During its pre-MWC 2018 launch event for the Galaxy S9 and S9 +, Samsung briefly talked about
the placement of the fingerprint sensors on the new flagship devices.
Samsung caught a ton of flack for
the placement of the fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus.
Not exact matches
As far as port,
sensor, and button
placement is concerned:
on the back, we have our main camera
sensor and a LED flash, there's no heart - rate
sensor on the A series;
on the front, we have our proximity and ambient light
sensors, a front - facing camera, earpiece, display, back and recent app capacitive keys, and a home button with an integrated touch - based
fingerprint sensor (A5 and A7 only);
on the bottom, there's a microphone, 3.5 mm headphone jack, MicroUSB port, and the speaker grille;
on the top, we have nothing other than the secondary microphone, and, just like the new GS7, there's no IR blaster
on board; and the volume buttons are located
on the left side
of the aluminium frame, while the power button is located
on the right side — all three buttons are very tactile with excellent reachability and positioning.
Because
of what we said above, those looking into the Galaxy S8 + should keep in mind that the phone may be, in its tallness and with the
placement of the
fingerprint sensor (which is already difficult to reach
on the regular Galaxy S8), uncomfortable to access.
The company also listened to the criticism it received because
of the
fingerprint sensor placement on the Galaxy S8 and made amends by positioning it below the rear camera for easy access.
Not only do I prefer my
fingerprint sensors on the front
of phones, the
placement of the S8's reader means you could easily smudge its camera, which would result in soft, blurry photos.
«Consumers prefer
fingerprint authentication
on the front
of the phone, and with the industry quickly shifting to bezel - free OLED infinity displays, the natural
placement of the
fingerprint sensor is in the display itself,» said Kevin Barber, senior vice president and general manager, Mobile Division, Synaptics.
The
fingerprint sensor placement does seem odd, but with a massive screen and sans a physical home button, there aren't many options for
sensor placement on the front
of the device.
Alongside the aggravation behind the Bixby button for most users, the
placement of the
fingerprint sensor was most definitely quite high
on the list
of complaints.
On the back, we have a strange fingerprint sensor placement, which sits on the right side of a rear - facing camera that is now destined to be constantly smudged with fingerprint
On the back, we have a strange
fingerprint sensor placement, which sits
on the right side of a rear - facing camera that is now destined to be constantly smudged with fingerprint
on the right side
of a rear - facing camera that is now destined to be constantly smudged with
fingerprints.
I think the convenience key is a great idea, but justifying the power button's
placement by saying that people will use the
fingerprint sensor to turn
on the phone and double - tap the display to turn it off again goes against the years
of muscle memory most smartphone users have built up.
There is a slight change in the
placement of LED flash and hear rate
sensor as they are now placed right to the two
sensor along with the
fingerprint scanner, unlike the S8 and S8 +
on which, the LED flash was
on the left side
of sensor and
fingerprint scanner was
on the right.
With the way I personally hold smartphones, using the
fingerprint sensor just feels more natural when it's
on the back, but this is a personal preference and not a reflection
of how it works, and there are many users who will actually prefer this
placement to being
on the back
of the device.
Both have the same
placement of a good one - touch
fingerprint sensor, and we can't have any discussion about the OnePlus 2's hardware without mentioning the wonderful Alert Slider
on the left edge.
The rear panel
of the upcoming devices is said to be the area that will feature the most changes compared to the Galaxy S8; apart from the aforementioned
fingerprint sensor placement, the handsets are also thought to be featuring vertical dual - camera setups instead
of horizontally arranged lenses like the ones found
on the Galaxy Note 8.
With under - display
fingerprint recognition pretty much out
of contention as far as the Galaxy S9 duo is concerned, and a notch - containing design feeling highly unlikely, Samsung may have indeed settled
on a conservative
placement of its «next big thing's» biometric
sensor.
The
placement of the
fingerprint sensor is now moved below the camera lens — hopefully, this will prevent smudges from getting
on the camera lens, but it would be nicer to see them lower the
sensor even more.
Though, there is still some typicality that is present
on Note 5 such as the physical button with
fingerprint sensor, the capacitive backlight buttons, and the usual
placements of power button
on right edge and volume button
on left edge.
The
fingerprint sensor is placed
on the right edge
of the device, we first saw this kind
of placement with the Xperia Z5 series.
A persistent complaint about the otherwise well - received Galaxy S8 focused
on the
placement of the
fingerprint sensor.
Though both
of them have some nitpick issues such as the
fingerprint sensor placement on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the notch
on the Apple iPhone X.
The rectangular shape with rounded corner, camera
placement on the back remind us
of the iPhone while the «3D» curved back is similar to Samsung's latest Galaxy S and Note designs, as is the home button
placement that houses the
fingerprint sensor.
Kevin Barber, senior vice president and general manager, Mobile Division, Synaptics said: «Consumers prefer
fingerprint authentication
on the front
of the phone, and with the industry quickly shifting to bezel - free OLED infinity displays, the natural
placement of the
fingerprint sensor is in the display itself,»
While the company is still working
on its new handset and there has been no official statement regarding the
placement of the
sensor, a Chinese manufacturer Vivo just walked right in with its under - display
fingerprint sensor, beating the smartphone giant in its quest.
Xiaomi has decided to put the
fingerprint sensor on the backside
of the Mi A1, which just further shows the fact that Xiaomi is very inconsistent with its
fingerprint sensor placement.
Leaked Meizu 15 Plus images suggest that the manufacturer will use a side
fingerprint sensor for the phone when launched, which is a bit
of an odd
placement for such a component, though only because most OEMs are either placing the
sensors on the front or the back
of the device, with some aiming to implement the
sensor under the screen for phones beginning this year.