Renowned leaker Ice Universe has tweeted that the cheap variant of the S10 might have a fingerprint scanner on the side of the phone.
Samsung is expected to release three variants of the S10 next year. The variants have been codenamed “Beyond 0”, “Beyond 1” and “Beyond 2” internally within Samsung. Beyond 0 is expected to be the cheap variant of the S10 and is likely to follow the design of the Galaxy S7, i.e. no infinity display and a flat display with solid bezels surrounding it. It isn’t all gloom with the cheap variant though, as it might be the first phone to have a fingerprint sensor on the side of the phone.
While Ice Universe has not detailed on what a side fingerprint sensor means, in my opinion, this could mean that the power button on the side of the phone could double as a fingerprint sensor. Honestly, I feel like this is a great step considering the vast majority of us hold their phones in their hands. Using the power button (or a separate sensor anywhere around the power button) would be amazingly convenient.
Additionally, I believe the screen’s size will be pivotal in the device’s success as a large screen paired with the fingerprint scanner placed near the upper sides of the phone would actually decrease convenience than to increase it. Just look at how users regularly complained about the S8 Plus’ fingerprint scanner being placed too up on the back of the phone.
The tweet also details the fact that the other two variants, expected to be named S10 (Beyond 1) and S10 Plus (Beyond 2) respectively will have in-display fingerprint scanners. This feature has been in demand for the last few months and while numerous brands like Vivo have already adopted the technology, these will be the Korean giant’s first phones to feature it. Question is, will Samsung’s in-display scanner set the standard for future scanners or will it follow the likes of Vivo?
In other news, Ice Universe has also said that the cheap variant along with the S10 will have a dual-lens camera set up while the larger, 6.2-inch S10 Plus will have a triple-lens camera setup. Industry experts have commented that the introduction of a triple-lens camera setup might be to match Huawei’s P20 Pro.
What do you think though, will the S10 Plus’ camera be better than the P20 Pro or will Samsung fall behind?