
And Samsung's mobile division is "seriously considering one of the solutions".
Samsung is expected to decide on the "final concept" this month.
Getting fingerprint scanners under screens has been a big goal for tech companies
Fingerprints usually live in two places: (1) at the bottom of a phone's front, or (2) on the back of the phone.
Putting it on the back of the phone can mean your groping fingers smudge the camera, and it makes it harder to unlock the phone if it's lying on a desk.
And by putting it on the front of the phone, it means you're forced to have a smaller screen – because the fingerprint sensor takes up space.
Phone makers are increasingly trying to fill the entirety of their handset's front with display, which means they need to find a way of embedding fingerprint scanners under the screen.
Last year, Apple ditched fingerprint scanners completely with the iPhone X, so that the phone's entire face could be occupied with screen.
With under-screen fingerprint scanning, it would be possible to achieve the same all-screen effect without ditching the sensor tech.
Earlier this year, Chinese firm Vivo showed off a phone with under-screen scanning tech.
But mainstream phone makers haven't adopted it yet.
We spoke to GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives, who said that it's possible we'll see under-screen fingerprint sensors on the Galaxy Note 9.
"Samsung is looking to step up the game with the flagship Note 9, and fingerprint scanning has been a key area of investment that could be on the horizon with this next release," he told The Sun.
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Ives added that Samsung needs to "smooth out any lingering technology wrinkles", but said he believes the Note 9 could get under-screen technology "this year".
Samsung declined to comment on this report.
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