New reports of a Samsung Galaxy mid-range device
have surfaced. The new devices, dubbed the Galaxy P30 and Galaxy P30+ (with a
supposed model number of SM-G6200) will launch exclusively for the Chinese
smartphone market.
These rumors are still somewhat fresh - initial
reports from @MMDDJ on Twitter claimed that they’d be the first Samsung devices
to have in-display fingerprint scanners but newer rumors say these devices will
boast LCD panels. It is generally known that the in-display fingerprint
technology is incompatible with LCD panels.
We’ve only seen this tech work on OLED displays
since they are thin enough to let the optical signals pass through. According
to the same report, JDI apparently makes a new kind of in-display fingerprint
reader that is designed to work with LCD displays but we’re not really counting
on this being the case for Samsung’s mid-range devices. It’s not as if Samsung
is short of OLED displays to require a different in-display fingerprint sensor
that will work with LCDs. There’s something off here.
Samsung’s Galaxy S10 is currently rumored to be the
first to use Qualcomm’s ultrasonic in-display scanner, which would use
frequency waves to read the fingerprint. Current implementations are optical,
which Samsung believes are vulnerable to lighting conditions and affect the
display’s image reproduction.
In any case, Samsung’s China-only Galaxy P30 and
Galaxy P30+ might launch as early as next month. This is where we might
ironically point out that Motorola released an iPhone X look-alike in China
with the same name: the Moto P30. We wonder if this means we’ll see Samsung
make an iPhone X look-alike and we wonder if such device would have a notch or
not.
In any case, should Samsung get the latest
in-display fingerprint working for a mid-ranger in China, it could get a leg up
on its Chinese competitors on their own turf. Rumors have been saying that we
might expect such tech in the Samsung Galaxy S10, which is going to receive a
notable update to hardware and design from the S8 and S9 duos.
