Currently, fingerprint sensors are embedded in the metal bodies of the phones. Some companies, like HTC, still put them below the screen whereas a few others like Google and OnePlus have started putting them on the rear cover. Although these fingerprints work fine, the issue is that they take extra space on a phone where space is at a premium. This is the reason why Apple removed the fingerprint sensor from its iPhone X, increased the size of the screen, and used the FaceID.
However, Synaptics says that removing fingerprint sensor will not be needed because its new fingerprint module called Clear ID FS9500 will be embedded in the display itself.
"The new Synaptics Clear ID optical fingerprint sensors deliver one-touch high-resolution scanning through full cover glass and enable sleek, button-free, bezel-free infinity displays," a Synaptics spokesperson said. "The Clear ID FS9500 optical solution excels with wet, dry and cold fingers, and since it's protected by glass, is durable, scratchproof and waterproof... (it) is twice as fast as 3D facial recognition and requires only one touch to access your smartphone."
If Synaptics delivers on its promise what this means is that such a fingerprint sensor, which can be embedded, under the screen will result in major rethinking of smartphone designs in 2018. If it works as intended, by the end of 2018 the phone market will have smartphones with large and beautiful screens on front, which will have the fingerprint sensor embedded under the display.
One of the first phones to sport such technology could be the Galaxy S9, which could be shown during CES in January. This will be Samsung's next-gen flagship phone. It will come with top-end hardware, including the recently-announced Snapdragon 845, infinity display -- incidentally, the same term is used by Synaptics in its statement -- and a metal and glass body. The Galaxy S9 may also come with a FaceID-like feature. It has been rumoured that the S9 will use a single-lens rear camera but will offers features like the Portrait Mode that use AI and machine learning, similar to what the Pixel 2 provides.
Earlier Qualcomm had announced a similar technology at MWC in Shanghai this year. "Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors for Glass and Metal are designed to be compatible with the recently announced Snapdragon 660 and 630 Mobile Platforms, and Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors for Display, Glass and Metal are designed to be compatible with future Snapdragon Mobile Platforms and non-Snapdragon platforms," a Qualcomm spokesperson had said. At the same time, Vivo had demonstrated the feasibility of the technology via a prototype phone that had a fingerprint sensor under the screen using Qualcomm technology.
