Galaxy S10 Killer Feature Confirmed in New Report

At the same time one Galaxy S10 report was predicting that next year's Samsung flagship would include three rear cameras, another rumor out of Korea indicates that the front side of the phone will be just as interesting.

(Image credit: Iris scanning on the Galaxy S9 could make way for an on-display fingerprint sensor on the S10. (Credit: Tom's Guide))

South Korean publication The Bell says that Samsung is looking to add an embedded fingerprint sensor to the display of the Galaxy S10. The feature would allow people to unlock the phone with a fingerprint while still allowing Samsung to extend the display from one end of the phone to the other, as it has on every model since last year's Galaxy S8.

The S10 wouldn't be the first phone to offer a fingerprint on display feature. Vivo has released devices with an embedded sensor on the screen, though those phones are unlikely to reach the U.S. The S10 would have a wider reach and possibly beat Apple to the punch if Samsung's chief rival doesn't add fingerprint-on-display technology to this year's iPhone releases.

MORE: Samsung Galaxy S10 Rumors: Everything You Need to Know

If the S10 does add an embedded fingerprint sensor, it will apparently come at the expense of iris scanning. The Bell's report claims the S10 will likely drop that feature, found in both the S8 and S9, claiming that suppliers have not been asked to provide sample modules for the upcoming phone.

Samsung could be looking at other security features for the phone. That same Bell report says Samsung is considering 3D facing scanning technology for the S10 similar to the iPhone X's Face ID feature. But that rumor first began to surface about a month ago.

The Bell's report hardly sounds definitive, but it squares with previous rumors about Samsung's plans for a fingerprint sensor on the S10. The technology is certainly out there to support an embedded fingerprint reader, and it would allow Samsung to launch the S10 with a differentiating feature that lets it keep its widely praised Infinity Display on future phones.

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Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.

2 Comments Comment from the forums

Hew

So what's the killer feature dont see it ? Aint anything new that's not already out :(
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otterwithkids

Samsung is definitely making some great strides in their products, but without the quality or customer service to back it up, they’ll still never see another penny from me. Every Samsung product I, or any member of my family, has ever owned has broken in less than a year—usually within a month—and Samsung generally refuses to do anything about it. The one time they actually accepted a return (after telling me they would send a user-replaceable part, then sending an empty box instead), they kept it for 3½ YEARS before finally sending it back, still broken; and when I called to complain, they said they couldn’t help because the warranty had expired. My response to the phone rep: “No, you think?!”

Samsung has cost me thousands of dollars and dozens of hours on the phone with unhelpful service representatives. THAT is their “killer feature,” and it’s killed their chances of having me as a customer.
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