Samsung tried, Apple is trying, but Vivo succeeded. Doing what, you ask. Well, the Chinese manufacturer cut a deal with Qualcomm and integrated the first fingerprint sensor under the display #hardwaremagic
At MWC Shanghai, Vivo has a demo version on display. The prototype phone that’s being used to showcase the tech is based on the existing Xplay 6. From what we’ve heard, the Vivo phone can be unlocked from a marked area on the screen, just above the home button. It’s not a big region, unfortunately, so you’re pretty limited for now, but the company is thinking of extending the area and covering the bottom half of the screen with this tech.
Moreover, Vivo integrated the same tech on the metallic back of the phone, showing it can be unlocked even when it’s immersed in water. This is a huge achievement because it means home buttons can be ditched completely, allowing for bezel-less displays.
But the big thank you should go to Qualcomm, the company that came up with the the ultrasonic fingerprint solution. Thanks to their tech, we could soon get smartphones with bigger screen-to-body ratio, without needing to unlock the device from the back (which has always seemed a bit unnatural to me).
Qualcomm is set to ship “Fingerprint Sensors for Glass and Metal” to OEMs this month. These can be integrated in devices that run on Snapdragon 660 and 630. As for the more complex ones (“Fingerprint Sensors for Display”), those will hit the market at the end of the year and will be compatible with non-Snapdragon platforms, too.
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