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This is the cool new effect that’ll play around the Galaxy S10’s in-display selfie cam

Published Dec 26th, 2018 8:21AM EST
Galaxy S10 Release Date
Image: Samsung

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Samsung’s Galaxy S10 will be unveiled only in late February, complete with a brand new Infinity-O design — that’s a screen that features at least one camera hole at the top for the selfie camera. But Samsung already launched a phone with a similar display, the Galaxy A8s, which has an LCD screen instead of OLED. The new mid-range phone, however, does show off Samsung’s Infinity-O display design, as well as the new tricks that come with it when it comes to selfie cam-effects. The same effects, meanwhile, could hit the Galaxy S10 when it launches next year.

To launch the camera app on the Galaxy A8s, you have to swipe down from the camera lens rather than pressing a camera button on the lock screen. Once that happens, an animated ring illuminates the sensor, SamMobile. The same effect is present when you switch between camera modes.

Samsung insider Ice Universe said on Twitter that the same effect would be applied to the Galaxy S10 series. That’s hardly a surprise, considering that all Samsung phones should have the same One UI user interface on top of Android going forward.

This video shows the animation in action:

The leaker also said that the ring would glow “when the face is recognized.” It’s unclear at this time whether that means the phone will pack any facial recognition abilities. Previous Galaxy S phones do feature support for facial and iris recognition, but it’s not the kind of secure authentication that Apple’s Face ID offers. Recent reports said that Samsung would drop iris recognition from the Galaxy S10. And, with just one hole in the display for the camera, Face ID might not be possible on the Galaxy S10.

The Galaxy S10, however, will have an ultrasound-based in-display fingerprint sensor, which should be faster than optical sensors. Therefore, supporting 3D facial recognition like the iPhone isn’t a must for Samsung.

Regardless of whether the Galaxy S10 will have any kind of face recognition support, what seems to be clear from these reports is that all Infinity-O designs from Samsung should deliver similar camera ring animations.

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.