Samsung patents a smartphone with a notch and in-display fingerprint scanner

No need to scream guys, it’s just a patent, and so far we can hope that Samsung will not go for that boring notch.

The king of smartphones when it comes to design and display and the largest phone maker, Samsung is said to be introducing a smartphone design what it must not. That’s what a recent Samsung patent application suggests. Samsung has recently filed a patent with Chinese patent organization SIPO that shows off a few different phone designs each with a notch above the phone’s screen and an in-display fingerprint scanner.

The phone in the patent application looks quite similar in design to Apple’s iPhone X, the Essential Phone, and others. It has a dual camera setup on the back, no physical fingerprint scanner and a screen that stretches to all sides on the front. Above the screen, you’ll notice a small rectangular cutout with the phone’s front camera, earpiece, and other sensors. Here’s your first look right below:

Among Android family, Samsung was the first to reveal a patent for the smartphone with a notch, back in January but surprisingly others took lead by adopting the design first hand before Samsung even thought of it.

Patent submissions are not, however, a confirmation of what we’ll see in upcoming devices: tech companies produce many patents, often as a competitive tactic rather than because it represents something they actually want to build. Mobielkopen also dug-up a similar Samsung patent for a device that is believed to feature a 99% screen-to-body ratio, which could be years away from commercialization if it’s even produced at all.

Looking Samsung to launch a phone with a notch will be very surprising as the South Korean giant has itself mocked Apple on the launch of Galaxy S9 and even before it, in an ad released last year, for Apple’s ugly looking boring notch.