Samsung Galaxy S8 could feature an optical fingerprint scanner

With the dust barely settled surrounding Samsung’s Note 7 recall debacle, Galaxy S8 rumours are beginning to crop up at a rapid pace.

It seems the S8 will feature a full, edge to edge screen similar to Xiaomi’s heavily touted Mi Mix, a phone that likely won’t make its way to Canada. Because of the S8’s reported lack of a bezel, the fingerprint sensor would need to shift from its traditional location of the centre of the phone’s base.

This means that Samsung could opt to include the still unannounced flagship’s fingerprint scanner directly within its screen, removing the need for a physical home button. This rumour, like so many others, stems from a user on Chinese messaging service Weibo, so believe its validity with caution.

An optical fingerprint scanner would reportedly result in improved accuracy and speed. It’s also possible that Samsung could take a page out of the Pixel’s design strategy and opt for a rear-facing fingerprint scanner.

With Samsung still reportedly trying to figure out exactly what caused the Note 7 and subsequent replacement devices to malfunction, it’s likely the South Korean company’s attention is divided right now between the development of the S8 — which is expected to be revealed at Mobile World Congress in February — and uncovering exactly what went wrong with its dearly departed Note 7.

[source]Weibo[/source][via]Sammobile[/via]