Galaxy S10: Samsung’s New Patent Suggests In-Screen Fingerprint Reader, 90 Percent Screen-To-Body Ratio,
The Samsung Galaxy S10 is expected to be a smartphone that ultimately establishes the South Korean tech giant as the undisputed leader in mobile design. So far, there is one particular feature that has remained elusive for Samsung’s flagship devices: an in-screen fingerprint scanner.
As revealed in a recent patent, it appears that Samsung’s work will soon pay off with its upcoming Galaxy S10 flagship. According to a report from Lets Go Digital, a Dutch publication that tracks Samsung’s progress on its mobile devices, a patent filed on November 29, 2017, and published on June 7, 2018, has revealed that the company is working on a combined Home button.
As could be seen in Samsung’s patent, part of the combined Home button is under the display while another part is on the smartphone’s thin lower bezel. By placing the sensor partially under the display, Samsung would be able to maintain the quality and accuracy of the sensor while keeping the device’s bezels incredibly thin. The patent, for one, mentions a screen-to-body ratio of 90 percent, a figure that is yet to be achieved by Samsung’s rivals in the smartphone industry.
As noted in a T3 report, Samsung’s hybrid physical and virtual Home button modes means that the uses of the button could vary. What is particularly interesting in the recently published patent was the hybrid button’s capability to become practically invisible when it’s not in use. The hybrid in-screen fingerprint sensor is rumored to have been planned for the Galaxy Note 9. Due to the technology not being fully refined, rumors suggest that Samsung has opted to skip the feature with the upcoming Note 9 and instead utilize it for its first 2019 flagship, the Galaxy S10.
#Rumeurs sur le #GalaxyS10 https://t.co/QrZgLHt3vg pic.twitter.com/CO18ugZIXk
— yles (@yles_meliouh) June 5, 2018
Over the past few years, Samsung has opted to keep its devices’ design practical and attractive at the same time. Among the smartphone industry’s biggest Android manufacturers, for example, Samsung is the company that has stubbornly refused to follow Apple’s lead in abandoning the headphone jack. So far, other Android leaders such as Google and HTC have already followed Apple’s lead.
The same is true with the iPhone X’s notch. Not one to skip on poking fun at its rival, Samsung has targeted Apple’s rather questionable choice to adopt a notch for its 2017 flagship smartphone on its ads. Just like with headphone jacks, Samsung’s competitors in the Android sphere have already followed Apple’s design cues, with flagships such as the Google Pixel 3 rumored to be coming with a very Apple-esque notch.
