Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

The first Samsung phone to feature a notch is coming soon, and it’s not the Galaxy S10

Published Dec 19th, 2018 7:31AM EST
Galaxy M20 vs. Galaxy S10

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

There’s no question about it, 2018 has been the year of the notch when it comes to smartphone design. All smartphone makers out there except for Samsung launched phones featuring notch bezels at the top, mimicking Apple’s design. Just a few of these devices copied the feature that makes the notch mandatory on the iPhone X — that’s 3D facial authentication. And none of the notch phones replicated Apple’s corner-to-corner screen designs. Instead, all of them have bottom bezels of various sizes.

Towards the end of the year, iPhone cloners started exploring other designs, including slide-out mechanisms for cameras and dual screen designs. Some of them also reduced the size of the notch. Samsung, meanwhile, has designed new screens for the next generation of mobile devices, including Infinity-O screens for the Galaxy S10 flagship, but also Infinity-U displays that will be found on cheaper handsets. In other words, Samsung’s version of the notch is coming soon.

The first such smartphone will arrive in the very near future, part of Samsung’s Galaxy M series. According to AllAboutSamsung, the Galaxy M will have at least two models, including the Galaxy M20 and the Galaxy M30. The phones will feature an Infinity-U screen that proposes a notch similar to what’s available on phones like the OnePlus 6T or the Huawei Mate 20.

The Galaxy M devices, however, aren’t flagships. Instead, we’re looking at budget-friendly smartphones. But they are going to offer buyers features that are usually found on flagship devices, including the all-screen design and the dual-lens camera on the back.

Image source: AllAboutSamsung

The Galaxy M20 will have a single-lens camera on the front featuring an 8-megapixel sensor, while the dual cam on the back has 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors. Also on the back, we’ll have a fingerprint sensor, as the concept image above indicates. The following image, obtained by 91Mobiles a few days ago, shows the purported Galaxy M20 out in the wild:

Image source: 91Mobiles

AllAboutSamsung also notes the smartphone will have a massive 5,000 mAh battery, which should come in handy in those markets that Samsung is targeting with this new affordable phone.

Also due next year, the Galaxy S10 will feature a more exciting display design. Infinity-O screens replace the notch with a camera hole that pierces through the screen. Samsung has already launched an Infinity-O phone, but the best version of the new screen tech is coming to the Galaxy S10 flagship.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.