Galaxy S10 Will Have Variants With In-Display And Side-Mounted Fingerprint Sensors

Jul. 6, 2018

Earlier in June, it was reported that Samsung was developing three variants of the upcoming Galaxy S10 flagship, one of which will feature atriple-rear cameraset-up. A new report from Korea-basedThe Bellhas shed more light on the rumors of the three Galaxy S10 variants and has also revealed additional details about them, such as the debut of an in-display as well as a side-mounted fingerprint sensor on Samsung smartphones.

According to information received from industry insiders, all three variants of the Galaxy S10 will come with different specifications and will be targeted at a different segment. Two of the Galaxy S10 variants will come equipped with an in-display fingerprint sensor, while the affordable version of the flagship will feature a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Codenamed Beyond 2, the top-end variant will feature the largest display among its sibling with curved edges, and will come equipped with a triple rear camera set-up, being the first Samsung device to feature three rear cameras. More importantly, the device will feature an in-display fingerprint sensor, or as the report puts it, a Fingerprint On Display (FOD) function.

The FOD modules will be procured by Qualcomm and are reportedly over seven times more expensive than the conventional rear-mounted fingerprint sensors on Samsung devices, as the in-display sensing hardware costs $15 while the regular fingerprint modules cost just $2. The in-display fingerprint modules will be embedded beneath the device’s OLED panel by the team at the company’s display-making unit, Samsung Display.

As for the mid-tier ‘Beyond 1’ variant of the Galaxy S10, it will feature a smaller curved display than the ‘Beyond 2’ version, and will pack a dual rear camera set-up akin to the Galaxy S9 Plus. Moreover, it will also feature Samsung’s in-display fingerprint scanning solution. As for the cheapest variant of the Galaxy S10 codenamed ‘Beyond 0’, it will make numerous specs-sheet compromises to maintain a competitive price point.

The lowest-end Galaxy S10 version won’t feature a curved display and will pack just a single rear camera. Moreover, the device will feature a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, much like some of Sony’s Xperia smartphones(seen below), and will be the first Samsung device to feature a side-mounted fingerprint module that will be located on the smartphone’s right edge.Side-mounted fingerprint sensor (Image only for representation)