It's clear Samsung has no plans to board the notch bandwagon with its upcoming Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 smartphones, with the company openly mocking the Google Pixel 3 XL on social media over the cut-out included in its display.
However, it now seems Samsung will avoid that ever-growing trend in smartphone design by embedding its selfie camera, proximity and ambient light sensors, front-facing speakers and fingerprint scanner beneath an edge-to-edge glass display.
OnePlus has already confirmed plans to include the latter in its hotly-anticipated OnePlus 6T, which is set to be unveiled during a ticketed event on October 29. Huawei also recently launched the Mate 20 Pro with an in-display fingerprint sensor.
So, the in-display fingerprint scanner alone is not much to differentiate the upcoming Galaxy devices from other rival handsets. However, the ability to squeeze the front-facing speakers, camera, iris scanner, proximity and light sensors as well sounds very interesting indeed. The South Korean technology firm teased its plans during a private presentation with customers held in China last week.
1.FoD, that is, the fingerprint technology under the screen.2. UPS, under-screen sensor (including camera) technology.3.HoD, the touch-sensitive touch-sensitive technology.4.SoD, screen sound technology.UPS！UPS！October 19, 2018
Reliable tipster Ice Universe tweeted a photo of the Samsung keynote, which revealed the tech that could make the notch – and the entire bezel – unnecessary for future Galaxy devices.
It seems unlikely these features will be ready in time for the S10, with sources speaking suggesting the first truly all-screen Galaxy devices won't arrive until 2020.
According to leakster Samsung Mobile News: "Samsung is working on a new technology trying to hide the front camera underneath the display. My sources told me that there are just a hand full of prototypes using this technology.
"I don't think we'll see this feature in retail phones until 2020, but who knows."
Embedding the front-facing selfie camera, speakers, and sensors beneath the glass would allow Samsung to avoid using a notch in its next design
That said, Samsung has already teased that fans can expect to see a major design refresh coming to the Galaxy S line-up with its next handset after two years of iterating the Galaxy S7 Edge template. So, there's at least a little hope this ambitious technology could be coming down the pipeline sooner than expected.
Elsewhere, the Galaxcy S10 is widely-rumoured to have a self-healing display that prevents light scratches by repairing itself. Granted, it won't be able to stop cracks if you drop the phone – but it could stop smaller nicks and lines on the glass display.
The next Galaxy is also rumoured to have a triple-camera system on the back, as well as 5G network compatibilty, and improved artificial intelligence.
