Samsung could be rushing the Galaxy Note 8, and the fingerprint sensor may go on the back again
For the Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung was preparing to make radical change that would put the home button beneath the display, as well as the fingerprint sensor. The home button change made it through the pipeline with its touch/hardware hybrid setup, but the fingerprint technology wasn’t quite ready, so they had to plant it on the back.
Our hope was that the tech would be ready in time for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, but new reports suggest Samsung won’t have it ready for that, either. This potentially means the fingerprint sensor will once again go on the back.
This is problematic for those who think the current positioning of the Galaxy S8’s fingerprint sensor is odd. It’s not just the fact that it’s on the rear of the phone, because many phones use this placement to great efficiency.
The problem is that it’s offset to the side of the camera sensor near the top of the phone, which can make for some awkward finger gymnastics when you’re trying to use it (and, depending on who you are, some actual finger strain).
Samsung is supposedly looking to accelerate plans to launch the Galaxy Note 8 to have it out “by” August in order to beat Apple’s latest iPhone. That’s a good tactical strategy, but we hope their desire to rush things doesn’t hurt the phone too much. We’ll put up with a reprised role of that awkward fingerprint sensor, but another safety issue like the Galaxy Note 7’s battery debacle would surely not be tolerable.
[via SamMobile]