There are two factions of smartphone users nowadays: those who
want as much screen space as possible and those who want a fingerprint
sensor on the front of the device. Currently, the only way to have both a
bezel-less display and a fingerprint scanner is to move it to the back
of the device — a design adopted by the Google Pixel 2, Samsung Galaxy S8, and OnePlus 5T.
There may not be a need to compromise anymore, as Vivo will unveil the first smartphone with an in-screen fingerprint reader
this Wednesday at CES 2018. The promotional image sent out to press
today includes a slate device with a fingerprint image appearing in the
middle of the screen, and the slogan “Unlock the Future” underneath.
In June of last year, Qualcomm announced the development of
in-screen fingerprint scanning technology. Almost instantly, Chinese
company Vivo announced it would be using the tech to build a prototype,
which it showed off only a few days later. Setting up your fingerprint
on the prototype took a long time, and your fingers needed to be in
fairly specific placement to get the scan to register, but it showed
real promise.
Industry analyst Patrick Moorhead recently revealed
that Vivo was also working with Synaptics to add a fingerprint sensor
to their panels and said Vivo would be the first to market with this
technology. It looks like they have now perfected the system, at least
well enough to put it into a smartphone presumably going to market
sometime this year.
There are also rumors that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will have in-screen fingerprint tech, but as of today those rumors are just that.
What do you think? Are you clamoring for a device with an in-screen fingerprint reader? Let us know in the comments!
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