The Samsung Galaxy S8 has been keeping the world looking forward to its launch, and most of the users expected it to be an error-free phone. However, with the placement of the fingerprint scanner next to the camera, the expectations are about to get crushed.
General Specs
During the last week, Samsung Galaxy S8 has been exhibited at many events. The best feature of the phone is its infinity display. It covers the whole front of the phone giving it the most unique look a smartphone has ever had.
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The phone is also equipped with a powerful processor that is even faster than Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus’ processor. The new camera is also expected to provide the best image quality. Moreover, the phone is water resistant and also supports wireless charging.
As all new smartphones come with fingerprint scanners, the Samsung Galaxy S8 also has one. However, due to the addition of a home button on the front of the phone, the scanner has been placed on the back side of the phone.
Fingerprint Scanner Placement Is A Massive Concern
The placement of a fingerprint scanner on phone rear is not a new thing. However, what proves to be the main issue is that the scanner of the S8 is situated right beside the camera.
This decision of relocation might get Samsung a load of negative reviews as this will result in accidentally getting fingerprints all over the camera. This problem might heighten if Samsung Pay is launched in more countries as the app only works through fingerprint recognition.
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Already aware of the issue, Samsung is advising its customers to keep their cameras clean. In order to promote this safety measure, Samsung has implemented a function which will pop up a note in the camera app whenever a user will set up fingerprint recognition, saying:
“A clean lens makes for better shots. Clean your camera lens to keep taking better pictures”
Samsung might get away with this problem as the phone has a new feature called iris recognition. This system was also implemented in the Galaxy Note 7 but we already know how good the phone was. The iris scanner was tested by express.co.uk in different conditions and it was found that the scanner had problems recognizing users wearing glasses. Additionally, the system also struggled in low light conditions.
On the other hand, Samsung claims that the iris recognition feature in the Samsung Galaxy S8 is more advanced. Furthermore, with the introduction of facial recognition, users will have different biometric authentication ways to choose from.
Read More: Google launches fingerprint scanning for Chrome OS
It has been stated that Samsung poured resources into Synaptic but as the outcome was not as expected, it had to place the fingerprint scanner on the rear side of the phone.
An employee of Samsung has been quoted in Express.co.uk:
“With the production imminent, the company had to decide to relocate the fingerprint scanning home button to the back of the device at the last minute”
Apple Might Relocate Its Fingerprint Scanner
Rumors suggest that Apple is deciding to move its touch ID fingerprint scanner to the back in its coming iPhones.
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The first fingerprint scanner supported device launched by Apple was the iPhone 5s with the scanner integrated in the home button on the bottom of the device. As Apple is planning to give more space to the screen and reducing the size of the bezels all over the phone, the implementation of a fingerprint scanner on the bottom of the phone seems to be impossible. Therefore, it is expected that Apple will also relocate its fingerprint scanner.