Samsung Reconsiders their Choice for Fingerprint Tech

  • AUTHOR: anam
  • POSTED ON: December 5, 2019

With each new series of phones, companies strive to make them as efficient and secure as possible. The fingerprint scanner is the most popular lock for android phones.

Samsung was one of the first androids that introduced this facility for the users, but the in-display fingerprint was still absent from the phones.
However, with the recent launch of Samsung Galaxy S10, Samsung took the risk and added the feature in the new series and Note 10 as well.

Instead of using the optical sensors, Samsung used ultrasonic scanners that detect the ridges of patterns from your fingers by bouncing off the waves. This method was considered more secure than optical tech, which employs light from the display to scan a fingerprint.

The popularity of slim phones has given rise to the problem of placing fingerprint scanner within the models, and therefore Samsung placed the scanner on the back with the launch of s8. But s9 noticed some new changes and they increased the accessibility by positioning it a little towards the center.

However, technicians believe that Samsung is now going to abandon the idea of in-display fingerprint sensors of ultrasonic tech as the series of s10 proved to be unpopular, ironically, due to security issues.

Complaints began to pour in just weeks after the launch and users claimed that the phone would unlock for anyone despite the promises of safety.
It was revealed later that many users placed flexible gel screen protectors on their phones, which resulted in hindering the efficiency of the scanner.

Since ultrasonic sensors are designed to scan the ridges of fingerprints, the protectors containing a pattern appeared the same to the sensor.
Also, as the operating system takes time to memorize the finger pattern with several unlocks, it picked the patterns of screen protector permanently etched on it, unlocking the phone for anyone.

This is the reason why they are now considering to remove the ultrasonic fingerprint technology as the Samsung Securities analyst, Lee Jong-Wook said that they have designed the “fix” for Galaxy S10.
There is no other explanation offered, but the sensors are already slow, and if the solution is to numb down the accuracy, it would just create more security issues.

Even though the application of ultrasonic sensor tech is beneficial for Samsung due to their connections with the Korean companies that specialize in these parts, the idea has proved to be controversial so far!

Updated December 5, 2019
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