We still have a few months of waiting ahead before Samsung unveils its Galaxy S10 series, but thanks to a bunch of teasers and reports last week we already have Galaxy S10 teasers to look at. And the purported all-screen, no-notch design of the Galaxy S10 looks better and better with each new render.
A few days ago, a Twitter user posted Galaxy S10 renders showing a phone with almost no bezels and a hole at the top of the screen where the selfie camera would go. Now, the same person is out with a new render of the phone.
It all started with Samsung teasing this particular display design for the unannounced Galaxy A8s. It’s not surprising to see Samsung launch new smartphone features on mid-range phones before they make it to flagship handsets, as Samsung is trying to make its other Galaxy devices more competitive.
A few days after Samsung shared its teaser, a very detailed Bloomberg report said the Galaxy S10’s “front camera is visible and tucked under the screen,” further fueling speculation that the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy A8s will share similar Infinity displays. Then, a screen protector that would accommodate such displays leaked, suggesting that some smartphone makers are about to launch phones with this nifty new design.
This must be it. #GalaxyS10 pic.twitter.com/19MMu5TZZT
— Ben Geskin (@BenGeskin) October 31, 2018
The huge downside of this particular type of design is that it doesn’t support 3D facial recognition, which needs a bunch of extra components, and would therefore need more holes in the screen. But if you don’t want Face ID-like secure face unlock on your phone, then Samsung’s screen design may be the best option for further increasing the screen-to-body ratio.
In the last few weeks, we’ve seen a bunch of novel approaches to “fixing” the notch. Some, like Huawei and OnePlus, have reduced the notch to a teardrop on some phones. Others like Xiaomi launched a phone with a slide-out selfie camera. Nubia, meanwhile, placed two screens on a smartphone with the rear-facing display meant to help out with selfies. That’s right, that phone has no front-facing camera.
But Samsung’s compromise sure looks like a much better idea than any of these. And Samsung isn’t alone thinking about such displays. Apple already has a patent that explains in great detail how to drill holes into screens, while camera supplier Largan is supposedly working on a pure black coating that could be applied to smartphone cameras so that the selfie cam would basically be invisible.
