Following sporadic complaints about the positioning of the fingerprint sensor in their last flagships Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, it was widely expected that the South Korean giant may make changes in its next flagship smartphone in the series, Samsung Galaxy S9. But reports now emerge that Samsung has decided to continue with the same design where the fingerprint sensor will be located on the rear panel only. It is possible the exact location may be improved to make it clutter-free in view of difficulties expressed by users of the Galaxy S8.
Observers are quick to point out that Samsung realised that Apple’s next month’s release of the iPhone 8 will also not feature an under-display fingerprint sensor and therefore Samsung does not have much to lose in terms of an edge. At best, Apple may go with a physical button for this functionality. It is also being reported that, if at all, the on-display or under-display fingerprint scanner may make its debut in the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 to be launched next year.
And while discussing this feature on the Note 9, these reports suggest that Samsung may change its vendor for the fingerprint sensor from Synaptics to Egis. It is also mentioned that such a change will entail a huge inflation in the cost of the sensor by 400 to 500%.
Samsung’s release of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 on August 23 is also receiving a lot of attention in the market. As already reported, the phone will have a huge 6.3inch Super AMOLED display with the screen resolution of 1440x2960pixels. The 8.5mm thick phone will also feature a dual camera setup in the rear with identical 12MP sensors to do the imaging duties. The front camera will hold an 8MP sensor and like the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will also come with the water and dust resistant certifications.
With all this, Samsung may just feel some form of improvements in the design and specifications from the S8 to S9 will do, to convince the buyers to go in for the new phones as and when they are launched.