Android

Forget the iPhone 8, the first phone with an in-screen fingerprint scanner could come from Vivo instead

by Kaloyan C. / Jun 22, 2017, 5:03 AM

Forget the iPhone 8, the first phone with an in-screen fingerprint scanner could come from Vivo instead

By now you've surely heard the widespread rumors about the iPhone 8's fingerprint scanner situation: there's a distinct possibility Apple's latest flagship will be equipped with an in-screen sensor (or will it?), instead of the regular, standalone solution employed by everyone on the market. However, as is becoming increasingly common, a relatively unknown Chinese manufacturer, namely Vivo, may beat Apple to the punch.

Vivo, for those not in the know, is something of a sister company to the slightly more well-known Oppo, most commonly known as being OnePlus' parent company. But in its homeland of China, the manufacturer enjoys relatively good popularity, holding a quite noteworthy 17 percent of the local smartphone market. Still, it's fair to its current lineup doesn't exactly present any noteworthy devices: Vivo phones are firmly rooted in the mid range, both in terms of specs and looks.

But this may change very soon, as we're expecting Vivo to debut the first ever device with a fingerprint scanner built right into the display in less than a week. The news comes from an official teaser for the company's showing at this year's Mobile World Congress Shanghai starting on June 28 (yes, there is more than one MWC). The teaser, which can be seen above, only shows a stylized fingerprint graphic passing through a rectangle, along with the words "Unlock the future" in Chinese and English.

This could, of course, mean a variety of other things not related to an in-screen fingerprint scanner, but a week ago a video allegedly showing a device equipped with the technology in action surfaced on Chinese social network Weibo:

But while the video is, admittedly, of questionable origin, it's fair to say we should be seeing something exciting from the company come next week. And, as it turns out, this isn't the only unique Chinese-made device we'll be seeing in the near future. Rival company Meizu should be showing off its weird-looking Pro 7 some time soon as well, possibly even at MWC Shanghai, too (though this is pure speculation on our part).

And it sure will be interesting to see how Vivo's solution will perform compared with the iPhone 8's (if the latter even has one, that is). This is because, as evidenced by all the trouble both Apple and Samsung have been having with the technology, it seems an in-screen fingerprint scanner isn't trivial to produce. So if a cheap phone manufacturer such as Vivo has managed to develop the tech, there's a fair chance it's cut some corners like speed and security.

source: Weibo (1, 2) via GSMArena

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15 Comments

1. epdm2be

Posts: 824; Member since: Apr 20, 2012

Who cares?

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 5:24 AM 0

2. Felix_Gatto

Posts: 942; Member since: Jul 03, 2013

Someone will do, what about you? Why waste your time by posting a comment if you doesn't care about it.

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 5:42 AM 9

10. Darckent

Posts: 91; Member since: Sep 17, 2016

You just know iphonerena were upset to report this Could you imagine the articles of apple had done this first? 'apple succeeds where Samsung failed' 'apple innovate' 'all praise lord apple for pushing the boundaries' etc It would have been non stop gloating and singing apples praises for weeks Haha unlucky iphonerena

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 9:58 AM 0

4. Bankz

Posts: 2550; Member since: Apr 08, 2016

This will be the very definition of vapourware.

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 5:51 AM 1

8. disatrousrainbow

Posts: 65; Member since: Oct 24, 2015

I think you need to look up the definition of vaporware.

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 8:08 AM 1

14. tedkord

Posts: 17408; Member since: Jun 17, 2009

I think across the room charging meets the definition better.

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 3:38 PM 0

3. kamejoko

Posts: 252; Member since: Nov 10, 2011

slow read fingerprint unlock

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 5:50 AM 4

9. Felix_Gatto

It's still on early stage, give it some time to improve, okay? At least it's still faster than password and maybe iris recognition.

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 8:54 AM 0

5. antifanboyism

Posts: 57; Member since: Jun 20, 2017

It's better not to think Chinese's manufacturers as copycats because they have capability to something that we can't expect . First the revolutionary Mi Mix and then this. There's no denying that Chinese companies can bring revolution to the mobile world . And for first attempt the fps is fast enough and don't forget the first touch ID was not very fast but it evolved with time.

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 6:07 AM 6

7. Lyngdoh

Posts: 319; Member since: Sep 06, 2012

There is Sharp Aquos years before the Mi Mix and the Aquos is even water-resistant if I'm not mistaken.

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 7:19 AM 3

6. byazatt

Posts: 316; Member since: Oct 26, 2012

I care

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 6:32 AM 0

11. aegislash

Posts: 1511; Member since: Jan 27, 2015

It may take a second or two to unlock, but props to them for actually getting it to work! Once it's unlocked, it doesn't appear that the fingerprint area is brighter than the rest of the display. (Which is apparently the reason why Samsung hasn't done it yet)

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 11:43 AM 0

12. TheOracle1

Posts: 2331; Member since: May 04, 2015

"So if a cheap phone manufacturer such as Vivo has managed to develop the tech, there's a fair chance it's cut some corners like speed and security." Vivo, Oppo and Oneplus are all owned by BBK and combined they are number 1 by volume in China by a healthy margin. All their phones share common components and sometimes similar designs (Oppo R11 and OP5 recently) so your derisive "cheap phone manufacturer" comment is misplaced and silly. It's more likely that Vivo were first in line because the R11 and OP5 were already too far along to incorporate it so it went to the next upcoming phone in their lineup. Either way if Apple do it iPhonearena will be having orgasms telling us how it was "done right" and is so innovative. If Apple don't do it you'll be telling us they wanted to "do it right" whilst trashing Vivo's version.

posted on Jun 22, 2017, 1:04 PM 0

15. juandante

Posts: 679; Member since: Apr 23, 2013

Also, in technology a cheap company doesn't mean it will have worse tech than a giant. on the long run the giant will win (by acquisitions, patents etc) but on the short run the smaller company have more flexibility to do whatever it was (no shareholders etc)