Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ have been pretty leaky phones and so far, we know a great deal of info about the design, specs, features, launch as well as the official release of the phones.
The launch details were confirmed by the company itself during the Mobile World Congress 2017, with the company pointing to a March 29 launch date. Even though there was no mention of the release date, rumors have suggested that both Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ will start selling after mid-April, with some markets’ shipping to start towards the end of next month.
Some of the major design highlights of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ include a curved AMOLED screen for both models with very slim top and bottom bezels. These slim bezels will mean that the fingerprint scanner and physical buttons that have appeared on previous Galaxy S series phones will be no more. Where the navigation and home buttons will now be on-screen, the fingerprint sensor will find a new home at the back of the phone.
Even though this is not anything new for Android users, it is the alleged location of the scanner that is becoming a concern for potential Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+. Apparently, this feature will be placed just beside the rear lens, something that many believe might interfere with the clarity of photos at some point, especially when someone mistakenly touches it when trying to access this scanner.
While it seems this position is confirmed, Samsung still sees need to do some explanation as to why this is happening. According to reports coming from South Korea, the tech giant reportedly argues that the idea of a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner was considered only because the technology of integrating the same into the display screen was not yet ready.
It is true early Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ rumors had suggested that the fingerprint scanner would be embedded in the screen, but The Investor says that Samsung “ran out of time” and thus forced to settle for the rear-mounted scanner. Still, it is reported that Samsung did all it could to get the technology ready, including pouring resources and making “all-out efforts” to see to it that everything was ready for April’s release, but the tech giant was forced to make a “last minute” decision to switch to the upcoming setup.
Whether this technology will be ready in time for the 2017 Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is still anyone’s guess, but it is likely that this could be the first Sammy device to ship with an on-screen fingerprint scanner. If anything, it is not the first time we’d be seeing a Galaxy Note series device debut a ground-breaking technology. It happened with the iris scanner in 2016 and in fact, it is this technology that Samsung hopes will help with easing any authentication issues resulting from using the fingerprint scanner.