Chinese smartphone maker Vivo – which ranked fifth among the world’s biggest handset brands in Q1 2017 – is set to begin including displays that come with an integrated fingerprint sensor, so there’s no need for a separate one beneath the screen or on the back, reports Forbes.
That’s thanks to Synaptics, which makes input interface components including laptop touchpads. The company announced earlier this week that it’s developed an optical fingerprint sensor that can scan your digits through 1mm of glass, even if your hands are wet. It also claims that its Clear ID system is twice as fast as Apple’s Face ID that requires a depth camera.
Analyst Patrick Moorhead got to try the new fingerprint sensing tech and came away impressed:
Here are some pics @anshelsag and I took of the Vivo smartphone with the Synaptics in-display fingerprint reader. The CMOS image sensor is .7mm thick and reads the fingerprint right through the OLED display. The experience was faster than I expected. pic.twitter.com/u1NFpXtFQM
— Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) December 14, 2017
Moorhead noted that he had to press a hardware button to bring up the fingerprint sensing prompt before he could unlock the device; a ‘hold to wake’ option isn’t yet available, but will hopefully be included so as to make the experience totally seamless.
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That should help Vivo develop more compelling designs for its phones; it’s already launched numerous models with barely-there bezels, but it’ll now be able to ditch the fingerprint sensor on the back of those phones. Here’s to prettier handsets in 2018.
Via The Verge
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