Samsung reported to skip in-display fingerprint sensor on Galaxy Note 9

Current in-display sensors "cannot meet Samsung's technical requirements."

During CES this past January, one of the phones that grabbed our attention the most was the Vivo X20 Plus UD – primarily because of its in-display fingerprint sensor. This technology was later seen on the Vivo Apex during MWC in February, and we're anticipating more and more OEMs will adopt this new tech as we go about 2018 – one of which being Samsung.

It was originally expected that the Galaxy Note 9 would be the first Samsung phone to feature an in-display fingerprint sensor, but according to Ming-Chi Kuo, a research analyst at KGI Securities, this is no longer the case.

According to Kuo:

While we previously predicted that Samsung's new flagship Galaxy Note 9, due out in 3Q18, will come equipped with an under-display fingerprint recognition function, we now believe Samsung will cancel this feature on Note 9 because both ultrasonic (provided by Qualcomm) and optical (provided by Samsung LSI, Goodix, Egis, and Synaptics) solutions cannot meet Samsung's technical requirements.

In-display fingerprint sensors are still very much in their infancy, and Kuo believes issues like power-consumption, incompatibility with screen protectors, and more will keep Samsung at bay for a while longer.

However, just because the Note 9 won't have this tech doesn't mean something like the Galaxy S10 or Note 10 won't. Kuo says "under-display fingerprint recognition is key for full-screen designs" and doesn't believe that face-unlock systems can "fully replace fingerprint recognition."

Kuo also goes on to say:

Also, as under-display fingerprint recognition module has a unit price 4-6 times that of capacitive fingerprint recognition module (or higher), we think that once the former module goes into mass production, the contribution to suppliers' sales and profits will be significant.

Having an in-display fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy Note 9 would have been a great selling point, but a rear-mounted one shouldn't necessarily take away from the device as a whole. Rear-mounted sensors may not be as flashy as ones embedded within the screen, but their functionality remains as good as ever.

Samsung Galaxy S9 review: A fantastic phone for the masses, but not an exciting one